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Zanzibar is seeing a seaweed boom. Can the women collecting it cash in?
About 25,000 people, mostly women, earn income from seaweed farming, which ranks third in Zanzibar's exports amid climate-driven shifts to deeper waters and new local processing efforts.
- Published Oct 27, 2025, Jack Denton reported that an estimated 25,000 people, most of them women, make their living from seaweed farming across Zanzibar, with women working knee-deep off Paje beach.
- Rising water temperatures are forcing a shift offshore, Waziri Mhando said, as seaweed farms move to deeper water and Milele Zanzibar Foundation adds swimming lessons due to increased drownings in recent years.
- Mwanaisha Makame Simai, seaweed farmer, said she makes around $140 per month to support her small family of two, despite health risks from long hours in water.
- By producing value-added goods, farmers can earn more from seaweed as Mwani Zanzibar trains women to make cosmetics, while Cargill invested in 2020 with The Nature Conservancy and Zanzibar's government supports marine growth.
- Rising global demand is driving a seaweed boom for Zanzibar's farmers, fueled by food, pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries and supported by the Global Seaweed Coalition promoting sustainability and fair labor.
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[Digital Daily Reporter Choi Gyu-ri] Korea's food exports reached a record high of $8 billion (approximately 11.47 trillion won) through September this year. Ramen and seaweed led the export growth, marking the ninth consecutive year of global growth for "K-food." According to the Korea Customs Service on the 28th, K-food exports from January to September 2025 reached $8.48 billion, an 8.9% increase year-on-year. This marks the ninth consecutive…
Coverage Details
Total News Sources15
Leaning Left7Leaning Right1Center4Last UpdatedBias Distribution59% Left
Bias Distribution
- 59% of the sources lean Left
59% Left
L 59%
C 33%
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