Female seaweed farmers operating in the Western Indian Ocean will have access to private-sector financing through a new project that will support them in introducing farming technology, both boosting the resilience of their enterprises against the adverse impacts of climate change and increasing production of high-quality seaweed.
At least 25,000 female seaweed farmers in Kenya, Tanzania, and Mozambique will have access to the financing between 2024 and 2028 under the Africa Fair Seaweed Finance Facility (AFSFF) project, supported by Toronto, Ontario, Canada-based investment firm Convergence, which blends private, public, and philanthropic capital for development in emerging markets.
“Coastal communities have encountered substantial challenges in accessing viable income sources due to climate change in recent years,” Convergence said. “Seaweed farmers, predominantly employing traditional techniques, face growing vulnerability to climate change impacts such as shifts in sea temperature and ocean acidification.”
Besides the implementation of new technology, through AFSFF, farmers will also benefit from training on high-yielding, deeper-water seaweed farming instead of the common off-bottom technique, also known as peg and line, that confines farmers’ operations to shallow waters where production is limited.
Further, female farmers would be connected to buyers of seaweed products both domestically and in international markets through the project over the next five years, boosting Africa’s seaweed trade volumes in the process.
Convergence is working with Tanzania-based aquaculture NGO Aqua-Farms Organization to mobilize at least USD 1 million (EUR 916,000) in capital in the first year of the program and USD 50 million (EUR 45.8 million) over the entire time frame.
The initiative has already secured a commitment of up to USD 200,000 (EUR 183,000) from Mawimbi Ocean Innovations, a private investment firm with operations in Kenya and Tanzania that helps seaweed farmers blend “traditional farming with modern, service-oriented business models, specifically tailored to seaweed cultivation,” according to Convergence.
To ensure continued funding throughout the project, Convergence said it hopes …
