Supporting Women’s Participation in Developing A Seaweed Supply Chain in Kiribati for Health and Nutrition

Abstract

Seaweeds are a source of food throughout the Pacific region. Kiribati, however, does not have a strong history of using seaweed in their diets, despite having reliable access to indigenous edible seaweeds. A series of peer-led seaweed training workshops held in Kiribati between 2018 and 2019 provided women with knowledge, skills, and motivational support needed to engage in the seaweed supply chain, from harvesting, processing, and marketing to consumption. This study aimed to identify opportunities and enablers to support women’s participation across the seaweed supply chain. Structured interviews with 49 women explored their interest and expected costs and benefits from involvement in the supply chain. There was high interest in most seaweed-related activities and the key motivators were health and nutrition for themselves and their family. Participants were also interested in developing and sharing new skills and saw the potential for income generation. However, there were also clear barriers including a desire for further training in seaweed harvesting, processing, and recipe creation; additional social support; and in public promotion. Given the natural resources and desire of women to engage in developing this new edible seaweed supply chain in Kiribati, there is now a need for capacity development to build social and economic wellbeing and food security across the broader community. Additional peer-to-peer training opportunities may look to other Pacific Islands where seaweed is already an established and traditional food.

The Role of Traditional Diets in Promoting Food Security for Indigenous Peoples in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review

“…There are many traditional food resources that are included in the communities" diets. Examples include green leafy vegetables in Africa and India [16,26,27,28,29]; Ugali (The "meat of Africa" is a term that is sometimes used); [30]; Yams or Wild Dioscorea [31,32], Kair and minor millets in India [7,33,34,35,36], edible insects in Ghana [37], and seaweeds throughout the Pacific region [38]. However, there is evidence of a transition from a varied traditional based diet to a more limited number of foods [25,39], which has also negatively affected the nutritional quality of diets of people with communicable diseases such as HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe [40].…”

“…Despite women having knowledge relevant to promoting food security [54], women were often not acknowledged or were undervalued in relation to attaining and maintaining food security and traditional food for diets [1,20]. Recognizing the importance of women's roles in food supply chains, as well as removing barriers and facilitating enablers to women's full economic participation, is critical to developing sustainable food systems and achieving food and nutrition security [38].…”

A Systematic Review of Sustainable Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Supply Chains

“…As mentioned in [34,49], apart from the logistics side of these studies, regulations regarding the import and export processes may be examined to understand various performance and strategy indicators more closely. Furthermore, women's involvement in FFVSC activities is a suggested area of study, as underlined in [143]. As discussed in Sections 3.2, 3.6-3.8, such developments in the current literature would mainly improve food quality, food safety and the freshness of food.…”

Seaweed Aquaculture in Indonesia Contributes to Social and Economic Aspects of Livelihoods and Community Wellbeing

“…There is, however, still increasing commercial demand for seaweed products owing to a consumer focus on health and functional foods [87]. Coastal communities in the Pacific Islands, for example, report health as a motivator for seaweed consumption [88], noting the importance of easy access to the natural resource and the use of seaweed in traditional events or ceremonies [3]. The seaweeds utilised by remote coastal communities are typically wild-harvested and generally of much higher diversity than that which is accessible from seaweed farming in the major production areas.…”