Seaweed farming transforms Kenyan coast amid climate challenges

Seaweed is spread on airing wooden-racks to shed off moisture at the Kibuyuni seaweed collection centre before being processed to make cosmetic products, in Kibuyuni village, Kwale county, Kenya October 21, 2024. REUTERS/Monicah Mwangi/File Photo

Seaweed farming was first introduced in Kenya in 2008 and has expanded rapidly to cover 20 villages, David Mirera, a scientist at the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI), said.

Higher temperatures, rising sea levels and poor rains have all played their part in the shift.

Along the coast in the village of Kibuyuni, investments in seaweed farming have led to improvements in infrastructure and electricity, said Kassim Ramtu Bakari, who does marketing for the Seaweed Farmers' Cooperative there, which employs more than 100 households.

Empowering local farmers

Tima Jasho, a mother of seven in Kibuyuni, said she was now able to pay her children's school fees and move her family from a mud home to a brick house.

"If you grow seaweed, you don't have to depend on a man," she told Reuters. "I can earn my own money."

In 2022, the industry produced almost 100 tonnes of seaweed worth more than $30,000, according to KMFRI data. Farmers export dry seaweed to China, France, the United States and other countries.

Global market growth

The global market for seaweed has tripled in size in the last two decades, according to a 2024 United Nations Report, growing from $5bn in 2000 to $17bn in 2021.

It is Tanzania's third largest export and employs over 26,000 farmers, said George Maina, a scientist at The Nature Conservancy, an environmental nonprofit which supports seaweed farmers in Kenya and Tanzania.

Kenya has a long way to go before it becomes a global industry leader like its neighbour, Maina said.

"It's still lagging in terms of production," he said. "But it's a sector that is growing."