Somaliland is in dire need of economic development, especially in rural areas to help decrease the gap between urban areas. Aquaculture would play a major role in ensuring rural development as it is one of the fasting growing forms of food production in the world and the fastest growing sector in the livestock industry.

The seaweed sector is a large industry with a growing market taking critical part of the Blue Economy. In 2019, the global commercial market for algae (i.e. micro- and macroalgae) was valued at a staggering US$14.5 billion, 97% of which was produced by seaweed farming [FAO 2019]. Seaweeds can provide high quality products with no use of water, fertilizers or pesticides and have positive feedback on the environment (ecosystem services) and coastal communities’ livelihoods.

Our main focus is to find methods of creating natural animal feed from Seaweed as the Livestock industry is the largest industry in Somaliland.

The livestock industry has been suffering as of late, due to the frequent droughts occurring in the region and the overgrazing.

Another obvious market opportunity would be to produce edible seaweed for the human population. Somaliland population faces recurring food insecurity. Offering healthy, nutritious seaweed to the population that already suffers from malnutrition would have an everlasting effect in the region; seaweed also has the ability to mitigate carbon for the atmosphere and produce oxygen.

Our program coordinator, Ahmed & a team of alumni students have been working tirelessly on developing a seaweed farm in Berbera & look to official launch the very first seaweed farm in 2022.

STAY TUNE FOR MORE UPDATES REGARDING SEAWEED FARMING & THE EMERGING BLUE ECONOMY IN SOMALILAND.