SDG Impact Finance Initiative, with the support of Convergence, awarded a feasibility study to Aqua-Farms Organization (AFO) for the design and launch of the African Fair Seaweed Finance Facility, to increase the resilience of women’s seaweed farmers to climate change, starting with the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) region.
With around 60 million inhabitants living within 100km of its shoreline, the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) region is home to many communities whose livelihoods rely on aquaculture. The region’s annual “gross marine product” exceeds USD 20.8 billion. Nevertheless, coastal communities have encountered substantial challenges in accessing viable income sources due to climate change in recent years. Seaweed farmers, predominantly employing traditional techniques, face growing vulnerability to climate change impacts such as shifts in sea temperature and ocean acidification. These challenges result in declining yields, leading to income instability, with women seaweed farmers disproportionately affected.
To address these challenges, the Africa Fair Finance Facility will leverage technology, knowledge, community engagement, and market-driven approaches to support women seaweed farmers in the WIO region. By focusing on SDG 5 (Gender Equality) and SDG14 (Life Below Water), the facility seeks to empower coastal communities, promote sustainable seaweed farming practices, and create sustainable income opportunities for seaweed farmers while also mitigating the impacts of climate change to local communities.
The grant from Convergence will help AFO in conducting feasibility studies on seaweed farming and processing techniques, developing a seaweed finance facility, as well as engaging with communities in the WIO. The facility has already secured a commitment of up to USD 200k from Mawimbi Ocean Innovations Ltd to support the solution’s implementation.
Design question and learning potential for the market: How can a blended finance facility increase the resilience of women seaweed farmers and scale a sustainable seaweed industry in Sub-Saharan Africa?
The solution addresses the resource gaps by providing access to climate-resilient seaweed farming technology and financing for women-led groups. The solution provides financial support for women-led seaweed farming groups in the WIO to transition to deep-sea seaweed farming technology designed to increase individuals’ yields, income, and resilience to climate change. In addition, the Africa Fair Seaweed Finance Facility will collaborate with high-margin buyers both locally and internationally to guarantee purchased volumes and prices for seaweed, to ensure long-term economic sustainability of the women farmers. Furthermore, the solution leverages carbon credits and other instruments to finance climate-resilient seaweed farming technology to provide an additional source of income for the women-led groups while at the same time, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions reduction. By attracting private commercial capital on top of concessional capital, the solution aims to reduce financing costs for women farmers, making capital more accessible and affordable.
The solution is also highly scalable and replicable. As the current feasibility study is being done in Kenya, AFO has plans to leverage existing relationships and networks and replicate the structure and process in Tanzania and Mozambique. There is also a significant opportunity for the facility to expand to other Asian countries with significant seaweed cultivation industries (i.e. Indonesia). Furthermore, the scope of the solution can be broadened to include other ocean farming value chains and coastal community activities, which can address a wider range of environmental and socio-economic challenges coastal communities face.
