About Tanga–Pemba
The Tanga–Pemba Seascape stretches along Tanzania’s coastline, covering Pemba Island (part of the Zanzibar archipelago) and the mainland Tanga region. It is a critical component of the Western Indian Ocean marine ecosystem, characterized by rich coral reefs, extensive mangrove forests, and long-established fishing and farming communities. Livelihoods across the seascape are strongly tied to fishing and seaweed farming, with seaweed in particular serving as a major economic activity for women.
Environmental pressures are rising as fish stocks decline due to overfishing and destructive fishing methods, while climate change contributes to coral bleaching, coastal erosion, and rising sea levels. Seaweed farming is also increasingly vulnerable to die-offs and disease linked to warmer waters and pollution, and mangrove ecosystems continue to degrade due to illegal logging, land conversion, and natural erosion.
Economic challenges persist across value chains, including low prices for raw fish and seaweed, middlemen dominating market access, and limited opportunities to move into processed, value-added products. Post-harvest losses remain high because of gaps in cold storage, processing facilities, and transport infrastructure, and limited financial capital restricts access to tools and equipment needed to improve productivity and scale. Overdependence on a small number of marine livelihoods increases vulnerability when ecosystems shift or market conditions change.
Social and institutional challenges include gender inequality, particularly in cooperative leadership and higher-value fishing activities, even where women dominate seaweed farming. Governance constraints—such as inactive cooperatives, weak recordkeeping, and limited enforcement of marine protection regulations—undermine sustainability, while technical gaps in sustainable harvesting, restoration techniques, and digital access can limit resilience and market readiness.
OceanHub Africa Activities In the Region (Blue Economy Incubation)
OceanHub Africa’s support combines tailored coaching and mentoring, structured incubation training, practical capacity building, and grant funding for enterprise and community infrastructure. This includes online coaching delivered by OHA strategists over several months, a multi-day incubation bootcamp, and targeted training in areas such as swimming, seaweed processing, and beekeeping to strengthen safety and livelihood diversification. Grant support typically contributes to infrastructure and equipment needs—such as processing facilities, security measures, boats, crab ponds, and food processing machinery—alongside environmental commitments such as mangrove restoration.
