{
  "id": 14202524,
  "title": "How Sharjah’s Big Heart Foundation is helping Zanzibar’s women farmers secure better incomes",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/13/how-sharjahs-big-heart-foundation-is-helping-zanzibars-women-farmers",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-13T12:03:25.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Gulf News",
    "slug": "gulf-news",
    "url": "https://gulfnews.com/uae/people/how-sharjahs-big-heart-foundation-is-helping-zanzibars-women-farmers-secure-better-incomes-1.500708923"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In Zanzibar, a social enterprise project is transforming the lives of seaweed farmers, particularly women, by providing training, farming inputs, technical support, and market access. Nadhifa Ibrahimu, a 35-year-old mother of four, spent over 112 days each year in the shallow waters tending her seaweed crop. However, her efforts were often met with uncertainty, as buyers were not guaranteed and weather conditions could ruin her harvest. In 2025, she lost two harvests due to a buyer's absence and sudden rain. Before joining the Seaweed Social Enterprise Project, Nadhifa could only earn around TZS 960,000 ($369) annually from seaweed farming. Today, with the project's support, 200 farmers, 88% of whom are women, have completed training in cultivation, farm management, harvesting, post-harvest handling, financial literacy, and contract farming. Additionally, 171 farmers have signed formal production agreements, and 168 have received production inputs. The initiative has deployed 12 community-based extension officers to provide technical guidance and monitor farm quality. By selling fresh seaweed at TZS 250 per kilogram, farmers can now earn up to TZS 3 million annually, a significant increase from their previous earnings. The project aims to raise productivity by as much as 30%, addressing challenges such as limited access to farming equipment, weak market connections, post-harvest losses, and declining productivity due to changing sea temperatures. For women like Nadhifa, the project provides more time for her children, household, and the next farming cycle.",
  "summary": "Dubai: For more than 112 days each year, Nadhifa Ibrahimu walks into the shallow waters off Zanzibar’s coast to tend the seaweed that helps support her family. The 35-year-old mother of four from Muungoni Village has spent years laying cultivation lines, tending crops through the tides and waiting for harvest time. But for Nadhifa, reaching the harvest was never the end of the uncertainty. She…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}