nder The Radar is a special series and newsletter offering from Diplomatic Courier bringing you compelling, under–the–radar stories from around the world over the past month. This month across Sub–Saharan Africa: Kenya’s growing seaweed farming industry, Mali deforestation woes, and Nigeria’s 10th electricity grid collapse of 2024. You can sign up to receive the newsletter here.
The global seaweed market has tripled in the past decade with further potentially substantial growth, according to a 2024 UN report. This growth has proven especially profitable for Kenya. Previously, Kenyan farmers in coastal villages relied on cassava and corn farming, although diseased seeds and droughts drastically reduced the success of these harvests. Similarly, the climate crisis began to impact Kenya’s fishing industry.
The Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI) began researching seaweed farming as early as 2001 before officially creating seaweed farms in 2010. These seaweed farms are often run by women, who harvest the seaweed, which can be used for food and made into necessities like soap and shampoo. Seaweed also presents an environmentally friendly alternative to certain fabrics and textiles.
Still, the climate crisis has affected seaweed farming, with warm ocean currents in 2022 destroying most of the product. Fortunately, The seaweed farmers were able to plant new seeds and adapted their farming methods by moving the seaweed farms to deeper but calmer water. The Sustainable Manufacturing and Environmental Pollution Programme (SMEP) Catchgreen project has also contributed Biodolomer®Ocean nets—a biodegradable alternative to typical fishing nets—to Kenya’s seaweed farms.
The success of Kenya’s seaweed farming—which still has immense room for growth—is already significantly impacting locals of coastal villages who can now find reliable employment and thus improve their families' lives.
Mali’s losing fight against deforestation
Aida M’Bo—Mail’s former minister of the environment—is doing all she can to protect the Zamblara forest, launching the nonprofit Energia to focus on community tree planting. Energia is financially backed by the Great Green Wall Initiative—launched in 2007—which aims to build a wall of trees across 22 African nations to help protect the continent from the effects of the climate crisis. If the initiative can achieve its goal of an 8,000 kilometer wall of trees, it would create an abundance of green jobs, sequester carbon, and restore degraded land. The Great Green Wall would also help protect countries like Mali from the effects of the climate crisis.
Although the Zamblara forest is technically classified as protected, nearly 20,000 square kilometers of the forest have been lost in the past three decades, largely due to rural communities cutting down the trees for firewood. Unfortunately, for many in Mali’s rural communities, firewood is the only means of cooking. Although there are alternative energy sources, most of the people in these rural communities cannot afford cooking gas or solar panels. The necessity of firewood as a means of cooking also helps create jobs, as some Malians make their living off of chopping firewood and selling it to other rural communities. Still, even Malians who acknowledge their role in the deforestation attended M’Bo’s community tree planting efforts, showing their hope to preserve the Zamblara forest.
Nigeria suffers tenth grid blackout in a year
On 7 November 2024, three cities in Nigeria suffered blackouts as the country’s electricity grid collapsed for the tenth time in a year. Although the Transmission Company of Nigeria simply explained the blackout as a “partial disturbance of the system,” there are two well–documented reasons for Nigeria’s continued electricity grid woes.
First, Nigeria’s electric grid is outdated and lacks infrastructure and investment. The government is looking to improve the infrastructure by investing $800 million, having previously committed to generating 6,000 MW of electricity by the end of 2024. However, as of November 2024, while Nigeria has the potential to generate 13,000 MW of electricity, only 4,000 MW of electricity can be transmitted, which is a far cry from what would be needed to provide reliable electricity to Nigeria’s population.
Second, Nigeria’s electricity grid has also been subjected to sabotage by armed groups. The Transmission Company of Nigeria previously reported that an armed group sabotaged transmission lines, causing a seven day blackout.
According to experts, one possible solution to the lack of infrastructure is for Nigeria to prioritize using renewable energy. Another suggested solution for its electricity grid would be to shift power generation to the private sector. The Ekiti State government—in southwestern Nigeria—seems to be doing exactly that, incorporating a power company and allowing the company to act as a private entity to provide electricity to the public and private sectors, to individuals, and possibly in the future, to other parts of Nigeria.
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Seaweed bolsters Kenya’s faltering marine economy
Seaweed farming is an increasingly important part of Kenya’s marine economy. Image by iain from Pixabay
December 5, 2024
Diplomatic Courier staff writer Stephanie Gull brings you three under–the–radar stories from Sub–Saharan Africa last month: Kenya’s emerging seaweed sector, deforestation in Mali, and another massive round of blackouts in Nigeria.
