Benefits of seaweed farming

Zanzibar. Seaweed farming has benefited a lot of people in Zanzibar and creation of a cluster programme has added to the advantages of the farming as attested by Mwajuma Mwinyi, a seaweed farmer who lives in Zanzibar.

The 40-year-old woman currently earns more income through making seaweed by-products than selling it in its raw form. It was through the cluster programme where she learned techniques of adding value to seaweed. “Before joining the cluster programme, I used to sell a kilo of seaweed for Sh400 but now I can make up to Sh30,000 out of one kilo because of making seaweed soaps,” Ms Mwinyi says. The mother of six says that she makes enough money to pay school fees for all her children and make some savings. “I am proud that I’m helping my husband in financial matters,” she says.

Ms Mwinyi is among 3,000 entrepreneurs in Zanzibar who benefit from technologies they learned from study groups under the cluster programme. A cluster is a shared set of ideas in a specialized field that is passed among a set of relationships in a place. The concept of cluster is practised in many countries across Africa and the globe. There are 70 cluster programmes in Tanzania; six out these are situated in Zanzibar. These groups adapt a triple helix model, a system that brings together government, academia and enterprises.

The seaweed cluster stands out to be the most successful in Tanzania. The group partners with scientists from the Zanzibar Institute of Marine Science and the government through the Commission for Science and Technology (Costech).

The government gives part of the funds for the programme, the scientists provide technical guidance and the farmers apply the technology that they learn from the scientists. The Swedish International Development Authority (Sida) is the major donor of the programme.

Ms Furaha Kabuje, a research officer at Costech who oversees the cluster programme says that scientists could help to fill in the technology gap that is lacking in many production activities. “A cluster is an ideal place for academics to apply their research for community development,’’ he says.

Dr Flower Msuya, a senior researcher at the Institute of Marine Science (IMS) is the facilitator of Zanzibar Seaweed Cluster Initiative. She works with seaweed farmers in more than six villages in Zanzibar on adding value to the seaweeds as well as in modifying farming methods to combat the problem of seaweed die-offs.

She says seaweed farming was introduced in Zanzibar in the 1980s by researchers at the Institute of Marine Science (IMS) who noticed its use in some African countries and its potential as a cash crop.

Commercial cultivation of seaweed started in 1989. The United States, France, Denmark, Spain, China, Chile are the major markets. Around 11,000 tonnes of dry seaweed are produced annually and this contributes to more than 90 per cent of Zanzibar’s marine products.

Dr Msuya says the cluster programme has empowered many women in Zanzibar. ‘‘Seaweed industry currently employs about 20,000 farmers and 90 per cent of them are women,’’ she says adding: ‘‘In 2006, when the seaweed started, I was working with one village but know I work with six villages in Unguja and Pemba. These are: Bweleo, Kidoti, Paje, Nyamazi Chwaka and Kisakasaka.’’

Dr Msuya introduced the technology of planting an environmental sensitive type of seaweed (cottonni) in deep waters. Cottonni seaweed species has high market value due its characteristic of producing a strong gel nevertheless its growth is tempered with harsh environmental conditions such as temperature fluctuations and strong waves. Planting cottonni seaweed in deep waters enables it to tolerate harsh environmental conditions.

Dr Msuya says that the success of the seaweed cluster was achieved through building cordial relationship between the scientists and farmers. She says that is important for scientists to bond with entrepreneurs so as to remove the barrier of superiority attitude between the academics and the community. ‘‘Through clusters scientists get the chance exchange ideas with the community,’’ Dr Msuya concludes.

She sees a bright future for the seaweed cluster because the platform provides training opportunities that exposes farmers to new technology. She urges the government to help farmers find markets for seaweed and to act as the middleman in reaching buyers.