A Tasmanian seaweed company is venturing into Africa to help farmers reduce greenhouse gas emissions from their livestock with a new multi-million dollar deal.
Triabunna-based Sea Forest has signed an agreement to supply Noa’s Herd, an East African agricultural technologies company based in Uganda, with its seaweed-based animal feed supplement, SeaFeed.
The initial stage of the project will involve 30,000 cattle across 15 farms in Uganda and Kenya, with the potential to reduce emissions by more than 60,000 tonnes of carbon equivalent each year.
Noa’s Herd Co-Founder Nicholas Katongole said the project will provide capital to farmers in one of the poorest parts of the world through carbon credits.
“Human activities including mining and agriculture are responsible for around half of the global methane emissions entering the atmosphere,” he said.
“Cattle are the number one agricultural source of greenhouse gases worldwide. Feed additives with methane-inhibiting properties have the potential to reduce these emissions.”
Sea Forest CEO Sam Elsom said peer-reviewed studies have shown that adding a teaspoon of SeaFeed per day to an animal’s regular diet can reduce the amount of methane each animal produces by up to 90%.
“Sea Forest’s mission is to make a meaningful contribution to greenhouse gas emissions worldwide,” he said.
The company is the first in the world to develop and manufacture a feed supplement for cattle and sheep based on the native red Australian seaweed, Asparagopsis.
Sea Forest will receive USD$2 million per year over the course of the initial three-year deal, with an option to later expand.
