A Livelihood Project
This project aims to empower youth and women by opening up opportunities in agribusiness industry and seaweed through encouraging innovation and value addition. The focus will be on developing demand driven “Made in Zanzibar” products to be sold in local and international markets.
Milele Innovation Park (MIP) will be a self-sustained social enterprise which aims to produce value added seaweed based products to individual customers and businesses both locally, regionally and internationally. MIP will be organized and run independent from MZF management after it becomes self-sustain but the main reason of its existence is to contribute to “MILELE 2020” strategy. During the pilot phase it will be operating within the MZF structure. Also, during this phase MIP will be developing two main seaweed based value added products, namely semi-refine carrageenan and, organic fertilizer using the excess matter from the semi-refine carrageenan processing. The semi-refine carrageenan will be of the highest quality and will first be supplied to the growing local and regional industrial manufacturers. The organic fertilizer will feed the growing organic, sustainably conscious agro-business firms growing in the region, with a special focus on the local organic spice farmers.
Overall Objective
“Improved quality of made in Zanzibar products and service in targeted value chains” starting by stimulate local demand of Zanzibar produced seaweed which is only 1% processed and used in Zanzibar. The ultimate goal of this initiative is to improve seaweed farmer lives who are 90% are women and the community in general
Implementation
The MIP will initiate a pilot phase focusing on seaweed value addition by developing different seaweed value added products. Women and youth within the M2020 target locations will be involved in the process as either seaweed farmers or processors in the MIP. The project is a general strategy to raise the price (500TZS/KG) of seaweed the farmers receive who are more than 90% are women, among the factors that determine the lower price of seaweed to mention the few are international market price and middle men between the farmers and the end users.