Seaweed (Mwani) Farming as an Adaptation Strategy to Impacts of Climate Change and Variability in Zanzibar

Hassan, Iddi H.; Othman, Wahira Jaffar

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-04897-6_4

Cited by 14 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Initial benefits associated with seaweed farming, such as increased household income and job opportunities, become less obvious as harvests are increasingly unreliable which leads to greater insecurity. Many farmers observed increases in wind speed and temperature, which is in alignment with meteorological data and other studies (Hassan and Othman 2019;Makame and Shackleton 2019). The presence of "iceice" disease, which causes a discoloration of the seaweed thali and affects the quality of seaweed, is linked to changes in light intensity and temperature (Largo et al 1995).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 74%

“…Considering the strong interrelations between environmental conditions and seaweed farming outcomes, attention needs to be paid to the implications of environmental change. Where previous literature has emphasized the challenges that environmental change can pose (Hassan and Othman 2019;Makame and Shackleton 2019) more attention needs to be paid to if, and how, people are responding. Therefore, this study adopts principles from the dynamic environmental sustainability of livelihoods (DESL) framework, which focuses on dynamic responses to change (Newman et al 2020).…”

Section: Conceptual Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Adaptation of Seaweed Farmers in Zanzibar to the Impacts of Climate Change

Cleyndert

Newman

Brugere³

et al. 2021

African Handbook of Climate Change Adaptation

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Seaweed farming is an important alternative livelihood activity that has been heralded as a development success story. It has advanced women’s empowerment and economic liberation in coastal communities in Zanzibar, despite recent declines in its production. Using data from 36 semistructured interviews, we explore the impacts of climate change on seaweed farming in Zanzibar and the coping and adaptation strategies available to farmers. Interviews reveal that climatic changes observed in Zanzibar are characterized by increased temperatures, increased winds, and irregular rainfall, and these changes have negatively affected coastal seaweed farming yields and quality. Combined with economic challenges, these environmental stressors are threatening the sustainability of seaweed farming and the wider development impacts that have been gained over the past decades. Establishing seaweed farms in deeper water, using new technologies, could be an adaptation method to overcome rising temperatures; however, there are significant socioeconomic barriers for this to happen. For example, women lack access to boats and the ability to swim. Adaptation options to the increasing impacts of climate change will be possible only with institutional support, significant investment, and through the empowerment of women and the participation local communities.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 74%

Section: Conceptual Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adaptation of Seaweed Farmers in Zanzibar to the Impacts of Climate Change

Cleyndert

Newman

Brugere³

et al. 2021

African Handbook of Climate Change Adaptation

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“…Climate change: However, the industry struggles to remain a major player currently large swathes of seaweed are dying, attributed by researchers to high temperature conditions as a result of climate change, important climatic variables that have affected seaweed include increasing of water temperature, wind speed, sea waves and a decrease and irregular in rainfall patterns and salinity 22 .Deeper water culture is one solution, although about 90 percent of Zanzibar's seaweed farmers are women and traditionally, they do not swim. Since the seaweed farmers are most vulnerable to the impact of climate change, 22 . More over Many farmers have adopted unsustainable farming practices, accidentally degrading the aquatic resources upon which their livelihoods depend.…”

Section: Challenges Face Seaweed Production In Zanzibarmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards Growth of the Blue Economy in Zanzibar: Potentials and Challenges

Mussa¹,

Zhang²,

Machochoki³

et al. 2021

International Journal of Scientific Advances

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Zanzibar is a semi-autonomous region of Tanzania located in the Indian Ocean with the 1.6 million inhabitants heavily reliant on the ocean resources for income and livelihoods, which approximately accounts for 30% of GDP and employ about one third of the population, Zanzibar’s wealth is created, not inherited. In 2020, the government formulated a comprehensive road map to formulate a blue economy policy. The economy that combines the economic, social and environmental benefits of the ocean, it is also regarded as an alternative development paradigm. Zanzibar’s poverty reduction and economic growth will be dependent on the long-term management of the country’s natural resources, especially the coastal and marine ecosystems, despite its clear economic importance, the marine ecosystem is seriously degraded due to both human and natural causes; uncontrolled tourism development, rapid population growth and climate change. After several reviews from different sources the blue economy concept is regarded as a way to follow up and it seems to ensure promising life to the people of Zanzibar and the environment of the island at large. However, to achieve all of this, there is need to acquire strong political willingness, commitments, rigorous researches and promoting social awareness.

