Join our Women Empowerment Project in a rural village in Zanzibar, where you’ll work alongside local women to support sustainable farming initiatives. Volunteers help teach women how to grow their own vegetables, fruits, herbs, and spices—equipping them with practical skills to generate income and improve food security. This hands-on project fosters self-reliance, confidence, and community upliftment, all while immersing you in the rich culture and daily life of Zanzibari women.
| Starting days | Starting days are Monday to Friday all year around except December and Ramadan |
| Minimum Requirements | 2 weeks and longer (subject to visa requirements). A minimum age of 18 years old and older. |
| Cost | £800 for 2 weeks and £250 for each additional week |
| What is included | Airport pick-up and drop-off in Zanzibar, shared accommodation at the volunteer house, a visa support letter (if required), full pre-departure support and admin, orientation and induction, 24/7 in-country staff support, three meals a day (Monday to Friday), drinking water, Wi-Fi at the volunteer house, daily transfers to and from your project placement, and all additional running costs. |
| What is not included | Flights, visa fees, Zanzibar travel insurance (ZIC), personal spending money, weekend transport, recreational activities, vaccinations (if required), laundry detergent, and any additional meals outside the volunteer house. |
| Best for | Ideal for career breakers, students, or qualified Social Work and Clinical Psychology Perfect for career breakers, nature enthusiasts, those with an agricultural or farming background, a passion for gardening, or anyone eager to support and empower women. |
Project description
Make a lasting impact on our Women Empowerment project by supporting women in rural Zanzibar through a hands-on empowerment initiative in Chuini Village in the west district of Magharibi. As a volunteer, you’ll spend your days from Monday to Friday—and occasionally weekends if you are up to it—working closely with local Zanzibari women between their homes and the community greenhouse. This experience offers the perfect balance—spend your days immersed in rural village life on the island, return to the vibrant energy of Stone Town in the afternoons, and enjoy weekends exploring Zanzibar’s stunning beaches.
In many rural communities like Chuini Village, women are the backbone of the household—but they often lack access to resources, training, and opportunities to earn an income. Empowering women to grow and sell their own market produce is not just about business—it’s about dignity, independence, and putting food on the table. When women are equipped with farming skills and sustainable practices, they can feed their families, contribute to household income, and become more self-reliant. This kind of empowerment creates a ripple effect—stronger women mean stronger families and more resilient communities.
This grassroots project focuses on building life skills, promoting sustainable farming, and supporting small-scale income-generating activities. You’ll assist with greenhouse work including soil preparation, seedling production, and gardening, while also participating in farming techniques that support local food security. A key part of the initiative involves waste management education, where you’ll help separate recyclable materials, repurpose kitchen waste for compost, and learn how innovative solutions like the black soldier fly are used to transform organic waste into protein-rich feed for chickens.
A key part of the Women Empowerment project is helping local women improve their conversational English, which is an essential skill in a region where tourism and trade offer potential income opportunities. Through daily interaction, informal lessons, and real-life practice, volunteers support the women in gaining the confidence to communicate more effectively. This exchange often goes both ways—while volunteers share language skills and introduce new ideas or practical techniques, they also learn from the women’s deep knowledge of traditional crafts and culture. It’s a mutual journey of growth, learning, and empowerment.
The Women Empowerment project is not just about farming, gardening and teaching—it’s about collaboration, cultural exchange, and creating opportunities. By volunteering, you become part of a community effort to empower women with practical tools for self-sufficiency and sustainability. Volunteers are welcome to bring ideas to the table if they have special skills that could be an added advantage to upskill the women.
We also welcome volunteers who wish to lead discussions or workshops on important topics such as feminine hygiene, women’s health, mental well-being, and other challenges women face daily.
Your volunteer duties may be:
- Support and facilitate life skills development activities with local women
- Assist with female health care awareness workshops and discussions
- Help with farming and gardening both at the community greenhouse and at women’s homes in the village
- Participate in soil preparation and seedling production for sustainable food growing
- Engage in waste management efforts including recycling, separating materials, and turning kitchen waste into compost
- Teach and practice conversational English to help improve confidence and communication while learning a little Swahili
- Share or support additional crafts or practical skills, such as sewing, soap-making, beadwork, or other income-generating ideas
Typical Day
06h30- wake up, have a quick shower and help yourself to breakfast
07h30- leave for the village
08h00- arrive at the village to start the day.
13h00- finish the morning shift
13h30- arrive back at the volunteer accommodation in Stone Town and help yourself to a late lunch
14h30 – enjoy the afternoon with a good book, take a beach swim, stroll the maze of alleys in Stone town or visit a local market. Or just catch up on laundry.
19h00 – Dinner time and a chance to watch a little TV and catch up with the other volunteers and coordinators how their day was.
