Role of seaweed farming in environmental conservation and poverty alleviation: a case Study of Kojani Province, Zanzibar

This study examines the role of seaweed farming in environmental conservation and poverty alleviation in Kojani Province. The study assesses the impact of seaweed farming to the environment, its contribution on peoples livelihoods and lastly evaluate the effort employed by different institutions in seaweed production. The study employed the seaweed and poverty alleviation model as conceptual framework that explains relationship between community, seaweeds, modern seaweed processes, poverty alleviation and environment. Data collection methods included structured interviews, focus group discussions, field observations and participatory resources mapping. The statistical package for social sciences (SPSS), MS Excel program, MS Word program and GIS were used to analyze data. Simple cross tabulation and bivariate correlation analyses were used to test the relationship between the set variables. The coastal communities rely on coastal resources as well as small scale farming for their livelihood. Due to the intensive and sustained cultivation of coastal resources, some areas resources can no longer support their growing population causing many rural coastal communities to live in income poverty. The seaweed development project aimed to eradicate poverty through integrating coastal community livelihood and stewardship to marine and coastal resources utilization on sustainable basis. The study indicated that the household per capital income from seaweed farming is 0.73 US $. This implies that the crop still has not shown much assistance to the community in poverty reduction. Despite of that, the environment has been increasingly degraded which calls for conservation measures by replacement and planting both indigenous and exotic tree species. It was recommended that in order to reduce poverty through seaweed cultivation, the Government, NGO’s and private sector to give due consideration to seaweed sector by ensuring availability of resources for production as well as market improvement to the benefit of smallholder farmers.