Zanzibar, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, is an autonomous part of the United Republic of Tanzania. Tanzania is one of the most populous countries in Africa and one of the fastest-growing economies on the continent. Key to its economic growth is the local seaweed industry. Seaweed farming in Zanzibar is one of the region’s largest sources of income, is women-run and has immense environmental benefits.

Warming sea temperatures due to adverse weather have recently disowned the industry’s future and farmers’ livelihoods. However, a joint operation between The Nature Conservancy, The C-Weed Corporation, Cargill and the Zanzibar government stepped in to train the farmers on more sustainable practices.

The Seaweed Boom

Only trailing behind tourism and clove production, seaweed farming in Zanzibar is the archipelago’s third-largest industry. An overwhelming majority of the seaweed is used to produce carrageenan. This thickening agent appears worldwide in ice cream, toothpaste and cosmetic products. According to a United Nations (U.N.) report in 2018, farmers produced 15,000 metric tons of seaweed, accounting for 90% of Zanzibar’s marine exports and bringing in $8 million a year.

Additionally, seaweed farming requires no fresh water, feed or land and creates no carbon emissions. “It’s incredible from an ecological standpoint,” said Robert Jones, director of The Nature Conservancy. Seaweed also acts like a sponge, removing excess waste from the sea, improving water quality and providing new habitats for fish and other aquatic life. Around 25,000 people are employed and 80% of these farmers are women. Wading out into the ocean every morning, the women farmers of Zanzibar plant cultivate their yield in shallow waters along the coast. Doing so has brought them an essential source of income, as a quarter of the Zanzibari population lives in poverty.

Excluded from fishing and tourism jobs because of their gender, Zanzibari women turned to seaweed farming, which required no need for a boat or knowledge of how to swim. “Seaweed farming gave us our independence. I want the same for the next generation,” said Mwanaishia, a seaweed farmer in Paje, a village in the southern Island of Unguja. “I can say that seaweed farming lifted us up as women in Paje.” She can earn up to $85 a month in a good year. From her income, Mwanaisha became a landowner and built a second house that she rented out.

A Helping Hand

In 2020, seaweed farming in Zanzibar took a heavy hit. Warming waters, coastal degradation and international competition threatened the livelihoods of the Zanzibari women. “When I would check the harvest, I found that a lot of it was rotten. That’s when I realized that the environment was no good,” said Sada Hemed Suleiman, a local seaweed farmer. In response, The Nature Conservancy, one of the largest environmental nonprofits in the world, along with Cargill, a global food giant and the largest privately held corporation in the United States (U.S.), partnered with the Zanzibari Government and a local seaweed corporation known as C-Weed to revitalize the industry.

They trained farmers in sustainable practices to protect the environment and boost productivity. Mondy Muhando, a seaweed farming trainer for The Nature Conservancy, explained that the training “taught farmers on better sight selections for their farms, as well as introduced a farming technique that increases production two to three times more.” Additionally, Cargill introduced red seaweed, a new and more resilient species to Zanzibar that performs better on the international market. In total, the initiative improved the management of 528 coastal areas. The Zanzibari government then started replicating the training in more villages.

A Bright Future

This year, the state-owned Zanzibar Seaweed Company (ZASCO), in cooperation with Tanzania’s NMB Bank, announced a $3 million project to build a new production facility. According to ZASCO director Dr. Masoud Rashid Mohomed, “this will become not only the largest seaweed processing plant in Tanzania but also across the entire African continent.” As a result, Zanzibar’s seaweed farmers will be better positioned to compete internationally, with the future of seaweed farming in Zanzibar poised for growth. The hard-working women farming in the shallow coastlines will earn more money, pull themselves out of poverty and increase their voices within their communities.

– Mason Borden

Mason is based in New York, NY, USA and focuses on Technology and Solutions for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons