Trans­form­ing Sea­weed Farm­ing in East Africa

Action for Ocean

Coastal com­mu­ni­ties in East Africa face increas­ing pres­sure from envi­ron­men­tal degra­da­tion and lim­it­ed eco­nom­ic oppor­tu­ni­ties. In Tanzania’s Tan­ga and Lin­di regions, destruc­tive prac­tices like dyna­mite fish­ing con­tin­ue to harm marine ecosys­tems, while many peo­ple strug­gle with eco­nom­ic inse­cu­ri­ty. Despite being key sea­weed-pro­duc­ing areas, the full poten­tial of sea­weed farm­ing remains untapped.

Action For Ocean (AFO) is expand­ing its Coastal Liveli­hood Entre­pre­neur­ship for Adap­ta­tion and Resilience (CLEAR) Mod­el to help turn this around. The project sup­ports sus­tain­able sea­weed farm­ing as a low-cost, eco-friend­ly liveli­hood that strength­ens both com­mu­ni­ty resilience and marine con­ser­va­tion. By estab­lish­ing Vil­lage Sav­ings and Loan Asso­ci­a­tions (VSLAs), improv­ing finan­cial lit­er­a­cy, and con­nect­ing farm­ers to mar­kets, AFO is equip­ping com­mu­ni­ties with the tools to grow their incomes while pro­tect­ing the ocean. Sea­weed farm­ing also enhances bio­di­ver­si­ty and water qual­i­ty, pro­vid­ing envi­ron­men­tal ben­e­fits along­side eco­nom­ic gains. Through this work, AFO is align­ing local liveli­hoods with envi­ron­men­tal stew­ard­ship, reduc­ing reliance on harm­ful prac­tices, and build­ing a more sus­tain­able coastal econ­o­my in Tan­za­nia, and a suc­cess­ful mod­el for the rest of the world.

For more information visit: https://afo.or.tz/