Friday, March 18, 2005
Seaweed farming in Tanzania
Innovation does not help much. Though the information is interesting.
Jax
Cultivating her new crop at Vumawimbi beach on the northern tip of Pemba island, she hopes it will supplement the meagre income she earns from other sources.
"We don't yet know how successful it will be as we have not sold any yet," says Fatima.
"But we think it will help us to earn a little money, which we can invest in other small businesses. We are not rich, sometimes we don't even have the money to buy enough food, so selling seaweed will help."
Fatima is one of an estimated 5,000 farmers who are cultivating seaweed on the small island of Pemba.
All along the Tanzanian coast and around its many islands, other farmers are doing the same.
They are meeting a worldwide demand for seaweed, which is being used as an ingredient in everything from cosmetics to cheeses, and fertilizers to shampoos. (More)