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“…For example, since 2006, the Zanzibar Seaweed Cluster initiative (ZaSCI) trains farmers on how to make various seaweed value-added products, mainly food and cosmetics. ZaSCI has links with other stakeholders including the government, NGOs, UN bodies, academia and other seaweed exporters to advance these value addition activities (Msuya 2011a(Msuya , 2013Degenhardt 2015;Msuya and Hurtado 2017;Hassan and Othman 2019). Members of ZaSCI are now producing seaweed value-added products from over 20 villages including Paje, Bweleo, Bwejuu, Kidoti, Makangale and Mkoani in Zanzibar and Bagamoyo in the mainland Tanzania.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The increasing frequency of disease and pest outbreaks has led to a decline in seaweed farming productivity (Msuya 2011b;Msuya and Porter 2014;Cottier-Cook et al 2016;Largo et al 2020), which has been negatively impacting farmers' personal income and family livelihood (Msuya 2011a), and has threatened the empowerment of the female farmers in society (Msuya 2013). In addition, recent low and unpredictable prices for seaweed have forced farmers to seek employment in other sectors (Hassan and Othman 2019). The increasing trend in outbreaks of pests and disease in Tanzania is synonymous with the growing global concern for their collective impacts on the industry over the last decade (Cottier-Cook et al 2016;Hurtado et al 2017;Ward et al 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biosecurity policy and legislation of the seaweed aquaculture industry in Tanzania

et al. 2020

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Pest and disease outbreaks have significant impacts on the livelihoods of seaweed farmers each year, particularly in low- to middle-income countries around the world. Commercial seaweed farming of the red carrageenophytes, Eucheuma denticulatum, Kappaphycus alvarezii and Kappaphycus striatus, in Tanzania was established in 1989. The impacts of pests and diseases on the local seaweed industry had serious implications for the environment, society, local culture and human health. The industry was initially characterised by growth, but since 2002 has been severely limited due to pest and disease outbreaks, exacerbated by the effects of climate change. This paper identifies existing biosecurity frameworks in Tanzanian legislation and policies in order to assess their content regarding the management of pests and diseases in the seaweed industry. A total of thirteen frameworks were identified and analysed for their general biosecurity scope and inclusion of specific risks. Of the thirteen, only four were legally binding, and only four were identified to be applicable to the seaweed industry. National frameworks were predominantly designed to support finfish aquaculture; therefore, national authorities lack the expertise, experience and scientific basis on biosecurity issues in seaweed industry compared with other aquatic commercial commodities to identify and mitigate the risks from pest and disease outbreaks in the seaweed farming industry. Recommendations are provided to assist regulators in establishing biosecurity policies, which either explicitly include or are specifically designed, to support the Tanzanian seaweed industry. This analysis reveals where biosecurity capacity can be developed to support a sustainable and economically productive national seaweed farming industry.

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Seaweed (Mwani) Farming as an Adaptation Strategy to Impacts of Climate Change and Variability in Zanzibar

Cited by 14 publications

References 7 publications

Adaptation of Seaweed Farmers in Zanzibar to the Impacts of Climate Change

Adaptation of Seaweed Farmers in Zanzibar to the Impacts of Climate Change

Towards Growth of the Blue Economy in Zanzibar: Potentials and Challenges

Biosecurity policy and legislation of the seaweed aquaculture industry in Tanzania

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