How Bangladesh will get richer and save the surroundings by growing seaweed
Image: Collected
Commercial seaweed cultivation provides income for smallholder farmers and help save the surroundings in Bangladesh
Bangladesh’s considerable coastline is a way to obtain many marine resources, providing livelihood for thousands of people. But it continues to be underused. Among its untapped potentials is seaweed cultivation. Experts say that taking advantage of this can not only donate to the country’s economy, but it can also save the surroundings.
British entrepreneur Sahil Shah says the enormous size of the Bangladeshi coastline, among other factors, attracted him. He says that the suitability on Bangladeshi coastal waters for seaweed cultivation, a dependence on farming/fishing diversification, especially when confronted with climate change, and availability of a plentiful coastal workforce indicate that it is worth looking into seaweed cultivation in Bangladesh seriously.
Sahil Shah’s company Sustainable Seaweed, a seaweed cultivation and processing business, leverages technology that permits seaweed to be grown at higher yields and with a lower labour requirement. The business was established towards the end of 2017 and happens to be focusing on sites in Europe and Asia.
For Bangladesh seaweed cultivation could be a great chance for future climate resilient investment. The FAO estimates that the global value of seaweed is around $6.5 billion a year, with 80% of this stated in Asia, where conditions are ideal. Currently however, hardly any is positioned in Bangladesh. Private research company GM Insights estimate that the global seaweed market will be worth over $85 billion in 2026.
And then there is environmental benefits. According to Australian climate scientist Tim Flannery, using just 9% of the ocean surface to grow seaweed would absorb all of global CO2 emissions, produce enough food for the world and meet global energy demand. Seaweed has many advantages: it really is faster growing than any land based crop, more CO2 is placed in seaweed than any plant on land, and seaweed requires no land, freshwater or fertilizer to be cultivated.
“Cultivating seaweed by establishing a nationwide or regional seaweed industry in Bangladesh could have a variety of associated benefits. Many of these will be for Bangladesh all together, but critically they'll also serve individual smallholder farmers, their own families and their local coastal communities as seaweed is well suited for small scale production,” said Shah.
But this will require investment, both from coastal communities in addition to the establishment of drying and packing facilities to take full good thing about export markets. The glad tidings are that these are well within the reach of Bangladesh.
The economic impact
Seaweed farming would provide numerous micro and macro economical benefits. For instance, said Shah, red species of seaweed have an exceedingly short growing season to maturity (as short as 30-45 days), meaning as many as 6-8 harvests are possible every year.
This enables farmers to get money when thirty days after planting. Growth rates are high, with yields of 10kg/m2/harvest attainable. While prices vary together with the species, you'll be able to earn TK12,000-14,000 per season on an investment of just TK1,200, according to a research paper published in the Journal of Marine Science Research and Oceanography.
Meanwhile, incomes of TK2.5 lakh every four months have already been achieved, and given the scalability of seaweed cultivation this will be far from the maximum.
“Once additional drying and marketing investments are created and higher value seaweed varieties can be sold worldwide, we'd expect these incomes to rise significantly, both for growers and processors,” Shah told Dhaka Tribune.
This enables seaweed farming to supply a supplementary income for fishermen, diversifying their risks. Moreover, seaweed farming is resilient to the depletion of fish stocks, and can even increase them by giving habitats and enhancing water quality.
2021/03/dhaka-tribune-770-x-90-1617033686951.gif
Similarly, seaweed farms and prawn/crab farms are symbiotic, with seaweed absorbing excess waste from these farms, and also growing faster, whilst cleaning the water. Combined with its climate resilience, this makes seaweed farming an outstanding fit for most regions in Bangladesh, particularly in the south-east around Cox’s Bazar and along the west coast.
“Seaweed is also able to be carried out commercially at smaller scales than many other varieties of aquaculture, and makes utilization of natural fertility instead of needing intensive inputs much like other kinds of aquaculture. Initial capital costs are also low, and supply chain traceability is a lot less of an issue than with other products such as prawns. This implies seaweed cultivation avoids many issues that Bangladeshi producers have struggled with before. As a result, after the industry is established the cultivation of seaweed will be suitable for all types of farmers across Bangladesh, both large and small,” Shah said.
