History often conceals its most enduring lessons in seemingly ordinary places. In Zanzibar, one such lesson grows silently on trees whose fragrance has crossed oceans and centuries: karafuu – cloves.
For more than 200 years, cloves have shaped Zanzibar’s economy, social order and global relevance. They financed education, built households, sustained public services and placed a small archipelago at the heart of global trade linking Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
Few agricultural commodities in Africa can claim such a deep and continuous influence on a people’s destiny.
It is therefore deeply touching that you, a daughter of Zanzibar, raised in a clove-based economy and educated through its proceeds, are marking your birthday today, January 27, 2026 by planting trees in Bungi Kilimo, Kizimkazi.
It is historical continuity in action and a return to roots. It is a reaffirmation of identity and a declaration of future intent.
Cloves transformed Zanzibar from a peripheral trading post into a strategic economic hub, supplying a dominant share of global demand for decades
After the 1964 Revolution, successive presidents of Zanzibar institutionalised cloves as a state-managed strategic crop, recognising its importance to livelihoods and public finance.
Under Zanzibar’s first President, Sheikh Abeid Amani Karume, cloves were nationalised and state control ensured price stability and guaranteed markets for farmers.
During the administrations of presidents Aboud Jumbe and Ali Hassan Mwinyi, cloves remained a cornerstone of Zanzibar’s export earnings, supporting education, healthcare and infrastructure while employing a significant proportion of rural households.
Under President Amani Abeid Karume, reforms sought to modernise agriculture amid growing challenges: aging trees, climate stress and declining productivity.
The administration of President Ali Mohamed Shein emphasised rehabilitation programmes, seedling distribution and renewed attention to farmer welfare, though structural challenges persisted.
Across these eras, cloves consistently contributed the largest share of Zanzibar’s agricultural export revenue and remained central to land use, culture and identity.
Today, under President Hussein Ali Mwinyi, Zanzibar has renewed focus on agricultural productivity, private-sector participation and value addition. Karafuu is a legacy crop, a strategic asset for jobs, exports, climate resilience and industrialisation.
A heritage at risk—and a moment for renewal
Despite its historic importance, the clove economy has faced prolonged decline: aging trees, reduced yields, limited processing capacity, weak branding and diminished global market influence. What was once a source of prosperity risks becoming a symbol of missed opportunity.
Your decision, Madam President, to centre tree planting, especially cloves, in your birthday and environmental agenda sends a powerful message: Tanzania is ready to reclaim the clove story, not through nostalgia, but through regeneration and policy leadership.
As Tanzania and Africa commemorate 200 years of the clove industry, your leadership offers an opportunity to reconnect environmental conservation, women’s empowerment, youth employment, climate action and national pride into one coherent national mission.
Women, mothers and youth: The true pillars of the clove economy
Historically, the clove economy has rested on the labour and resilience of women and youth.
Women (especially mothers) have sorted, dried, stored and traded cloves, sustaining household economies and informal finance systems. Youth harvested, transported and learned discipline, responsibility and seasonal enterprise through clove cycles.
Entire communities thrived on this ecosystem long before the modern language of “value chains,” “inclusive growth,” or “green jobs” emerged.
Looking ahead, the renaissance of cloves must deliberately place women and youth at its centre, supported by:
• Climate-smart agriculture
• Cooperative and blended finance
• Agro-processing and pharmaceutical use
• Branding and geographic indication
• Research, innovation and digital market access
A revived clove sector can once again deliver employment, dignity, export earnings and intergenerational prosperity.
Your Excellency, we respectfully propose that this historic moment be institutionalised.
1. Official establishment of a Tanzania Karafuu Planting Week, alongside a National Karafuu Planting Day and a designated Karafuu Planting Month during the March–April rains, positioning heritage with climate action and turning patriotism into practice.
2. Your acceptance to serve as Patron of the Africa Women in Cloves Forum, to be held in Zanzibar, celebrating women’s leadership and ownership across Africa’s spice economy.
3. Your support as Chief Runner of the Zanzibar Karafuu Marathon (July 2026) and Morogoro Karafuu Marathon (October 2026), uniting health, youth engagement, tourism and agricultural heritage.
4. The designation of land for the Global Karafuu Museum in Zanzibar, serving as a centre for history, research, education and tourism, positioning Tanzania as the intellectual capital of the global clove industry.
5. Hosting the Global Cloves Summit 2027, welcoming Presidents and leaders from clove-producing and clove-consuming nations to Tanzania for dialogue on trade, climate cooperation and Africa’s agricultural future.
You stand among the few African leaders who have treated environmental conservation and climate change mitigation as both policy priorities and a personal responsibility.
By leading tree planting yourself, you affirm that true patriotism is caring for the environment, protecting water sources, restoring vegetation and securing the future.
Your call for all Tanzanians (institutions, families, schools, offices and communities) to plant trees during this historic year is a call to collective stewardship. It reminds us that national security, economic resilience and human dignity begin with how we treat the land.
Cloves still have a future, if we choose it.
A future where Tanzania leads Africa in sustainable spice production.
A future of value addition, fair markets, climate resilience and youth-driven innovation.
A future where cloves once again educate children, empower women and connect Tanzania to the world—on our own terms.
Madam President, as you plant these trees, like the cloves that once raised you, you plant something greater: faith in our people and responsibility to generations yet unborn.
May Msitu wa Mama grow tall.
May Tanzania, firmly rooted in its soil, rise again in enduring glory.
Respectfully,
Bryan Bwana
Bryan Toshi Bwana is the Founding Trustee of Umoja Conservation Trust (UCT). www.umojaconservation.org
