Our Vision

Dignified incomes for seaweed farmers and healthy ocean ecosystems across Africa.

Our Mission

A highly traceable seaweed market place for seaweed and seaweed based products

Proposed Solution

Mwani Blu’s solution is a marketplace with high level traceability from the seaweed farms, through the cultivation, harvesting, and processing practices. The platform will provide the customers and users with an accurate and immutable record of farming methods and practices utilized by the seaweed farmers. This means traceability of seaweed products, using mechanisms such as blockchain to recognise and reward sustainable, inclusive,and gender-sensitive seaweed production strategies. Seaweed
farmers and suppliers who are able to offer full traceability to their buyers have a competitive advantage.

Sustainable Development Goals

Milestones by 2030

20

million tons of CO2 sequestered

1+

million seaweed farmers in Africa supported

600+

million dollars in revenue from our activities and those of our
partners.

600k

metric tonnes produced with our support

Emerging Alternative Markets for Seaweed

1. Cattle feed

Enteric fermentation by cattle is responsible for ~14.5% of global CO2e emissions by releasing methane. In the short-term, this effect is magnified, as methane has a GWP of 84 for its 25-year lifetime.
Red seaweed-based feed additives (Asparagopsis) shown to cut methane emissions from cattle by 50-80% (although numbers vary significantly across studies).

2. Bio Plastics

Seaweed-based packaging material to replace single-use plastics – seaweed has limited applicability for hard plastics, however, useful in replacing plastics used in quick consumption such as packaging materials, i.e., plastic films.
Products like paper cups and water bottles have also been made with seaweed.

3. Biofuels

Significant research on using kelp in biofuels – projects funded by ARPA-E, USC.
Negative environmental ramifications of corn ethanol (the usual biofuel candidate) make alternatives like seaweed attractive.
Vehicle trials for seaweed-based fuel have also been conducted.

4. Meat Alternatives