Zanzibar has expanded its use of Tanzania’s main social protection programme as authorities adapt poverty reduction efforts to rising climate and economic pressures, a senior official said on Thursday.
The Second Vice President of the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar, Hemed Suleiman Abdulla, said the Tanzania Social Action Fund (TASAF) is playing a growing role in cushioning vulnerable households while also responding to new drivers of poverty, including climate change.
Addressing the House of Representatives while presenting the Office of the Second Vice President’s 2026/2027 budget estimates, Abdulla said the programme has been adjusted to reflect shifting socio-economic realities in the islands.
He said during the third phase of TASAF, which ended in September 2025, the government carried out a nationwide targeting exercise across 75 shehias in Unguja and Pemba to identify poor households.
The exercise covered 13,919 households, including 899 in Unguja and 13,020 in Pemba, and focused on indicators of poverty linked to environmental stress, particularly climate-related shocks affecting agriculture and livelihoods.
“The exercise was designed to collect accurate data on poverty conditions and understand how climate change is influencing household vulnerability,” Abdulla said.
He said TASAF has combined cash transfers with small production grants as part of efforts to provide both immediate relief and longer-term income support.
According to official figures, the government disbursed 1.75 billion Tanzanian shillings to 27,886 poor households across Unguja and Pemba. In addition, 41.9 million shillings in production grants were issued to 135 beneficiary households in Unguja to support income-generating activities.
Officials say the approach reflects a gradual shift in social protection policy, moving beyond pure consumption support towards building resilience and economic inclusion.
Abdulla said the programme has also been extended into basic social infrastructure, particularly education. He said 347.5 million shillings was spent on constructing 19 classrooms in Kendwa, Mtangani and Dodo schools, aimed at improving learning environments.
“These interventions are part of a broader strategy to strengthen human capital while addressing poverty at its root causes,” he said.
The government has also allocated 100 million shillings for TASAF activities in the 2025/2026 financial year, signalling continued commitment to the programme as a key pillar of social welfare policy.
Development experts say Tanzania’s social protection model is increasingly being shaped by climate vulnerability, particularly in coastal and island regions such as Zanzibar, where livelihoods are heavily dependent on agriculture, fishing and tourism.
TASAF, one of the country’s flagship anti-poverty programmes, has been widely used to provide conditional and unconditional cash transfers to low-income households, while gradually integrating livelihood support components aimed at reducing long-term dependency.
