Carrageenan production from the coast of Zanzibar in 2001 and 2015. In the space of 14 years, production declined by 94 percent, due to climate change. Graphic: CBSN

5 May 2018 (CBS News) – Warming ocean temperature is causing a severe decline in carrageenan production from the coastal waters of Zanzibar. Carrageenan aquaculture is traditionally an occupation for women, and without this income and the independence that comes with it, the status of women may decline.Dr. Flower Ezekiel Msuya and her team at the Zanzibar Institute of Marine Sciences are helping these women adapt to climate change. They were 2016 winners of the Blue Economy Challenge for adapting a new “tubular net” technology that improves seaweed production.

Climate change eroding women’s status in Zanzibar