MBEYA, Oct. 27 -- FOR too long, farming in Tanzania has been associated with the hand-held hoe, backbreaking labour and plots so small that they barely feed a family.

For young people, this image has been a powerful deterrent. Agriculture has often appeared to be a dead end, a means of survival rather than a pathway to success.

However, a quiet shift is underway in Tanzanias rice-growing heartlands. The power tiller is changing not only how young people farm but also how they perceive agriculture.

Evidence comes from Mbarali District in Mbeya Region, where a study of the Norges Vel Youth Enterprise Model examined youth groups participating in a power tiller programme alongside those that were not.

The findings reveal an important less...