How investments in early childhood centres in Zanzibar are unlocking women’s earning power

 

In Zanzibar, Tanzania, women like Munira Abdallah Abdallah are experiencing transformation in their economic lives, thanks to investments in early childhood centres. A grandmother and sea moss farmer, she now has a safe place to leave her grandchild while she works to improve her livelihood.

Each morning, Munira Abdallah Abdallah (44) wakes up early to prepare breakfast for her family and get her two-year-old grandchild ready. After dropping him off at a daycare centre, she sets out on a three-kilometer walk to the ocean, where she cultivates sea moss.

A mother of six, Ms. Abdallah lives in Muungoni, a small village located in the southern region of Zanzibar, Tanzania. She learned sea moss farming at 17 but had to stop after having her first child due to the demanding nature of the work.

In January of this year (2024), she heard about a new childcare centre established by the local government, UN Women Tanzania, and the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE).

“At the time, an opportunity came up to start farming sea moss again through my women’s savings and credit cooperative. I’m my grandson’s primary caretaker because my daughter works hours away, so the childcare centre provided an opportunity for me to take him somewhere I can trust while I make an income,” she explained.

In Zanzibar, the sea moss sector reportedly employs over 23,000 residents, the majority of whom are women. These women spend up to six hours a day cultivating sea moss. Working mothers often face a difficult choice: leaving their young children with a neighbour or relative or bringing them to the work site, where they must juggle between their farming duties and keeping their children safe.

For Ms. Abdallah and many other women in the community, the childcare centre has been a game-changer.

“There are so many benefits,” she says with a smile. “I can focus fully on my work, knowing my grandchild is well taken care of.”

Ms. Abdallah also highlights the safety the centre provides, noting, “We often hear about cases of violence against children, so knowing they are in a safe place with trained caretakers makes an incredible difference.”

Addressing Women’s Unpaid Care Work through JPRWEE

The childcare centre in Muungoni is one of three established by UN Women through the UN Joint Programme on Accelerating Progress towards Rural Women’s Economic Empowerment (JPRWEE), a multi-country initiative implemented with FAO, IFAD, and WFP to secure rural women’s livelihoods, rights, and resilience.

Located in a building allocated by the Muungoni local government authority, the centre that Ms. Abdallah relies on is part of UN Women’s efforts to address the disproportionate unpaid care and domestic responsibilities that women face in Tanzania, where they currently spend three times as many hours as men on these tasks. Once the programme concludes, plans are in place for the childcare centre to continue to operate through the Muungoni local government authority.

“These centres are vital to our commitment to creating supportive environments for women to pursue their livelihoods,” says UN Women’s Programme Specialist on Women’s Economic Empowerment, Ms. Lilian Mwamdanga. “By providing this essential service, we significantly reduce the time women like Munira spend on unpaid care responsibilities, allowing them to engage in income-earning activities while ensuring their children are well cared for.”

According to Kikuba Khamis Mcha, who works as a caretaker at the Muungoni childcare centre, the centre now has 20 children enrolled, ranging from six months to five years old. Parents can drop off their children for up to five hours on weekdays.

“Since the majority of the mothers are sea moss farmers, we care for the children during their working hours from 7 a.m. to 12 p.m.,” says Ms. Mcha, who has been an early childhood educator for 26 years. As a former sea moss farmer herself, she added that she understands the challenges these women face, emphasizing that providing a service that frees up their time to earn an income makes a significant difference.

Expanding Women’s Economic Opportunities Beyond Childcare

In addition to interventions to reduce, recognize and redistribute women’s unpaid care and domestic work, under JPRWEE, UN Women Tanzania is implementing targeted interventions in Zanzibar, Dodoma, and Singida.

These efforts advocate for increased access to productive resources such as land for women, enhancing the capacity of women entrepreneurs to add value to their products, improving access to finance and markets, and strengthening the leadership and agency of rural women, particularly within Savings and Credit Cooperatives (SACCOs). UN Women is also working with the Government and stakeholders to develop and enhance policies and laws that respond to rural women’s needs and priorities.

Through these efforts in Zanzibar, over 3,000 community members have been reached through awareness-raising efforts to support and advance women’s economic empowerment and women’s access to and ownership of resources. Additionally, nearly 900 rural women were provided with training on entrepreneurship and financial literacy. Sixty village savings and loan associations were formed with about 15 women members each, where women can collectively save and use members’ savings to lend to each other. Two women leaders’ networks were established in the seaweed, sardines and horticulture value chains to support these women with knowledge exchange, discussion of key sector issues, and collective input into decision-making processes. Over 300 women also received gas cooking stoves at a subsidized cost to reduce the time they spend on cooking and fetching firewood.

In the next few months, Ms. Abdalla says she is looking forward to expanding her sea moss business. “I want to go beyond farming and selling sea moss to producing sea moss gel, soap, and other products that could fetch me a higher price,” she said.

For her, she says, the centre is more than just a childcare facility—it is a vital resource that empowers her to contribute to her family’s well-being.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of UN Women – Africa.