Making Money from Seaweed

If you have ever bought a seaweed drink, a bar of seaweed soap, or even a seaweed hair mask from a local vendor, you have already seen what this quiet coastal crop can do. Now, a major international conservation group wants to help more Belizeans grow it and profit from it.

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) has opened a free online course on seaweed farming. Whether you are a fisher thinking about a new income stream, a community leader, or just curious, you can sign up and work through it at your own pace in about four to five hours.

The course covers the basics: how seaweed farming works, how to do it without damaging the ocean around you, and how whole communities can get organised to benefit from it. It was developed with input from coastal communities and experts in Belize, Indonesia, and Tanzania.

Seaweed farming is considered one of the most low-impact ways to produce food. It needs no land, no fresh water, and no feed for animals. It can also help improve water quality, provide habitat for sea life, and help slow the effects of climate change.

In Belize, businesses are already selling seaweed in sundried form, as powders, soaps, gels, drinks, and hair products. The course aims to help more people enter that market and do it sustainably.

The free course is available on The Nature Conservancy’s website.