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nder The Radar is a special series and newsletter offering from Diplomatic Courier bringing you compelling, under–the–radar stories from around the world over the past month. This month across Sub–Saharan Africa: Kenya’s growing seaweed farming industry, Mali deforestation woes, and Nigeria’s 10th electricity grid collapse of 2024. You can sign up to receive the newsletter here.
The global seaweed market has tripled in the past decade with further potentially substantial growth, according to a 2024 UN report. This growth has proven especially profitable for Kenya. Previously, Kenyan farmers in coastal villages relied on cassava and corn farming, although diseased seeds and droughts drastically reduced the success of these harvests. Similarly, the climate crisis began to impact Kenya’s fishing industry.
The Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI) began researching seaweed farming as early as 2001 before officially creating seaweed farms in 2010. These seaweed farms are often run by women, who harvest the seaweed, which can be used for food and made into necessities like soap and shampoo. Seaweed also presents an environmentally friendly alternative to certain fabrics and textiles.
Still, the climate crisis has affected seaweed farming, with warm ocean currents in 2022 destroying most of the product. Fortunately, The seaweed farmers were able to plant new seeds and adapted their farming methods by moving the seaweed farms to deeper but calmer water. The Sustainable Manufacturing and Environmental Pollution Programme (SMEP) Catchgreen project has also contributed Biodolomer®Ocean nets—a biodegradable alternative to typical fishing nets—to Kenya’s seaweed farms.
The success of Kenya’s seaweed farming—which still has immense room for growth—is already significantly impacting locals of coastal villages who can now find reliable employment and thus improve their families' lives.
Mali’s losing fight against deforestation
Aida M’Bo—Mail’s former minister of the environment—is doing all she can to protect the Zamblara forest, launching the nonprofit Energia to focus on community tree planting. Energia is financially backed by the Great Green Wall Initiative—launched in 2007—which aims to build a wall of trees across 22 African nations to help protect the continent from the effects of the climate crisis. If the initiative can achieve its goal of an 8,000 kilometer wall of trees, it would create an abundance of green jobs, sequester carbon, and restore degraded land. The Great Green Wall would also help protect countries like Mali from the effects of the climate crisis.
Although the Zamblara forest is technically classified as protected, nearly 20,000 square kilometers of the forest have been lost in the past three decades, largely due to rural communities cutting down the trees for firewood. Unfortunately, for many in Mali’s rural communities, firewood is the only means of cooking. Although there are alternative energy sources, most of the people in these rural communities cannot afford cooking gas or solar panels. The necessity of firewood as a means of cooking also helps create jobs, as some Malians make their living off of chopping firewood and selling it to other rural communities. Still, even Malians who acknowledge their role in the deforestation attended M’Bo’s community tree planting efforts, showing their hope to preserve the Zamblara forest.
Nigeria suffers tenth grid blackout in a year
On 7 November 2024, three cities in Nigeria suffered blackouts as the country’s electricity grid collapsed for the tenth time in a year. Although the Transmission Company of Nigeria simply explained the blackout as a “partial disturbance of the system,” there are two well–documented reasons for Nigeria’s continued electricity grid woes.
First, Nigeria’s electric grid is outdated and lacks infrastructure and investment. The government is looking to improve the infrastructure by investing $800 million, having previously committed to generating 6,000 MW of electricity by the end of 2024. However, as of November 2024, while Nigeria has the potential to generate 13,000 MW of electricity, only 4,000 MW of electricity can be transmitted, which is a far cry from what would be needed to provide reliable electricity to Nigeria’s population.
Second, Nigeria’s electricity grid has also been subjected to sabotage by armed groups. The Transmission Company of Nigeria previously reported that an armed group sabotaged transmission lines, causing a seven day blackout.
According to experts, one possible solution to the lack of infrastructure is for Nigeria to prioritize using renewable energy. Another suggested solution for its electricity grid would be to shift power generation to the private sector. The Ekiti State government—in southwestern Nigeria—seems to be doing exactly that, incorporating a power company and allowing the company to act as a private entity to provide electricity to the public and private sectors, to individuals, and possibly in the future, to other parts of Nigeria.
