Sustainable Seaweed Cultivation for Livelihoods, Agriculture and Animal Nutrition

The Seaweed Cultivation for Livelihoods, Agriculture and Animal Nutrition program pilots and commercializes an innovative, organic fertilizer (produced in India) to benefit farmers in India and seven African countries.

This low-cost organic fertilizer will be produced through ecologically sustainable practices, employ smallholder and landless coastal communities in India and increase the adaptive capacity and incomes of vulnerable coastal communities involved in seaweed production (a raw material used for the production of the fertilizer) while improving agricultural productivity in India and Africa.

This activity was designed to increase the climate resilience of communities in the southern tip of India as well as the target beneficiary countries in Africa.

In addition, this program will reduce overall greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with chemical fertilizer production. This program will address the U.S.

Government's Global Climate Change priority to help India achieve climate resilient, low emissions development.In India the main objective of this program is to increase the number of farmers involved in Seaweed cultivation, and to increase the production of AQUASAP: to achieve these, the project focuses on growing its cultivation footprint and enhance production capacities.~In India, the program is expanding its seaweed production base in South India, where Tamil Nadu Government has released an order for taking up the seaweed activity as an alternative livelihood program and giving subsidy to the growers up to 50 percent.

Seaweed farming is being disseminated in other coastal districts of Tamil Nadu and other maritime states.(IM # 56502, $500,000 Direct GCC-Adaptation).