WWW.WAS.ORG • WORLD AQUACULTURE • MARCH 2017 45 Rural women in Zanzibar cultivate seaweed in shallow-water lagoons and sell it as a cash crop. Seaweed is exported to Denmark, USA, France, China and Spain. The women use the traditional peg and line off-bottom method. By this method, seaweed is tied to nylon ropes using thinner ropes called tie-tie and the ropes with seaweed are stretched between two wooden pegs or stones previously fixed on the bottom depending on the nature of the intertidal substrate. If the substrate is sandy, ropes are stretched between wooden pegs and, if it is rocky, they are stretched between two stones (Fig. 1). The seaweed is then allowed to grow for six weeks and then it is harvested, dried and sold for export. The women cultivate two types of seaweed, Kappaphycus (K. striatum and K. alvarezii) and Eucheuma denticulatum. From these seaweeds carrageenan is extracted and used in industrial processes such as in food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries as a stabilizer and emulsifier. Examples of such industrial products are body lotions, shampoos, and toothpastes from the cosmetic industry, which remain soft during use. The two types of seaweed are valued for the type of gel produced from them. Kappaphycus fetches a price that is double that of Eucheuma because its gel (kappa carrageenan) is thicker and has more industrial applications than that from Eucheuma (iota carrageenan). The price of Kappaphycus is US$ 0.50/kg dry seaweed while that of Eucheuma is US$ 0.25/kg. Both seaweed types have been cultivated for 26 years. However, in the past seven years the higher valued Kappaphycus has failed to grow in shallow water areas where it has traditionally been (CONTINUED ON PAGE 46) cultivated because of impact of the climate change, including increased surface seawater temperatures, epiphytes, and “ice-ice” disease (Hayashi et al. 2010, Eklof et al. 2012). Innovative Farming Technologies To address the challenge faced by women seaweed farmers, research in Zanzibar has focused on developing innovative seaweed farming and value addition technologies that women can use to improve their seaweed business and enhance their livelihoods. Unlike the shallow-water off-bottom method, the innovative farming methods are used in waters of 2-5 m depth. Research on developing innovative farming technologies started in 2005 when researchers from the Institute of Marine Sciences, working with Coastal Resources Center of the University of Rhode Island and the Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association (WIOMSA), developed the first innovative technology. In their project, called Sustainable Coastal Communities and Ecosystems (SUCCESS), a floating raft made only of nylon ropes (Fig. 2a) was developed. Good growth rates obtained from this study (Msuya et al. 2007) led to more studies in Zanzibar working with farmers in four villages (Msuya 2006, Msuya et al. 2014). More innovative ideas resulted in the development of floating rafts made of bamboo (Fig. 2b), which were also used in the deeper waters of Zanzibar and Pemba under the Zanzibar Technological Development to Help Women Seaweed Farmers Cope with the Effects of Climate Change in Zanzibar, Tanzania Flower Msuya FIGURE 1. Typical off-bottom seaweed farm in Zanzibar, Tanzania. To address the challenge faced by women seaweed farmers, research in Zanzibar has focused on developing innovative seaweed farming and value addition technologies that women can use to improve their seaweed business and enhance their livelihoods.
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