The ultimate macro benefit, says Shah, is export revenue. Large existing markets for seaweed exports exist, with Indonesia exporting $325 million of seaweed in 2019. Experiencing these existing markets could similarly give a essential boost to Bangladesh’s foreign currency reserves, and donate to an improvement in the Balance of Payments position.
The social impact
Together with economic, seaweed farming provides a number of social benefits. It offers direct employment, through the farming, together with through the supply chain, with jobs created at the hatchery phase, for seeding, drying and any more downstream processing if done domestically.
“Nearshore seaweed farming elsewhere on the planet such as for example Tanzania is predominantly undertaken by women, and may be a way to obtain female employment and empowerment, adding to increased participation in the labour force and gender equality,” Shah said.
Finally, seaweed can be an incredibly dense source of micronutrients such as iodine and Vitamins B12 and D, and may be incorporated into diets to lessen micronutrient deficiencies, which could also bring about improved health outcomes.
The environmental impact
Seaweed farms are also highly resilient, and will make agricultural systems more resilient. In comparison to land based agriculture, seaweed farming isn't damaged by flooding or by droughts, and temperature variation is commonly milder in the ocean than on land. Moreover, seaweed farms are less susceptible to climate change, with yields less likely to reduce with temperature rises and less exposure to climate related natural hazards.
Seaweed cultivation offers a number of environmental benefits. It absorbs excess CO2 in the ocean and in doing this reverses ocean acidification, which is beneficial for both general marine life and aquaculture. Together with CO2 absorption, seaweed absorbs both excess nitrates and phosphates in the water, often from either professional waste or agricultural/fertilizer run-off.
Seaweed farms may also become hubs of marine biodiversity, and provide a sheltering habitat for juvenile fish. “There are scientific tests showing that seaweed farms both improve fish health insurance and stocks, thereby increasing the number of catch for fishermen over time,” Shah said.
Bangladesh’s considerable coastline is a way to obtain many marine resources, providing livelihood for thousands of people. But it continues to be underused. Among its untapped potentials is seaweed cultivation. Experts say that taking advantage of this can not only donate to the country’s economy, but it can also save the surroundings.
British entrepreneur Sahil Shah says the enormous size of the Bangladeshi coastline, among other factors, attracted him. He says that the suitability on Bangladeshi coastal waters for seaweed cultivation, a dependence on farming/fishing diversification, especially when confronted with climate change, and availability of a plentiful coastal workforce indicate that it is worth looking into seaweed cultivation in Bangladesh seriously.
Sahil Shah’s company Sustainable Seaweed, a seaweed cultivation and processing business, leverages technology that permits seaweed to be grown at higher yields and with a lower labour requirement. The business was established towards the end of 2017 and happens to be focusing on sites in Europe and Asia.
For Bangladesh seaweed cultivation could be a great chance for future climate resilient investment. The FAO estimates that the global value of seaweed is around $6.5 billion a year, with 80% of this stated in Asia, where conditions are ideal. Currently however, hardly any is positioned in Bangladesh. Private research company GM Insights estimate that the global seaweed market will be worth over $85 billion in 2026.
And then there is environmental benefits. According to Australian climate scientist Tim Flannery, using just 9% of the ocean surface to grow seaweed would absorb all of global CO2 emissions, produce enough food for the world and meet global energy demand. Seaweed has many advantages: it really is faster growing than any land based crop, more CO2 is placed in seaweed than any plant on land, and seaweed requires no land, freshwater or fertilizer to be cultivated.
“Cultivating seaweed by establishing a nationwide or regional seaweed industry in Bangladesh could have a variety of associated benefits. Many of these will be for Bangladesh all together, but critically they'll also serve individual smallholder farmers, their own families and their local coastal communities as seaweed is well suited for small scale production,” said Shah.
