next time you turn your nose up at seaweed, consider this: the wiffy marine algae is now an eco-friendly cash crop. If successful, seaweed farming has the potential to diversify coastal economies along the East African coast, supporting sustainable community livelihoods and environmental conservation projects – as well as tackling the impacts of climate change in the region. Furthermore, it empowers women – who are employed to undertake most of the seaweed farming.
With impacts such as declines in fish production, environmental degradation, climate change, ocean acidification, overfishing and marine pollution, seaweed is a crop for all seasons that promises a win-win for the Blue Economy.
If optimally explored, seaweed farming has the potential to provide sustainable climate change adaptation. Being autotrophic plants, seaweeds take carbon dioxide from the air…
