Although seaweed cultivation is a new activity in Tanzania, the most probable constraint to be faced by seaweed farmers is shortage of suitable sites. For existing farmers, this will manifest itself through restrained expansion, whilst prospective farmers may find all sites already occupied. In relation to this, the question of ownership and access rights may become an important issue in the community, with possible conflicts arising.
Exports of seaweed from Tanzania are subject to a royalty charge which is currently 3 Tanzanian Shillings/kilo. Exporters have complained that this is too high. In addition, the Government of Tanzania has set a guideline price of US$ 1000/tonne which is also considered by most existing and potential exporters as too high. For potential exporters, this could be a deterrent as the government requires justification for selling seaweed at a lower price than this guideline price.
Another constraint faced by potential exporters is the lack of international market information on seaweed, such as names of importers of seaweed, market trends in seaweed, current prices and quality of product required.
Finally, businessmen who had attempted to enter the seaweed export market by relying on the harvest of wild stock appeared uninformed about the supply and quality of wild stock necessary to maintain customers. They were therefore discouraged from further exportation, when they realised they could not supply large and regular quantities of seaweed to the importer.
