Zanzibar Secures Market for Neglect Seaweed
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Zanzibar – The newly formed Zanzibar Seaweed Company (ZASCO) has secured a market for sea lettuce seaweed, previously neglected as a waste and environmental hazard.
ZASCO Executive Director Dr. Masoud Rashid Mohammed said here over the weekend that since last September the company has spent more than $960 million on his purchases of 800 tonnes per kilogram and he has purchased 1,200 tonnes. said.
“In addition to increasing the income of about 10,000 Zanzibari people, the company has helped us address environmental issues on our beaches,” Masoud told his Daily News. I always pointed out that it is an environmental issue.
Ulva is considered one of the most useful seaweeds and its uses include nutrition, agriculture, pharmacology and medicine. The common name is sea lettuce. from its appearance.
Sea lettuce is considered a good food source. It contains high levels of cobalamin, or vitamin B12, which plays an important role in maintaining homeostasis and blood formation in the brain and nervous system.
He said he had one investor who expressed interest in investing in his Ulva processing plant in Zanzibar.
It’s only been a year since we started our business in April last year. According to Masoud, ZASCO contributed a 17-43% increase in seaweed prices to 2,100/- per kilogram.
“Even before we started processing domestically, we saw a slight increase in prices,” he said. We are confident that seaweed prices will continue to soar.
Since ZASCO entered the seaweed purchasing business, the price of spinosum seaweed increased by 43% from 700 to 1,000 per kg, and the price of cottonwood species increased by 17% from 1,800 to 2,100 per kg. bottom. close
Dr Masoud said the 30-ton processing plant would turn the country’s seaweed industry into a money-making venture.
“ZASCO is one of Zanzibar’s giants and algae farming will quickly become the most lucrative business,” he said.
He urged the private sector in the industry to embrace the government’s focus on value creation.
“ZASCO is open to any stakeholder willing to work together to create value,” he said. The brainchild of President Hussein Mwini, ZASCO is registered as a public company whose main function is to manage the domestic seaweed business. Registered in January last year.
Zanzibar Social Security Fund is his over 50% majority shareholder, as are Zanzibar Insurance Corporation and Zanzibar Ports.
Companies control 26% and 11% respectively. The remaining shares are controlled by the Zanzibar National Trading Company. Since being elected to the country’s highest office in October 2020, President Mwini has been enthusiastic about seaweed and has devised a range of measures to boost seafood production and marketing.
He insists that there is a particular emphasis on domestic processing, and that without “our own processing plant,” it is no wonder we are paying a high price to farmers.
Dr Mwinyi says the government welcomes the cultivation of spices. He says the cultivation of spices is highly lucrative and well suited to Zanzibar’s limited land.
The Chamananwe facility, whose construction work is progressing rapidly, is seen as a panacea for the country’s seaweed price problem.
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