The government has called for stronger cooperation between the Ministry of Youth Development and the Tanzania Rural and Urban Roads Agency (TARURA) to expand employment opportunities for young people through community-based road maintenance.
Minister of State in the President’s Office responsible for Youth Development, Mr Joel Nanauka, said the Community-Based Routine Maintenance (CBRM) programme could provide an avenue for young people and other community members to earn incomes while contributing to the maintenance of local roads.
Mr Nanauka made the remarks after visiting the TARURA pavilion at the Nanenane National and International Agricultural Exhibition at the Dkt John Malecela grounds in Dodoma.
He said greater public awareness was needed to ensure communities understood how the programme works and how they could participate.
“It is important to accelerate public education on the opportunities available through the CBRM programme. I also propose regular meetings between the Ministry of Youth Development and TARURA to strengthen cooperation and ensure the programme’s objectives are achieved,” he said.
The minister’s call comes as TARURA moves to expand the programme from its current operations in four regions to all 25 mainland regions during the 2026/27 financial year.
According to TARURA headquarters CBRM coordinator, Engineer Richard Missa, the programme was launched in Tanga, Morogoro, Dodoma and Coast regions during the 2025/26 financial year.
He said more than 1,500 kilometres of roads were being maintained by 302 community groups under the programme during the year.
The agency plans to increase the scale of the programme significantly in the next financial year, targeting more than 7,000 kilometres of roads and providing opportunities for about 1,100 community groups.
Engineer Missa said the programme was designed to improve routine maintenance of roads while increasing community participation and creating employment and income-generating opportunities.
The expansion could also give local communities a greater stake in maintaining roads that connect them to markets, schools, health facilities and other essential services.
TARURA has also pledged to continue educating the public about the programme and its implementation, with the aim of increasing community participation.
The agency is using the Nanenane exhibition to explain its mandate, provide information on road infrastructure and showcase projects being implemented across the country.
For young people in particular, the expansion of CBRM presents an opportunity to participate in public infrastructure maintenance while earning income within their communities.
