A resilience lens to explore seaweed farmers’ responses to the impacts of climate change in Tanzania

Seaweed-based mariculture is an important source of livelihoods for impoverished coastal communities in Tanzania. However, the impacts of climate change across East Africa are putting a strain on the growth of the seaweed industry. Smallholder farmers are already mobilizing strategies to cope with challenges such as disease outbreaks, but they are struggling to maintain seaweed production and derive sufficient income. A better understanding of the challenges they face and the factors inhibiting their ability to build resilience is needed to inform policies and development programmes to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goal 13 on Climate action and Goal 14 on Life Below Water. The global demand for seaweed is expanding rapidly. Strengthening the adaptability of seaweed production to climate change is important for farmers to rely on it as a source of livelihoods on which they can build their own resilience to climate change. Drawing on qualitative data from key informant interviews in four Tanzanian seaweed-producing areas, this paper assesses the long-term resilience capacities of seaweed farmers to respond to one of the main hazards: diseases affecting seaweed crops. While several strategies help farmers maintain their income, most of them only support resilience in the short term. The increasing pressure on marine resources and the lack of regulations for supporting an equitable and sustainable seaweed-based mariculture sector do not bode well for farmers’ long-term adaptation to climate change and environmental degradation. Seaweed farming remains a crucial source of livelihoods for poor coastal communities in Tanzania, but it does not currently lead to positive transformative changes in their socio-economic conditions. Policies aiming to support sustainable aquaculture, particularly in tropical ecosystems that are highly vulnerable to climate change, must address the existing social, economic and knowledge inequities that prevent poor communities from building their resilience.

基于海藻的海水养殖（seaweed-based mariculture）是坦桑尼亚贫困沿海社区的重要生计来源。然而，东非地区的气候变化影响正给海藻产业的发展带来沉重负担。小农户已积极采取应对策略以应对病害暴发等各类挑战，但他们仍难以维持海藻生产并获得充足收入。为助力实现可持续发展目标（Sustainable Development Goals），尤其是气候行动目标（第13项）与水下生命目标（第14项），亟需更全面地认知农户所面临的挑战，以及制约其构建韧性能力的各类因素，以此为政策制定与发展规划提供科学依据。全球海藻需求正快速扩张。提升海藻生产对气候变化的适应能力，有助于农户将海藻养殖作为稳定生计来源，并以此构建自身应对气候变化的韧性。本研究基于坦桑尼亚四个海藻产区的关键知情人访谈（key informant interviews）所得的质性数据，评估了海藻农户应对主要危害之一——海藻作物病害——的长期韧性能力。尽管部分策略可帮助农户维持收入，但多数仅能在短期内提升韧性。海洋资源面临的持续压力，以及缺乏支持公平且可持续的海藻养殖产业的相关法规，对农户长期适应气候变化与应对环境退化而言前景不容乐观。海藻养殖仍是坦桑尼亚贫困沿海社区的关键生计来源，但目前并未为其社会经济状况带来积极的转型变革。旨在支持可持续水产养殖（aquaculture）、尤其是在极易受气候变化影响的热带生态系统中发展可持续水产养殖的政策，必须着力解决阻碍贫困社区构建韧性的既有社会、经济与知识不平等问题。