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Regenerative seawater agricultures is a practice of creating coastal wetlands like saltmarshes that produce food while restoring nature in a holistic approach.
About
Seawater Solutions has been turning degraded land from Europe to Africa and Asia into productive ecosystems by using seawater to grow novel crops like Samphire. This Regenerative Seawater Agricultures (RSA) approach is able to restore valuable wetlands while producing an incredible array of products that are harnessed sustainably while promoting carbon capture, coastal adaptation, and even floods. Products like seaweeds, aquacultures, and saline crops have all been brought to market over the last years.
Key Benefits
The main benefits of this innovation is its ability to restore key ecosystems while providing communities the opportunity to generate livelihoods from them. This unique approach represents a harmonious marriage between restoration and productive agricultures, that results in incentives for protecting and restoring valuable coastal ecosystems. This innovation benefits from strong markets for the products that it generates, such as organic and extensive shrimp, high-value crops like Samphire, and even carbon credits that are produced within each system (farm). This innovation has been rolled out across varied geographies, from the Scottish Highlands to the floodplains of Bangladesh and Ghana, supporting thousands of rural farmers and communities at the frontlines of climate change.
Applications
The solution pioneered by Seawater Solutions is applicable across primary agricultural production as well as ecosystem services. Using a vertically-integrated approach, the company works to support farmers and communities through the provision of expertise, on-site management, and routes to markets for the raw materials produced in these operations. The company also works with international organisations like the World Food Programme and USAID on the SDG targets of Zero Hunger and Climate Action, which is supported by national governments from Bangladesh to Ghana and Scotland. A focus on environmental adaptation in agriculture has led to a significant focus on applying this innovation to environmental engineering applications like flood adaptation and biodiversity inclusion.