Laying Foundations for Increased Investment in Seaweed Farming

“Access to finance has been a major challenge,” said Kaiser Said Bakar, leader of the ‘Her Njema’ women’s seaweed farming group in Pemba, Zanzibar. “I am confident that if the UN came all this way, they will be able to address some of these challenges.”

This optimism reflects the momentum of the joint programme Transforming Seaweed Farming through Integrated Financial Solutions for Enhanced Food Systems in Zanzibar,, supported by the UN Joint SDG Fund under its High-Impact Initiative on SDG Localization. Implemented by FAO (lead agency), UNDP, IFAD and WFP in partnership with the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar, the programme focuses on women and youth in Kaskazini Unguja and Kaskazini Pemba. It aims to help shift seaweed farming from a largely subsistence activity into a more competitive and sustainable economic sector.

The Government, Joint Programme Team and the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office (RCO) undertook a joint mission in Unguja and Pemba regions to initiate implementation on the ground. This mainly involved holding inception discussions with regional and district authorities and engaging seaweed farmer groups to introduce the programme, clarify roles and begin profiling cooperatives. This has helped establish an initial picture of previous support, capacity gaps and practical bottlenecks across the value chain.

These early discussions reinforced what farmers have long voiced: limited access to finance, inadequate drying and aggregation infrastructure, weak market linkages, and uneven access to technical and business training continue to constrain productivity and incomes.

Building on these insights, the UN and the Government have laid a solid foundation to roll out targeted support that will help women-led and youth-led groups become more bankable and strengthen cooperative governance for long-term sustainability.

In parallel, the programme will advance structured engagement with public and private financial institutions and government-backed instruments to operationalise affordable, de-risked financing solutions, including credit guarantee schemes, matching funds and other blended approaches tailored to Zanzibar’s context.

“Throughout the implementation of this JP, we will be rolling out inclusive blended financing instruments for smallholder farmers that will help to derisk, spread risk and share risk across the seaweed value chain. We will also be integrating insurance products and, altogether, these financial instruments and insurance products aim to attract private investment across the value chain.” 

- Ms. Leila Kihwele, National Food Systems Specialist, FAO Tanzania, Zanzibar Lisason Office

The Joint SDG Fund’s support for this programme has been made possible through contributions from the European Union and the Governments of Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and private sector funding partners.

This Joint SDG Fund investment is designed to complement and leverage the UN’s broader, Norway-supported Zanzibar Joint Programme, which is already strengthening value chains and livelihoods in the same northern regions, so that productivity, organisation, value addition and finance move forward together, with lasting impact.