ZanzADAPT: Zanzibar Women’s Leadership in Adaptation by Community Forests International

The Zanzibar Women’s Leadership in Adaptation Project (ZanzADAPT) aims to enhance gender equality and nature-based climate adaptation in Zanzibar’s vulnerable coastal communities. By focusing on regenerative livelihood actions, the project will primarily benefit women, along with their households and communities, fostering ecological, social, and economic resilience to climate change. ZanzADAPT tackles gender inequality, poverty, and climate vulnerability through three intermediate outcomes, promoting gender equality and climate adaptation with biodiversity benefits. It will implement a comprehensive approach across Unguja and Pemba Islands, improving equitable access to resources and enhancing skills for gender-responsive, nature-based adaptation practices.The initiative focuses on enhancing gender equality and boosting the capacity for nature-based climate adaptation within vulnerable coastal communities in Zanzibar, Tanzania. It seeks to empower women by increasing their influence and leadership roles in nature-based climate adaptation enterprises and governance structures within these communities.

The initiative focuses on enhancing gender equality and boosting the capacity for nature-based climate adaptation within vulnerable coastal communities in Zanzibar, Tanzania. It seeks to empower women by increasing their influence and leadership roles in nature-based climate adaptation enterprises and governance structures within these communities.

Furthermore, the project aims to enhance the ecological productivity and resilience of agricultural lands through climate-adaptive agroforestry, with a primary focus on benefiting women in the target areas. It also promotes women-led efforts in the protection and restoration of coastal mangrove forest biodiversity, along with the associated ecosystem adaptation values, ensuring that these activities are led by women in the target coastal communities.

This project is structured around two key activities: capacity building and the development of resources, knowledge, and tools. It focuses on media advocacy to promote women’s equality and leadership in nature-based climate adaptation, using a variety of locally preferred storytelling mediums to reach stakeholders.

Gender Equality Training (GET) is offered to both men and women duty-bearers to enhance skills, attitudes, and behaviours that support gender equality in climate adaptation activities. Women beneficiaries receive leadership training in nature-based climate adaptation enterprises, covering business operations, marketing, and financial independence. Governance training is also provided, focusing on community mangrove forest conservation, including policy, advocacy, bylaws, and biodiversity monitoring.

The project offers vocational training in biodiverse, climate-adaptive agroforestry, primarily to women, through field schools and off-site training. Extension support is provided on-site to assist beneficiaries in implementing these agroforestry practices. Physical resources such as durable land tenure and diversified tree seedlings are supplied to help women cultivate climate-adaptive agroforestry landscapes. Facilities for cooperative post-harvest processing are also made available to support these occupations.

Technical training is given to beneficiaries, mainly women, in community-based mangrove forest conservation frameworks and related livelihoods. Extension support is provided to help apply these frameworks within target communities. Legal powers, including Community Forests Management Agreements (CoFMAs), are granted to women, ensuring their decision-making and access rights in mangrove forest management. Additionally, physical resources like ecosystem monitoring, mapping, and communication equipment are provided to enable women to lead these conservation efforts.