Swahili Ocean Worlds: Fishing Communities and Sea Sustainability in Tanzania

How can environmental sustainability be improved alongside social sustainability in fishing communities in Tanzania?

The conservation and sustainable use of oceans is a priority for global development (SDG 14), but so is poverty eradication (SDG 1) and reduced inequality (SDG 10).

Research on coastal fishing communities in Tanzania has shown that indigenous knowledge can be beneficial for marine conservation and resource management, but environmental sustainability needs to be better aligned with social sustainability.

This project aims at identifying how indigenous knowledge can be leveraged for sea sustainability, while improving livelihoods and alleviating poverty in fishing communities.

Carried out by a multidisciplinary team of Swedish and Tanzanian researchers, it brings together anthropology, development studies and marine social science.

To advance scientific knowledge production, it foregrounds theorizing with the sea, exploring how fishing communities relate to and coexist with the ocean in the making of Swahili ocean worlds.

The project also aims at practical intervention through creative forms of multistakeholder engagement, focusing on how marine resource management can be harmonized with poverty alleviation.

Designed as a three-year collaborative research project, it combines digital, visual and sensory ethnographic research methods with workshops, exhibitions and participatory video, to translate research results into action for sustainable living with the sea.