Climate-Smart Restorative Seaweed Farming: Building Resilient and Sustainable Coastal Livelihoods in Kwale County, Kenya

Climate change is threatening global seaweed aquaculture and coastal fisheries, necessitating climate -smart and resilient production systems. This study investigated the dynamics of restorative seaweed farming in five farming villages in Kwale, Kenya, focusing on the environmental stressors, technological limitations, adaptive responses and socioeconomic opportunities that influence sustainable seaweed production. Individual questionnaire interviews were conducted with 161 seaweed farmers, more than 30% of registered farmers, at the sites. A clustered, randomised sampling design was adopted. 94 open- and closed-ended questions were administered via Kobo Toolbox on environmental challenges, technological needs, farm management practices, and policy opportunities. Descriptive statistics, frequency analysis, SPSS and GraphPad Prism were used for analysis.

Results showed that climate change remains a major constraint to seaweed biomass productivity and carrageenan quality. Strong southeast monsoon winds caused widespread uprooting of seaweed farms. Northeast monsoon winds were linked to ice-ice disease and epiphytic infestations. The most significant environmental stressor identified by 42% of farmers was rising seawater temperature. Key gaps identified were infrastructure and resources limiting adaptive capacity and climate resilience. 74% of respondents lacked harvesting boats, 39% lacked boat engines, 87% lacked farm waste management systems. Security concerns posed production challenges, with 44% of farmers reporting theft of seaweed or farming tools.

Farmers used different climate adaptation strategies to manage ice-ice disease, including cutting affected portions (37%) and drying diseased plants (24%). Although 78% of respondents lacked seaweed farming calendars, 92% expressed strong interest in accessing climate-informed farming guidance tools. The study highlights the potential of climate-smart aquaculture innovations, particularly raft and long-line farming systems, to improve accessibility across tidal ranges and restorative seaweed production. It emphasises the need for scalable technologies, sustainable farm management, and increased research on seaweed value-addition to improve livelihood resilience, ecosystem sustainability, and the long-term economic stability of coastal communities in Kenya.