Child care in Zanzibar has been faced with several challenges particularly to employed mothers who need to report at work daily. Working mothers have to leave their infants to unskilled neighbouring mothers, and relatives who volunteer to look at the children. - Ms Maryam Maulid, a care taker, says she has been caring for infants from the date of birth to age of three years. She mentions that in 13 years of her work the big challenge has been getting used to newborn baby. Another caring mother Ms Khadija Hussein mentions other challenges as delay of mothers to pick-up their children on time at the end of the day. The caring mothers say they love and value their work of caring for children…

Zanzibar Islands , which is among the developing countries of Africa , has not been spared from environmental degradation particularly cutting down of trees for firewood and charcoal production - Trees have been cut down in many parts of Zanzibar , and it can be easily noticed by seeing many sacks and bunches of firewood along the roads for selling in villages. The charcoal trade provides income opportunities for many people in the urban areas, through small scale retail businesses which are mostly run by women. Charcoal and firewood are important commodities produced from natural forests or trees outside the forest by the rural poor and are largely used in urbanized areas to meet domest…

Hat wearing has been one of the unique cultures of Zanzibar for decades. The hats popularly known as kofia ya kiua is made locally mainly by young women who take about one to five weeks to complete one hat, depending on how busy is the person making the hat. - Ms Hasna Haji Ameir is a young woman in Paje village, south of Zanzibar Stone who says that hats are made from a piece of cloth weaved by threads, ‘it take me about five weeks to complete a hat, because I have other business to do,’ said Ms Hasna adding that she normally sales a hat at fifteen thousand Tanzania shillings in the village. These hats are traditionally worn by the men of Zanzibar . But you will find them on…

Dagaa is the famous name for small eatable fish in Zanzibar. The small fish is mainly dried and sold. Drying fish has been one of the main activities for people including women living near the sea. The small fish or fry is dried and sold locally, but the business has been hampered by lack of enough capital and reliable market. - ‘The biggest challenge in the fish drying business is lack of reliable market. The market stops in just a small place’, Mr Makame Vuai, a villager who deals with drying fish said in an interview, adding that many women need to do the business but lack capital which is about 300,000/= (Tanzania shillings equivalent to about US 200 dollars). Ms Time Kha…

Zanzibar has been practicing multi-party a democracy since 1992, and already the Islands have had three multi-party general elections. But since then there was only one unsuccessful attempt by a woman in 2000 general elections to vie for presidency. He failure was attributed to lack of support from her fellow women. - Women in the Muslim majority Islands of Zanzibar are well socialized into the idea of voting and political participation, but they are afraid and have no confidence, says Ms Maryam Hamad. When one goes to political rallies for example at the ongoing campaigns, Zanzibar women are usually the majority. One then wonders why, in spite of women's noticeable interest in poli…

For a long time, traders and customers in Zanzibar have suffered the filthy environment. Although Zanzibar Municipal Council (ZMC) gets funding from donors and collects revenue daily from traders, little has been done to keep the town clean. - Vendors and petty traders pay between Tanzania shillings 200/= to 500/= to the Municipal council daily for cleaning, but the untidy surrounding particularly at the famous Malindi port fish market shows that no efforts were being made to observe hygiene. Mr Hassan Juma Ali , a fish seller in the dirty environment at Malindi port in Zanzibar, blames the municipal authorities, ‘we pay compulsory 500/= shillings for cleanliness but the council has…

Health officials have cautioned the public of fake and expired medicines, and cosmetics in Zanzibar market, as they asked the consumers to take extra-precaution when buying the items from the medical shops. - The warning has been issued by the 'Zanzibar Food, Drugs, & Cosmetics Board (ZFDB) registrar Dr Burhan Othman Simai when giving a briefing about the outcome of the survey conducted by his office in July this year in pharmacies to identify substandard, fake and expired goods on Unguja and Pemba islands. He says that most of the fake and expired commodities including family planning contraceptives pills were 'silent killers,' and harmful to the body including intern…

As trucks loaded with vegetables, yams, bananas, sweet potatoes, and fruits arrive at markets every morning with farmers to sell produce to hundreds of people, complains about premature farms products increases. - One man named Ahmed Simba, complained to a trader after buying premature papaya (fruit), which visibly looked good and attractive, but it was ‘acidic and tasteless. This suggests that the papaya was harvested premature.’ A middle-aged woman also complained on the streets after buying premature sweet bananas which were purportedly forced to get yellow just to show that the bananas were ready to be consumed. ‘This is really a burden; we never enjoy fresh mat…

