Unlocking the economic potential of seaweed farming in Nigeria

By Onome Amuge.

Seaweed farming is one of the aspects of aquaculture that has  gained  considerable recognition over the years for its enormous growth potential, especially at a time when global resources are increasingly overstretched.

The World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF), a Swiss-based international non-governmental organisation, describes seaweed farming as an efficient and innovative way of producing highly nutritious food for a growing world population, supported by the fact that it grows rapidly and doesn’t require fertilizer, pesticides, freshwater, or land, while also creating new habitat for a diversity of marine life.

Research has shown that commercial seaweed aquaculture started in earnest only about half a century ago, but the production volumes have  recorded rapid growth and tripled in the last 20 years.

According to market data forecast, the global seaweed cultivation market stood at $16.7 billion in 2022 and is estimated to reach a valuation of $30.2 billion by the end of 2028 with a compound annual growth rate of 12.6 per cent between 2023 and 2028.

In a study titled, “Global Seaweed New and Emerging Markets Report 2023”,the World Bank said seaweed farming demonstrates how development, climate, and nature work together to generate value and uplift communities. This, it explained, is buoyed by its ability to sink carbon, sustain marine biodiversity, employ women, and unlock value chains.

The World Bank report  identified ten global seaweed markets with the potential to grow by an additional $11.8 billion by 2030. However, it noted that much of the seaweed sector’s value remains untapped, being that it has clear growth potential beyond its current markets.

Commenting on this, Valerie Hickey, the World Bank global director for the environment, natural resources and blue economy, said, “Growth in seaweed farming across the world will depend on sharing technology and knowledge between policy makers, financing institutions, the scientific community, the private sector, producers, and processors – leaving no one behind. With women’s dominance in seaweed farming, the stage is set for catalyzing a truly global ‘she-weed’ revolution.”

According to the World bank,most farmed seaweed is used for direct human consumption, as fresh feed in aquaculture, or as hydrocolloids.

Going forward, it stated that  seaweed-farmed products can provide raw materials for a wide range of applications due to their diverse composition;may be able to displace fossil fuels in sectors such as fabrics and plastics; can provide ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration and nitrogen cycling; and can generate socioeconomic benefits in fragile coastal communities. Hence, diversification into seaweed farming among other activities is suggested to be a more pragmatic option to overcome large-scale ecological and global market changes.

In view of this, experts say seaweeds could become an important economic niche for Nigeria, especially in the coastal regions, provided adequate research is undertaken in studying their diversity, biochemical compositions and potentials for culture in order to harness the numerous opportunities which can be derived.

Despite the fact that Nigeria is yet to gain significant recognition as a top seaweed producer, experts believe the country with a coastline of 860 kilometres extending from the border with Benin in the West to Cameroon in the East,can still play an active role as a raw material supplier and producer,given the anticipated high demand for sea weeds which guarantee relatively high market value.

They also emphasised that the growing significance of seaweed cultivation in the world is a promising start towards realising the goals of becoming a producer and harnessing the socio-economic benefits to be gained from establishing a seaweed sector.

Kafayat Fakoya, an academic researcher in renewable natural resources, said

development of a seaweed sector in the country will not only improve the standard of living and alleviate poverty but also help to control rural-urban drift in many brackish water and coastal communities where fish, a major aquatic resource, is considerably over- exploited.

Fakoya, in a research article co-authored with other academic experts, titled, “An Exposition on Potential Seaweed Resources for Exploitation, Culture and Utilization in West Africa: A Case Study of Nigeria,” noted that seaweed cultivation can be easily integrated with the traditional activities of fishing.

“Alternative employment or additional income outside fisheries has often been mentioned as a panacea to help highly fishing-dependent communities tide over periods of loss of income resulting from declining fish catch. Considerable empirical evidence suggests that seaweed farming is a profitable venture for coastal households,” the article stated.

Highlighting the challenges to the exploitation, culture and utilisation of potential seaweed resources in Nigeria, the research noted that  while the poor status of naturally occurring seaweeds may present a daunting task to their exploitation and utilisation, the paucity of information on these resources poses a more daring challenge.

Therefore,it stated that taxonomic and population biology besides quantitative assessments would be required to estimate the field stock value of seaweeds before commercial harvest, logistics, labour, marketing, processing, shipping costs and utilization of the wild stock could be considered.

The research article noted that harnessing the full potentials of seaweed resources also implies basic research on economically viable species aimed at creating genetically improved and novel strains with increased yield and the capacity for producing new substances.

“Furthermore, if commercial quantities of potential seaweed species have been established in our environment, then these portend important consequences for conservation and coastal management. Alternatively, the option of transplantation and cultivation of commercially viable exotic species should be given serious considerations on the basis of a higher probability of success arising from similarities in ecological conditions in Nigeria and the exporting country,” it added.

According to the research, the federal government has a pivotal role to play as facilitator and regulator to make feasible the evolution of a seaweed sector-as a fisheries sub sector which should be seen as a first step towards marine agronomy.

It also called on  the government to support the development of seaweed cottage industries in the country, and also promote funding for research and public enlightenment campaigns to sensitise the coastal communities and the country at large on the socioeconomic benefits to be derived.

The article  also challenged tertiary institutions, the Nigerian Institute for Oceanography and Marine Research (NIOMR) and other affiliated research institutes in the proximity of brackish water and coastal environments to undertake and develop seaweed research, adding that approach to conduct of research should be multidisciplinary to optimise funds and other resources required which may be limiting.