Crossing Continents
Crossing Continents
BBC Radio 4
Seaweed, Sex and Liberation in Zanzibar
28 minutes Posted Aug 16, 2018 at 3:30 am.
0:00
28:19
Download MP3
Show notes

Seaweed is liberating women in a conservative corner of east Africa. Thousands of women have gained more control over their lives thanks to Zanzibar's seaweed farms. In a traditional island village there is a surprisingly high divorce rate and women have safeguarded their interests with earnings from this salty crop which has given them a much needed income and new independence. At first the husbands were outraged - they complained that seaweed farming made women too tired for their matrimonial duties. The women eventually prevailed but their hard won freedom is now threatened by climate change. Lucy Ash meets the seaweed farmers of Paje village and looks at the ways they are fighting to save their livelihood and raise their families.

Producer: Chloe Hadjimatheou.