From seed to soap : a study of seaweed farming on Zanzibar and how foreign investments can createemployment opportunities for independent female seaweed farmers

Abstract: Zanzibar is the world’s third biggest exporter of seaweed but the industry is currently facing challenges such as rising sea temperatures and falling market prices. Today, independents female seaweed farmers live on the border of the extreme poverty line and are struggling with hazardous working conditions. The Seaweed Center in Paje village on the southeast coast of Zanzibar was established in 2011 by a foreign investor called the Rylander Foundation to create employment opportunities for independent female seaweed farmers. Instead of exclusively producing raw dried seaweed the center has provided the employees with material necessary to produce value-added products, such as soap, for export. Humanitarian investments with a people-over-profit approach has resulted in a holistic business model where identifying the capitals and capabilities of people living in the area of implementation has resulted in responsible investments, both socially and environmentally. More innovative investments like these are needed in order to keep the seaweed industry alive and flourish.