A Bountiful Harvest from the Sea: Seaweed Farming Brings One Woman a World of Benefits

To the casual observer, the Tanzanian coastline is a romantic paradise — graceful dhows silently glide along ancient trade routes, which once moved the treasures of mainland Africa to Zanzibar and beyond. But while the dhows still sail, the reality for many is a paradise lost. Since the mid-1990s, poverty has increased along with population, leading to the proliferation of unsustainable environmental and economic activities, and the destruction of the marine habitat. USAID is working with coastal communities to counter this trend by promoting agribusiness activities that drive sustainable growth and increase household incomes.

Mwanaisha Mgaza is a mother of four and lives in Mkwaja, a coastal village in Tanzania's northern Tanga region. Like many women in the area, Mwanaisha farmed seaweed for additional income but in a limited capacity. However, in 2002 Mwanaisha began to improve her seaweed business after joining a local farmers’ group and attending management courses offered by ACDI/VOCA’s Smallholder Empowerment and Economic Growth through Agribusiness & Association Development project (SEEGAAD). As a result of the training provided by this $1.5 million, USAID-funded program, Mwanaisha has expanded her business and hired people to help with the more labor-intensive activities, knowing that her revenues would increase by a greater magnitude than her operating expenses, creating larger profits for her family.

Her efforts have been rewarded—and not just in income. While husbands and wives in the area do not traditionally work together in marine activities, Mwanaisha's husband joined her when he saw how profitable seaweed farming could be. They have nearly tripled the size of their farm, which, with only part-time work, nets an additional $80 per month—a high figure considering that Tanzania's per capita average income is less than $25 per month. Mwanaisha's farm also elevated her economic power in the household, and she now co-manages family finances with her husband.

With their profits, she is educating her children, donating to community causes and even contributing to a group savings club. She is also helping other women take up seaweed farming, propagating seed stock for residents of neighboring villages. Her list of new recruits even includes her mother, who resides in a nearby village.

Mwanaisha said, "Seaweed farming has opened my eyes to trying new income-generating activities in the village."

ACDI/VOCA will continue to provide assistance to Mwanaisha and other farmers through its follow-up project, which is a USAID-funded, $1.12 million, five-year program called Sustainable Environmental Management through Mariculture Activities (SEMMA).