12000 Years ago or so, human beings moved from prehistory to modern history when they stopped being hunters & gatherers to develop agriculture and livestock. Our history has been mostly fueled by land production and today we are still in the stone age when it comes to farming the oceans.
Seaweed has the potential to play a globally significant role in addressing food security, climate change mitigation, and marine biodiversity, as well as contributing to several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that support sustainable job-creation, economic growth, and gender equality.
Seaweed and other algae hold an untapped potential to contribute to food systems. It is a nutritional source of food for humans, by being low in fat and rich in proteins, carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins (B12, A, K) and essential micronutrients (iodine, zinc, iron). Seaweed can be used as feed for aquaculture and land animals, bio-simulants for crops and innovative projects use seaweed extracts to replace single-use plastic as smart food packaging. Seaweed can also be used to support unlimited innovation in medicine or to create new type of fibers more sustainable than coton.
Also seaweed holds a great potential to sequester massively carbon and sink it down in the abyssal sediments. It can also contribute to clean the ocean from agricultural run offs and restore damaged ecosystems in the ocean providing habitat to marine life. Eventually, seaweed is a new source of revenues that supports coastal livelihoods and, based on experiences in Africa, can contribute to gender equality and women empowerment ??
Following the launch of the Seaweed Manifesto (https://seaweedclimatesolution.com/ ) ?and has also been voiced at COP 26 in Glasgow as a game changer.
Seaweed, once integrated to other seafood production, has the potential to feed the world of tomorrow while mitigating climate change, restoring ocean biodiversity, mitigating ocean pollution and alleviating poverty in coastal communities .
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