efforts for culture of milkfish, seaweed, tropical bivalve species, shrimp, and tilapia. Over its five-year span, the project will explore possibilities for new forms of coastal aquaculture. Regional training courses in aquaculture extension methodology will also be held to build institutional capacity and support the demonstration efforts. Additionally, two regional learning and exchange networks in Latin America and East African are growing under USAID auspices. CRSP Stakeholders are open to participation in the regional trainings and network.
One of the SUCCESS program's key goals is to build extension capacity,
and the program hopes to establish strong ties and collaborative efforts with the CRSP's network of researchers and extension agents. A first step in this direction will be the inclusion of SUCCESS news, updates, and articles in future issues of Aquanews. These pieces will be linked to longer works posted on the SUCCESS website that readers can access for further information. Our hope is that this information exchange between the SUCCESS and CRSP networks will bear fruitful new collaboration and learning opportunities.
For further information contact:
Brian Crawford, Program Director, SUCCESS
Coastal Resoureces Center, University of Rhode Island
Phone: 401-874-6225
Email: brtian@crc.uri.edu
Or
Maria Haws
Deputy Director for Mariculture and Fisheries, SUCCESS
Pacific Aquaculture and Coastal Resources Center, University of Hawaii-Hilo
Phone: 808-933-0707
Email: haws@aol.com
The SUCCESS (Sustainable Coastal Communities and Ecosystems) project is a global initiative of USAID/Coastal Resources Center-University of Rhode Island in partnership with the Pacific Aquaculture and Coastal Resources Center/University of Hawaii Hilo and the Institute for Marine Science at Zanzibar, Tanzania. One component of the coastal management efforts in Tanzania is directed at small-scale mariculture as an alternative livelihood for coastal communities. This article describes an on-going project testing shellfish culture in Zanzibar. It is hoped that not only will production be improved at the current shellfish farms, but that these efforts will serve as models so that similar shellfish culture projects can be established in other coastal areas of East Africa. The SUCCESS project has targeted improvement of bivalve and seaweed production in East Africa as a likely means of fostering culture of native species that have low technology requirements, contribute to water quality, and are appropriate to local lifestyles.
The Institute for Marine Sciences (IMS), part of the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM), has provided assistance to community groups for over 10 years to make seaweed culture one of Tanzania's leading coastal economic development success stories. Innovative research conducted by IMS and UDSM researchers continually produces results that guide researchers and extension agents in their quest to work with producers to improve seaweed production. Along with their colleagues from the Fisheries Department, IMS and UDSM scientists provide much of the extension assistance for the coastal villages in aquaculture.
The typical seaweed producer in East Africa is a woman living in a rural coastal village. Most women engage in a variety of household and income producing activities. In the case of Zanzibar, seaweed is third after tourism and cloves in economic contribution. Although seaweed production is one of the few income generating alternatives available to rural, coastal women, their average income of $40-$90 falls below
the average GDP for Zanzibar of $170. Recently seaweed prices have dropped by 30%. Since women in this project were already engaged in collecting and selling mollusk of various species, IMS scientists and community leaders sought additional and complementary alternatives in the form of shellfish culture with a low requirement for technology. Additional assistance was provided by Hauke Kite-Powell (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) with funding from the McKnight Foundation.
With the help of the IMS and Woods Hole scientists, 142 stakeholder (mostly women ranging in age from 18 to 54) in villages near Menai Bay in southern Zanzibar (Figure 1) constructed and cared for 142 shellfish culture plots that averaged 6 m 2 in size (Figure 2). These
Rural Women's Groups Conduct Integrated
Shellfish and Seaweed Culture in Zanzibar
By Narriman Jiddawe and Aviti Mmochi, Institute of Marine Science, Zanzibar, Tanzania
Women seaweed farmers culture a variety of bivalves in plots averaging 6 m2.
