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Crossing Continents: Seaweed, Sex and Liberation in Zanzibar

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Seaweed, Sex and Liberation in Zanzibar

16/08/2018

BBC Radio 4 - Crossing Continents, Seaweed, Sex and Liberation in Zanzibar

The crop that has put women on top in Zanzibar.

Seaweed is big business in Zanzibar and thousands of women have gained more control of their lives thanks to it.

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.

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