Offering alternative livelihoods, sea cucumbers provide new hope

Seaweed is a precious product for the 25 000 Zanzibari farmers that depend on it, 80 percent of whom are women.

Another participant at the training, Mwenaisha Makame, noted the importance of sea cucumber farming for the future: "I learnt many important things on this course, and I'd really like to do this mix of sea cucumber and seaweed farming to increase my income.

A farming model with many benefits

Working closely with Blue Ventures, an NGO with vast experience in setting up sustainable sea cucumber farms, FAO is helping communities to diversify their farming and fishing activities to maintain a stable income.

Leading the training on FAO's behalf, he explains, "Farming sea cucumbers is one of the few net positive aquaculture models that I know of.

There is a strong market for sea cucumbers and there are many benefits for the local area: it reduces reliance on declining coastal fisheries, enables communities to adapt to the effects of climate change and adds value to locally available biological resources.