The Co-Operative Enterprise and Youths Employment Creation: Prospects and Challenges, (Reflections from Tanzanian Agricultural Sector)

Abstract

Unemployment is among major challenges of development globally. Youths are the highly affected part by unemployment in African population. The governments have failed to adequately meet the employment needs for youths, hence private sector intervention in job creation, such as by co-operatives is needed. The co operative enterprise become among the most viable organization to promote employment for youths. This paper is based on the Tanzania to reflect employment creation through co-operatives in the country. Mainly the paper aims to “determine the opportunities for youth’s employment creating through a co-operative enterprise”. Specifically, the paper aims; to identify the factors contributing to youth’s unemployment and their implications to the youths, to determine the alternative approaches of employment creation for the youths through a co-operative enterprise, and to determine the constraints affecting successful creation of youth employments in co-operatives. The design of the paper is descriptive and more qualitative in its approach. The descriptions will base on the practical experience and theoretical conceptualization of the authors on the matters relating to co-operative and youth’s employment creation and secondary data. For the case of Tanzania, efforts to minimize unemployment among youths can be done through co-operatives in agricultural sector. They can support employment creation either; directly by employing youths a staff, finance youths’ business, facilitate youth access to land and production facilities and forming business for youths with co-operatives, or indirectly by supporting youths to access markets, education and training and linking with creditors. The study will also reveal some challenges in creating youths’ employments through co-operatives as well as providing viable recommendations.