But this will require investment, both from coastal communities in addition to the establishment of drying and packing facilities to take full good thing about export markets. The glad tidings are that these are well within the reach of Bangladesh.
The economic impact
Seaweed farming would provide numerous micro and macro economical benefits. For instance, said Shah, red species of seaweed have an exceedingly short growing season to maturity (as short as 30-45 days), meaning as many as 6-8 harvests are possible every year.
This enables farmers to get money when thirty days after planting. Growth rates are high, with yields of 10kg/m2/harvest attainable. While prices vary together with the species, you'll be able to earn TK12,000-14,000 per season on an investment of just TK1,200, according to a research paper published in the Journal of Marine Science Research and Oceanography.
Meanwhile, incomes of TK2.5 lakh every four months have already been achieved, and given the scalability of seaweed cultivation this will be far from the maximum.
“Once additional drying and marketing investments are created and higher value seaweed varieties can be sold worldwide, we'd expect these incomes to rise significantly, both for growers and processors,” Shah told Dhaka Tribune.
This enables seaweed farming to supply a supplementary income for fishermen, diversifying their risks. Moreover, seaweed farming is resilient to the depletion of fish stocks, and can even increase them by giving habitats and enhancing water quality.
2021/03/dhaka-tribune-770-x-90-1617033686951.gif
Similarly, seaweed farms and prawn/crab farms are symbiotic, with seaweed absorbing excess waste from these farms, and also growing faster, whilst cleaning the water. Combined with its climate resilience, this makes seaweed farming an outstanding fit for most regions in Bangladesh, particularly in the south-east around Cox’s Bazar and along the west coast.
“Seaweed is also able to be carried out commercially at smaller scales than many other varieties of aquaculture, and makes utilization of natural fertility instead of needing intensive inputs much like other kinds of aquaculture. Initial capital costs are also low, and supply chain traceability is a lot less of an issue than with other products such as prawns. This implies seaweed cultivation avoids many issues that Bangladeshi producers have struggled with before. As a result, after the industry is established the cultivation of seaweed will be suitable for all types of farmers across Bangladesh, both large and small,” Shah said.
The ultimate macro benefit, says Shah, is export revenue. Large existing markets for seaweed exports exist, with Indonesia exporting $325 million of seaweed in 2019. Experiencing these existing markets could similarly give a essential boost to Bangladesh’s foreign currency reserves, and donate to an improvement in the Balance of Payments position.
The social impact
Together with economic, seaweed farming provides a number of social benefits. It offers direct employment, through the farming, together with through the supply chain, with jobs created at the hatchery phase, for seeding, drying and any more downstream processing if done domestically.
“Nearshore seaweed farming elsewhere on the planet such as for example Tanzania is predominantly undertaken by women, and may be a way to obtain female employment and empowerment, adding to increased participation in the labour force and gender equality,” Shah said.
Finally, seaweed can be an incredibly dense source of micronutrients such as iodine and Vitamins B12 and D, and may be incorporated into diets to lessen micronutrient deficiencies, which could also bring about improved health outcomes.
The environmental impact
Seaweed farms are also highly resilient, and will make agricultural systems more resilient. In comparison to land based agriculture, seaweed farming isn't damaged by flooding or by droughts, and temperature variation is commonly milder in the ocean than on land. Moreover, seaweed farms are less susceptible to climate change, with yields less likely to reduce with temperature rises and less exposure to climate related natural hazards.
Seaweed cultivation offers a number of environmental benefits. It absorbs excess CO2 in the ocean and in doing this reverses ocean acidification, which is beneficial for both general marine life and aquaculture. Together with CO2 absorption, seaweed absorbs both excess nitrates and phosphates in the water, often from either professional waste or agricultural/fertilizer run-off.
Seaweed farms may also become hubs of marine biodiversity, and provide a sheltering habitat for juvenile fish. “There are scientific tests showing that seaweed farms both improve fish health insurance and stocks, thereby increasing the number of catch for fishermen over time,” Shah said.
Source: https://www.dhakatribune.com