Tanzania

Swisscontact works in Tanzania in collaboration with the government and local actors as a facilitator in skills development, supporting inclusive economic growth and poverty reduction. We focus on expanding economic opportunities for young people - particularly for youth with limited educational backgrounds and women who became mothers early in life.

To this end, we use an Inclusive Systems Development Approach to improve the technical and vocational educational and training (TVET) system. This means we do not just deliver training – we work to make the system more responsive and inclusive for youth.

Our approach includes 

• Relevant, hands-on training: Labour-market analysis guides the co-development of modular, competency-based courses (e.g., in horticulture, tailoring, food processing) so youth gain skills that translate into income. We pair technical training with entrepreneurship support, financial literacy and soft skills, and post-training mentoring.
• Stronger local institutions: We build the capacity of public and private training providers - especially Folk Development Colleges - through continuing professional development and close collaboration with government, training centres, and communities to raise quality for out-of-school youth.
• Inclusive by design: We promote gender-sensitive, youth-centred delivery and link graduates to start-up kits and savings groups so young people without collateral can launch and grow micro-enterprises.
• Future-ready skills: We integrate green, sustainable and digital practices, such as climate-smart agriculture (e.g., drought-resistant crops) to prepare youth for a climate-resilient, digitised economy.
• Change that lasts: We work through systems, not stand-alone projects - driving local ownership via participatory planning, and using robust monitoring (employment, self-employment, income) and a market-systems lens to fix incentives, information flows, and capacity where it’s needed most.