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Executive summary
This study aims to enhance our comprehension of the seaweed sector as a tripartite vector for economic growth environmental sustainability and women’s economic empowerment. It builds upon the outcomes of the 4th United Nations Oceans Forum (UNOF) the 2023 Trade and Environment Review (TER) and expert interviews to present the interlinkages of the seaweed sector (production market trade) with food and nutrition environmental and climate goals. The study adopts a gender lens paying attention to women’s participation throughout the seaweed value chain.
What is seaweed and why does it represent a new sustainable ocean economic opportunity?
Seaweed as a marine macroalgae can be classified into three taxonomic groups: brown red and green. Their contributions to sustainability range from generating sustainable livelihoods for small-scale farmers and harvesters to potentially playing an important role in mitigating climate change. Several case studies have shown how the seaweed sector has been a key driver of women’s empowerment in ocean communities (World Bank 2023a). Seaweed production requires less resources and production inputs and its export faces lower barriers to market entry than traditional fisheries. However seaweed is often amalgamated with fisheries and other aquaculture activities thus not yet fully recognized as a distinct sector. That can lead to underestimating its importance for economic development especially for women.
Acknowledgements
This publication was produced and coordinated by the Division on International Trade and Commodities of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) based on a study of the UNCTAD Oceans Economy and Fisheries Programme. A study team was led by David Vivas Eugui with work carried out under the overall guidance of Chantal Line Carpentier.
Conclusions
This section presents various lines of action to respond to the challenges and to seize the opportunities identified in this study for developing a gender inclusive seaweed sector that advances many of the SDGs. It also offers a pathway to remove the barriers to scaling up seaweed production.
The seaweed value chain through a gender lens: A gender inclusive value chain?
The role of women is key to achieving sustainable growth in the seaweed sector. The food security-gender nexus in the seaweed industry is critical considering that women constitute a disproportionately large percentage of the people engaged in the informal lowest paid least stable and least skilled segments of the workforce. In aquaculture women comprise 28 per cent of the workforce within the primary sector; within fisheries this figure is 18 per cent. Spanning both the pre- and post-harvest stages of the value chain their participation reaches an estimated 50 per cent (FAO 2022). Beyond their pivotal role in coastal rural economies women play a substantial part in ensuring household food security and nutritional wellbeing all the while managing domestic and caregiving responsibilities.
An Ocean of Opportunities: The Potential of Seaweed to Advance Food, Environmental and Gender Dimensions of the SDGs
This study aims to enhance our comprehension of the seaweed sector as a tripartite vector for economic growth environmental sustainability and women’s economic empowerment. It builds upon the outcomes of the 4th United Nations Oceans Forum (UNOF) the 2023 Trade and Environment Review (TER) and expert interviews to present the interlinkages of the seaweed sector with food and nutrition environmental and climate goals. The study adopts a gender lens paying attention to women’s participation throughout the seaweed value chain. Seaweed’s growing popularity offers potential to increase economic income food security preserve marine biodiversity and empower women along the value chains. Seaweed farming and processing demonstrate how development climate and nature can work together to generate value that uplifts coastal communities including women and Indigenous Peoples. Seaweed has multiple uses including for food nutraceuticals cosmetics pharmaceuticals aquatic animal or livestock feed biofertilizer textiles and biofuels. It can also be used for producing fully biodegradable and compostable biomass for non-plastics substitute and plastic alternatives.
Introduction
Within a sustainable ocean economy seaweed collection culture processing and trade is one of the sectors with the most opportunities to achieve sustainable growth by 2030 (UNCTAD 2023a). Seaweed farming culture is closely linked to food security income livelihoods and traditional knowledge of rural coastal communities particularly for women and Indigenous Peoples. The value of the seaweed sector remains mostly underappreciated and untapped while it shows clear growth potential beyond its current markets (World Bank 2023a).
Executive summary
As more countries commit to net-zero emissions and include ocean-based climate action in their nationally determined contributions (NDCs) the energy transition of the fishing industry and its fleets is becoming a pressing issue. The fisheries sector is a contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions because of its heavy reliance on fossil fuels.
Climate change, fishing fleets and fishing ports
Climate change has a significant impact on the fisheries sector fishing fleets and fishing ports. It is causing rising sea levels warmer water temperatures ocean acidification and deoxygenation which affect fishing activities especially in LDCs and SIDS.
Acknowledgements
This publication was produced by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on the basis of a study coordinated by the UNCTAD Division on International Trade and Commodities in collaboration with the UNCTAD Division on Technology and Logistics.
Technological opportunities and challenges of alternative energy options for fishing fleets
The increasing demand for renewable and modern technology for both electricity and fuels present potential opportunities for developing countries. Among the top ten countries in renewable electricity output are China India and Brazil (IRENA 2023a). China is the global leader in renewable energy production especially solar panels wind turbines and batteries (IRENA 2019). According to a recent Patent Landscape Report of the World Intellectual Property Organization China was the top origin of patent filings related to hydrogen fuel cells in transportation (WIPO 2022). Africa’s abundant resources of sun wind and rare earths make the continent a major participant in renewable energy in the coming decades. Furthermore Africa can play a crucial role in the development of the hydrogen economy (UNCTAD 2023d). Latin America is an important player in the generation of hydroelectricity and Argentina Bolivia and Chile contain the largest reserves of lithium necessary for the energy transition.