Leveraging seaweed to lower emissions and increase competitiveness of agri-food systems in the Andes

Project Summary:

This grant focuses on identifying policy and investment opportunities in the seaweed sector to support Green, Resilient, and Inclusive Development (GRID) of coastal communities in the Andean Region — specifically Chile, Ecuador, and Peru.

It supports the LCR Blue Economy Technical Advisory Platform, which aims to strengthen institutional capacity across Latin America and the Caribbean to develop blue economy opportunities and climate-resilient coastal and marine investments.

It is organized around three activities:

• The first focuses on Chile and targets opportunities to reduce agri-food system emissions through seaweed innovation while increasing competitiveness in high-value markets.
• The second covers Ecuador and Peru and involves early-stage scoping to identify how seaweed can lower agricultural emissions and support cooperative knowledge-sharing across the subsector.
• The third activity is a study tour and knowledge exchange leveraging Korean expertise in seaweed cultivation, processing, and utilization technologies.

This grant is aligned as follows:

• Partnerships established or under establishment include:
  (i) World Bank's AquaInvest Platform;
  (ii) IFC;
  (iii) LC6 AGF PASA “Andean Countries Resilient and Inclusive Agri-food Systems” (P505553);