Effectiveness of Youth Engagement Strategies For Climate Change and Sustainable Development Agenda in Monduli District

Abstract

This paper employed a triangulation of methods in assessing the effectiveness of youth engagement strategies in climate change agenda and sustainable development within Naitolia village, in Monduli district Tanzania. Nonprobability sampling techniques were used to determine a total of 147 youthful respondents aged between 15 and 35 years from Ormang’wai and Engusero sub-villages. Qualitative data were collected using FGDs, in-depth interviews and direct field observations; while quantitative data were captured through administered questionnaires. The results reveal that 81.0% of the respondents knew of the explicit and implicit engagement strategies in the area. The binary logistic regression model showed that mixed livelihoods and education systems significantly influenced the respondents’ awareness and engagement trends in priority development goals. Most engagement strategies embraced a combination of explicit and implicit strategies to enhance livelihood resilience. However, implicit strategic interventions were popular, while explicit strategies were considered ineffective and tokenistic due to mismatched execution of misaligned ‘one-size-fits-all’ policies. In spite of increasing awareness on climate change, existing youth engagement strategies are still misplaced, tokenistic and ineffective in guaranteeing sustainable development in a rapidly changing climate. The paper recommends proper mapping and inclusion of key stakeholders to raise public awareness and resource harmonization for enhanced youth engagement in climate change and sustainable development. Specifically, it recommends concrete paradigm shifts in governance, education systems, skills development pathways and financial accessibility to create enabling environments for effective youth engagement and empowerment in climate change, and beyond priority development goals.