Please be aware though as you are in Africa, things might run at a slight slower pace than what you are used too.
Accommodation
The Women Empowerment volunteer accommodation is in a large apartment in Malindi on the outskirts of Stone Town. It has free Wi-Fi that volunteers are able to use, and the office of the local team is also located within the same building. It is well situated allowing easy access to all the various project sites- and not too far from the beach. Travel time from the volunteer accommodation to project sites is therefore a maximum of 30 minutes’ drive.
The volunteer accommodation can accommodate up to 15 volunteers at one time with a kitchen, living area and five bedrooms and several bathrooms shared with other volunteers.
Bedrooms are shared with two to three other volunteers of the same gender. Married couples can be accommodated too, and single bedrooms are possibly with an upgrade charge. Bed linen and mosquito nets are provided and electric fans for the heat.
Bathrooms are equipped with western style toilets and showers. Volunteers will need to bring their own towels and toiletries. There is a washing machine to do laundry, but you will need to bring your own laundry detergent. Or you can do handwashing.
As the Women Empowerment volunteer accommodation is a shared living space on the second floor, all volunteers are expected to help keep the accommodation tidy. To assist with the cooking and cleaning there is a local “mama” who works several days a week. The accommodation also has a sitting room (common room) where volunteers can relax, socialise with other volunteers and the local team as well as watching TV, Netflix or just relaxing on the sofa with a good book. There is a curfew if volunteers go out in the evening to be back before midnight.
As volunteers become familiar with the project site, they are encouraged to use public transport (buses – dala dala) to experience local life.
Food
Volunteers are provided with three local meals per day during weekdays (breakfast, lunch and dinner). Breakfast is self-serve at the accommodation and includes tea, coffee, fruits, bread (with Nutella and jam), eggs, etc. Lunch and dinner are prepared in the volunteer house. Drinking water is provided.
Your stay will typically include daily breakfast and dinner (although self-catering may be arranged in some instances). Depending on your schedule and the location of your placement, self-served (“raid the refrigerator”) lunches will be available at home or you may want to take a packed lunch. You will eat traditional Zanzibari/Swahili cuisine (simple but healthful foods including fresh fish and chicken, rice-based dishes, chapati and bread, fresh vegetables and fruits and juices). We can accommodate vegetarians if you let us know in advance.
During weekend, volunteers are free to use the kitchen if they wish to cook but they can also go out with or without volunteer coordinators.
Location
We simply love Zanzibar! It has so much to offer from nature, beaches, great food, culture and history! Added to the fact the weather is great and even in rainy season, you get a downpour and then the sun comes out again!
Your arrival and departure airport for the Womens Empowerment project, is Abeid Amani Karume International Airport in Zanzibar. You will be met warmly by our representative and taken to the volunteer house during daylight hours. Please wait at the arrivals entrance to be collected by them and do not leave the airport area.
The airport is approximately a 17-minute drive (8km) from the volunteer house in the Malindi region outside of Stone Town. Airport collection and drop-off days are Monday to Friday with your arrival flight landing any time before 17h00 and your departure flight leaving any time after 10h00.
If you would like flights outside of these guidelines, please confirm with us so we can make suitable arrangements for your airport transfers if possible.
Most of our Womens Empowerment volunteers and interns can enjoy the opportunity to swim every day and/or take part in the nightly community football games on the beach. Watching the sunset in the evenings (we have some spectacular ones) and visiting the beach at daybreak to watch the fishermen bring in their catch are special pleasures.
Weekends are the perfect time to take in some day trips to visit the turtle sanctuary in the northern parts of the island, take a boat trip to see the giant Aldabra tortoises on Prison Island, hike Jozani National park to view endangered Red Colobus monkeys, visit the butterfly farm, tour the fragrant spice farms, take traditional dhow boat trips, visit the Freddy Mercury Museum at Mercury House, snorkel one of the hot spots like Mnemba Atoll, visit heritage sites like the old Slave market or House of Wonder or buy spices and other goods at Darajani market.
Stone Town has been named a UNESCO World Heritage site -for good reason- and wandering through its maze of narrow alleyways, visiting its museums, marketplaces, gardens, coffee and tea houses and wharf is another pleasure and takes you back in time. Not to mention some of the best seafood and traditional local curries can be sampled in the various eating establishments doted around the town or at the night food market at Forodhani Gardens.
There are frequent outdoor musical events in the Old Fort and at various venues in the city and at the local dance clubs. Once a year there is the well-known Dhow Festival that takes place.
Zanzibar has a wealth of beautiful beaches, world class snorkelling, diving, and fishing, spice farms and numerous other interesting places to visit while you are volunteering…a true African island paradise.
For more information or to book, either fill in the contact form or please email info@volunteerinternationaladventures.com. You might also be interested in our other Zanzibar volunteer projects
