Shujaaz – turning footballers into farmers! [ARCHIVE]

The last week of June witnessed yet another mind-blowing East Africa Cup event in Moshi, Tanzania where youth from 6 East African countries met to challenge each other in the game of soccer. The event is organized each year by the agricultural organization YARA who kindly invited Shujaaz to attend.

Shujaaz couldn’t miss the chance to get in on some of the action and to spice things up a bit with a ‘Shujaaz Village’. Every day about 150 players & spectators came to hang out in our village, to play PlayStation, pool and shoot hoops while getting inspiring, practical information on how to make money from agriculture.

Young ‘agriprenures’ showcased how they were making a living from agriculture, turning many people’s negative perceptions of a farming as a ‘dirty, impoverished lifestyle’ upside down. They were young people, living life to full and looking great while doing it! Questions were asked, contacts shared and attitudes shifted. Mohammed Kombo (21) visited the village and told us “I’m just farming at the moment but now I see an opportunity to package my produce. I have learnt to add another step to my hustle. Thanks Shujaaz village”.

We also sent a mobile village into Moshi town which had locals exploding with excitement! It provided an exciting opportunity for us to stir up conversations about opportunities in agriculture, answering questions and to hand out prizes to the excited crowds.

Another highlight of this year’s EA Cup was a Shujaaz learning event where different stakeholders dealing with youth and agriculture were invited to hear our latest findings and insights from our annual national survey. We will be sharing our report on the website in the next few days.

The East Africa Cup 2017 was lit. It was the ideal format for young people to have fun while thinking about their future and what they want to do with their lives. Most youth pledged to try the ideas they learned and to share their stories with their friends and families back home.

It just goes to show the impact of having people directly engage with our brand and we look forward to having more opportunities to bring Shujaaz to our audience in new and exciting ways.

Lucky Komba, Shujaaz Producer TZ