For the people of Zanzibar , fishing and farming are the main economic activities. From the beginning of the 19th century to the mid-1970s Zanzibar exported a large proportion of the world's supply of cloves. Some diversification has occurred since then as the world market price for cloves fell dramatically in the 1980s, but cloves are still a major export, along with coconut products and other spices. In recent years, seaweed has also become an important export commodity. - In 1989, seaweed farming was introduced on the east coast of Unguja ( Zanzibar Island ) from the Philippines and has since become a vital source of income for coastal villagers or people living near beaches. Sea…

People in Zanzibar Islands welcomed Eid with open hands and pockets as they visited shops for new clothes and entertainment grounds in town to celebrate this joyous annual occasion. Children living in the suburbs normally rush to town to celebrate at different entertainment grounds because similar grounds with items for playing are not in the villages - The celebrations starts with people going to market with the kid stores that offer clothes and toys at reasonable prices at least two days before Eid Day which begins with prayers in all mosques. As for housewives, sweets make a good part of Eid preparations. The biggest challenge remain hiking prices during Ramadan and before eid day. Ch…

An increasing number of Zanzibaris living in urban areas are finding it harder to put enough food on the table and to dress in new cloths, many people and traders are complaining. - ‘The prices of food and clothes are very high’, said Ms Zuwena Mohamed, a mother of two children. ‘There is enough food stuff in shop and clothes on streets when we do not have enough income to buy what we need.’ Things are very difficult for the majority of us. Everything is beyond our reach. If you go to the shop or market this week, the price of a commodity will be a certain amount, but if you don't buy it then, instead waiting till next week, then that same commodity will cost…

Despite positive steps in improving laws, persons with disabilities in Zanzibar continue to face several challenges including inaccessible building, and difficulties in participating in elections, it has been observed here in Zanzibar stone town in a forum to discuss the 'rights of disabilities ahead of the general elections.' - The forum organized by the Zanzibar National Association for the Blind (ZANAB) with support from the 'foundation for civil society, aimed at discussing how electoral commission could help people living with disabilities exercise their rights with no trouble. ‘Zanzibar government deserves praise for enacting laws and ratifying the Convention o…

The plights of the orphans are known but little efforts are being taken by the community to help them live a decent life. However, in Zanzibar there have been new moves to raise awareness for the general public to help the orphans. - Orphanages are meant for people without parents, mainly the father. Majority of the orphans are picked from homes abandoned by their parents. This implies that they do not have relatives to care for them. For these reason orphans lack the usually ambiance enjoyed in the family circle as well as the basic amenities of life and are more or less neglected by the general public. It is bad enough to be orphan in many countries and adding the lack of basic and soc…

Politicians in Zanzibar have began preparing for the general elections that will for the first time lead to coalition government after decades of political conflicts on the Indian Ocean Islands which merged with Tanganyika to form the united republic of Tanzania in 1964. - Seven presidential candidates have approved to contest for Zanzibar presidency in the much awaited October this year general elections, but the candidates at the front are Dr Ali Mohamed Shein standing for ruling party- CCM, and the opposition- CUF's Mr Seif Sharif Hamad. The parties have been at foe since the start of the small islands with estimated population of about 1.2 million was in the past had political p…

Although arguably the trend of unmarried births to teens or early pregnancy has continually declined over the past decade in many communities, in some areas in developing countries such as Zanzibar still remains a great concern. - Currently in Zanzibar islands, the semi-autonomous islands of Zanzibar, the trend of births to young at the age of 15 years and 18 years, unmarried parents is on the increase and there are serious concerns for all family members of pregnant or parenting teens. Although there is no clear statistics about the scale the problem in Zanzibar Islands, the islands' minister of education and vocational training Mr Haroun Ali Suleiman says there was about seven percent…

The first Catholic Church which was built in 1867 is now undergoing major renovation including roofing of the two towers or minarets. Although Christian population is small and fluctuates, masses are normally conducted mainly on Sundays. The first Christmas mass was held in the church in 1898. - Mr Evaristus Mushi, Zanzibar Parish Priest said the catholic church, named St Joseph cathedral, was now dilapidated and requires major renovation of mainly the two towers, walls, and paints affected by salty moisture from the nearby ocean. The renovation work estimated to cost more than Tanzania shillings 42million, has already started by contribution from church parishioners who fundraised about…

