Women in Zanzibar are socially and economically disadvantaged in many aspects. In
view of this, the government made efforts to ensure women empowerment through
development programmes such as Agriculture Services Support Programme (ASSP).
However, the extent of socio-economic empowerment on women in rural areas is scanty.
Therefore, this study aimed at assessing the contribution of ASSP intervention to socio-
economic empowerment of rural women in Zanzibar. Specifically, the study assessed the
ASSP empowerment strategies, women participation levels and attitude towards ASSP.
The study also compared empowerment levels between programme and non-programme
members. Primary data were collected using a structured questionnaire from 200 women
in ten shehia of Mkoani district. Women empowerment levels were measured by using a
Women Empowerment Index (WEI). The hypothesis to demonstrate the differences of
women empowerment between programme and non-programme members was tested
using Mann-Whitney U-test. The results showed high extent of women participation in
study visits, training and regular meetings and moderate participation was noted on
Participatory Action Research (PAR) and Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA). Women
benefited socially and economically due to their participation in ASSP. The results
suggested high level of empowerment for women in the ASSP programme. This was
confirmed by Mann-Whitney U-test, which revealed increased in women decision making
on production resources, increase in income and contribution on household expenses.
However, mobility decision and asset ownership did not differ among ASSP and non-
ASSP members due to Islamic socialization culture. Women’s attitude towards ASSP
was positive indicating that strategies used to empower women were appropriate, while
the lack of investment capital and time constraints hampered women's participation in the
programme. Based on these findings, it is concluded that the initiative taken by theiii
government through ASSP left significant change on rural women's socio-economic status
in Mkoani district. However, consideration of the women financial support is among other
things recommended for other coming women empowerment programmes
