BY DIRAMAKINI
HUNDREDS of youth and women in Rungwe District, Mbeya Region have benefited from the employment opportunities created by skills development training provided through the Skills Development Fund (SDF) grant,sponserd by World Bank and coordinated by Tanzania Education Authority (TEA) through a fish farming project.
SDF was established by the Government of Tanzania under Ministry of Education, Science and Technology through National Skills Development Strategy (NSDS) 2016-2027 to ensure development of a skilled workforce in key economic sectors in the country.
The director of RiverBanks Fish Farms, Mr.Pius Nyambacha, which is one of the institutions funded by SDF, has noted this when he spoke to a World Bank Representative together with some leaders from Ministry of Education and TEA.
Mr.Nyambacha said, the SDF grant has enabled him to breed fish professionally, including giving him the ability to bearing live young or by laying eggs, thus increasing his production where in the past nine months he has produced 600 kg of fish and thus increased his income.
Through the SDF grant, the RiversBank Fish Farms received funding of Tsh.131.2 million which has enabled the improvement of the infrastructure for the production of fish, modern farming, the purchase of modern farming equipment as well as conducting training for 427 youths and women in Rungwe District.
Nyambacha added that, after capacity building by the SDF, he has succeeded in creating jobs for 726 Tanzanians.
World Bank Representative together with some leaders from Ministry of Education and TEA is in Mbeya region for a four-day visit to assess projects in institutions that have benefited from SDF funding.