The Contribution of Agricultural Service Support Programme to Socio-economic Empowerment of Rural Women in Zanzibar, Tanzania

Abstract

The existing gender gaps in agriculture cannot be overemphasized. Different approaches and strategies have been used by the development actors to empower women. Using Mkoani District as a study area, the contribution of agricultural programmes towards social-economic empowerment of women was assessed. The study adopted a cross-sectional design, whereby data were collected from 200 respondents. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected. Strategies used for empowering women were descriptively analyzed. Women’s Empowerment Index (WEI) was used to assess socio-economic empowerment levels both for those involved and those not involved in the agricultural programmes. Five constructs were developed and used to assess women’s socio-economic empowerment levels. The findings of the study on which this paper is based show that empowerment levels of women who participated in the programme was slightly higher than non-programme members implying that socio-economic levels of women in the programme improved compared to non programme members. This was confirmed by Mann-Whitney U-test whereby variables such as enhanced women’s decision making on production resources, increased income and contribution of women in household expenses were statistically significant at 0.05. However, freedom of movement and asset ownership were not significant indicating that there were no differences among women participated in Agriculture Service Support Programme (ASSP) and non-ASSP members. It is therefore concluded that programmes such as ASSP through farmer field schools approach improved women’s socio-economic empowerment. Therefore, the paper recommends that women should be encouraged to participate in agricultural related development programme implemented in Zanzibar as most of rural women’s wellbeing depends on agriculture.

Keywords: Women, Socio-economic Empowerment, ASSP, Zanzibar