MANCHESTER, United Kingdom — Tanzania is famous for its beautiful national parks and archaeological sites, however, it also has a high poverty rate, with 44.9% of Tanzanians living on $2.15 or less a day in 2018, according to the World Bank. Poverty particularly affects the youth category, or 15 to 24-year-olds, as a rapidly growing population means there are few jobs for young people to support themselves. As a result, young people often find themselves striving for an impossible goal, trying to fulfill expectations of independence and self-reliance without the means to do so.
Youth Poverty and Unemployment
In an interview with The Borgen Project, Dr. Nicola Banks, lecturer in Urban Development at the University of Manchester, explains that “unemployment and underemployment” are the main causes of youth poverty in Tanzania.
Indeed, with a very high population growth rate, the growth of Tanzania’s youth population has not been accompanied by an expansion of the job market. Dr. Banks puts this down to the fact that “the shift away from agriculture didn’t come together with an industrialization that has been able to create the jobs needed” in Tanzania.
High youth unemployment rates have also generated stereotypes of young people as “lazy” or “unskilled” according to Dr. Banks. This has put the youth at an even greater disadvantage when accessing the job market, thereby causing further unemployment and reinforcing such stereotypes.
This has led to a large proportion of young people in Tanzania who are unable to financially support themselves and instead have to rely on their families’ income or earn money through other, sometimes dangerous and illegal means.
Intangible Dreams of Independence
Whilst many young people who are entering adulthood hold a strong sense of ambition and desire to assert their own independence, Dr. Banks argues that for young people in Tanzania, “their ability to put their plans into practice is completely undermined and doesn’t emerge” due to a lack of opportunities.
This inability to achieve independence, coupled with expectations from the wider community for young people to leave home and become self-sufficient individuals, has left many young Tanzanians feeling frustrated and inadequate.
The fact that members of society in Tanzania often don’t see young people as productive only exacerbates this, as it often excludes them from participating in decision-making. As a result, it leaves youth in a gray area, unable to win as they are perceived as both mature enough to be financially independent, yet too dependent to have a stake in community discussions.
Poverty and Young Women
Another concerning aspect of unemployment and youth poverty in Tanzania is the often traumatic consequences it has for girls, as many have to exchange their bodies in order to make a living or attain decent jobs.
Not only does this take an extreme physical and mental toll, but it can also push women and girls further into a state of hardship, as Dr. Banks explains that sex work can “create an entire future life that is more vulnerable than it would be otherwise.” Indeed, if a girl falls pregnant, she has to drop out of school and her family could kick her out of her home, only pushing her further into poverty. However, for many girls that have to provide for their families, sex work is the only work available.
Talking to The Borgen Project, Dr. Banks recalls a story she heard in Arusha, Tanzania, where a man spoke of his neighbor who “threw his daughter out of the house” for participating in sex work to buy food for her family. This is again indicative of the impossible responsibilities placed on young people in Tanzania, as girls feel the pressure to support their families but are shunned when they use the only means they have to do so.
An Overlooked Demographic
The problem of youth poverty in Tanzania and in the wider world is of particular difficulty as governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) often overlook the youth demographic when addressing poverty.
This is due to a number of reasons. For instance, NGOs tend to focus more on causes related to child poverty as opposed to youth poverty, as a campaign featuring a baby or child in distress compared to a young adult is more likely to evoke sympathy from the public and thus bring in donations.
Dr. Banks also highlights that the “fixation on measurable outcomes and measurable interventions” from governments also means it is easier to take action on child poverty than it is on youth poverty. She explains that whilst there is a large amount of research and data on issues such as “childhood stunting and vaccination rates,” which allow foreign governments to show the impact of where their aid is going and “make the public feel good about their investments,” it is much harder to measure the impact of aid on young people.
Restless Development Tanzania
Whilst young people struggle for recognition from governments and NGOs in the fight to end poverty, Restless Development is an outlier. The NGO has run youth-led programs in Tanzania for over 25 years, helping to fight for the rights of young people and address poverty and unemployment.
The NGO seeks to empower young people to use their voices and improve their own lives through programs such as Kijana Wajibika, which aims to make youths a key focus of development and governance processes. The program achieves this by educating young people on their rights and encouraging them to engage politically and hold the government to account.
Restless Development’s East Africa Youth Inclusion Program (EAYIP) has also helped improve the lives of 25,000 economically disadvantaged young people across Tanzania and Uganda. The program seeks to increase job opportunities for young people by equipping them with skills to enter employment, as well as providing access to finance in order to start or grow their businesses.
A Look Ahead
Although Restless Development and other partner organizations have made efforts to address youth poverty in Tanzania, more work is necessary. It is crucial to take action to create more job opportunities for young people in Tanzania, not only to improve their livelihoods, but also to allow them to take charge of their lives, and their autonomy.
– Priya Thakkar
Photo: Flickr