Families in Zanzibar, one of the poor areas of the Tanzania in the Indian Ocean islands, agriculture plays a key role. The majority women in the villages of the islands depend on it, particularly coconut farming and making of the coconut fibre for their means of economic sustenance. Coconut trees shape the landscape. Yet, the crops yield scarcely enough income to meet a family's needs. - That is why several rural area families have decided to roll up their sleeves and find innovative ways to improve their living conditions, including rock breaking into pebbles to sale to people needing it for building, and other petty business. In Bwejuu village, about 37 kilometers, south of the Za…

Soil and beach erosion are affecting Zanzibar villages. Some extreme incident occurred at Jambian villages, south of Zanzibar , where coconut trees and a block built to prevent water waves collapsed. - A number of houses including tourists' hotels near seashore in Zanzibar Islands are now under threat due to sea erosion attributed to climate change and expanding careless human activity. The erosion is also attributed cutting down of mangroves trees, and destruction of coral-reefs. The soil and shoreline erosion are putting near by houses at risk of demolition. Zanzibar is an archipelago made up of Unguja and Pemba Islands , and several islets. It is located in the Indian Ocean , abo…

As Tanzania mark the World Population Day (WPD), with its stated global slogan 'Everyone Counts', but children in Zanzibar seem to be far from being counted because they have been left to dwell in poverty by doing 'worst form of child labour'. - Salim Omar at the age of 11, is among about hundred children who involved in the heavy work at Micheweni village, in northern part of Pemba Island to break rocks into pebbles, “we have no choice, but work to live because our parents are poor,” he says. Mrs Fatma Rashid Chumu, a mother of seven children said that about five children died last year because of working in dangerous environment including scorching sun.…

Livestock production is one of the major agricultural activities in Tanzania. The sub sector contributes to national food supply, converts ranch-lands resources into products suitable for human consumption and is a source of cash incomes. It provides about 30 per cent of the Agricultural GDP. - Most of the livestock products are for domestic market. Important exports are live animals, hides and skins. This sub-sector needs to be developed particularly in the dairy farming and its products, meat processing to meet the domestic demand and attract traders from abroad. But livestock keepers complain that despite hard work to keep huge livestock, their earning remain small and discouraging. O…

There is a demonstrable need for resources at all levels in many developing countries in educational system. In both urban and rural areas the majority of the population has been struggling to improve or have access to basic levels of formal education. But the challenge in many governments is to create a successful primary education system by 'increasing school capacities especially in villages, through the development of school infrastructures, the training and the recruitment of new teachers'. - There has been high demand for education in the rural in recent years prompting demand for school benches in response to requests received from the local community. Zanzibar Islands with …

It is estimated that about 650 million people in the world live with disabilities, and frequently encounter a myriad of physical and social obstacles. They often lack the opportunities of the mainstream population and are usually among the most marginalized in society. - Women face barriers to full equality and advancement because of such factors as race, age, language, ethnicity, culture, religion or disability. Persistence of certain cultural, legal and institutional barriers makes women and girls with disabilities the victims of two-fold discrimination: as women and as persons with disabilities. Girls and women of all ages with any form of disability are among the more vulnerable and …

Frequent and regular physical exercise has been shown to help prevent or treat serious and life-threatening chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, obesity, heart disease, diabetes, insomnia, and depression. Endurance exercise before meals lowers blood glucose more than the same exercise after meals, medical doctors say. - In Zanzibar islands, the authorities have decided to encourage people to exercise regularly to avoid the health risks, and also help the government save millions of money to purchase medicines to treat patients. About 14 physical exercises groups have been formed in the Zanzibar stone town to mobilize all people of different age groups to have regular physical …

Despite relatively fertile land and many experts in agriculture, people in many areas in East African region still dwell in poverty and repeatedly struck with food shortage. These problems have raised international concerns prompting governments and NGOs to come-up with strategies to improve farming. The strategy to improve farming in Tanzania has been dubbed 'KILIMO Kwanza' meaning 'farming first.' - Gatsby Trust Tanzania limited has joined in to develop agriculture in the country by launching a project to support entrepreneurs with a special focus to small farmers. Speaking at the launch of the development Plan held in Zanzibar, Stone town, the The Gatsby Trust- Tanza…

As the calendar for the fourth multiparty general elections draws closer, promoting women's participations in the elections has been gaining momentum as the government, Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC), and international organizations have joined forces to conduct public forums and training sessions to enhance the women leadership in decision making in the preparation for the elections - The United Nations Development Programmers (UNDP) has launched series of activities, under its programmers dubbed ‘Election Support Programmers (ESP)’ to encourage women participation in politics including contesting in the upcoming general elections scheduled for October 31st this year. …