Flower Msuya

Flower Msuya
Msuya displaying algaculture in Zanzibar
Born1959 (age 65–66)
Kifula, Tanganyika Territory
Alma materUniversity of Dar es Salaam
University of Kuopio
Tel Aviv University
Scientific career
FieldsPhycology, algaculture
InstitutionsUniversity of Dar es Salaam
ThesisThe Influence of Culture Regimes on the Performance of Seaweed Biofilters in Integrated Mariculture (2004)

Flower Ezekiel Msuya (born 1959) is a Tanzanian phycologist. She specialises in algaculture (seaweed farming) and integrated aquaculture.[1]

Early life and education

Flower Ezekiel Msuya was born in 1959 in Kifula[2] (Ugweno), a division of Mwanga District in the Kilimanjaro Region of Tanzania.[3] She earned her BSc in botany and statistics from the University of Dar es Salaam.[3] She received an MSc in fisheries and aquaculture from the University of Kuopio in Finland.[2] Based on a course in phycology (the study of algae and seaweed),[3] she developed an interest in seaweed farming. She earned her PhD in seaweed-integrated aquaculture from Tel Aviv University in 2004.[1] Her thesis, "The Influence of Culture Regimes on the Performance of Seaweed Biofilters in Integrated Mariculture", examined the use of seaweed as biofilters for fishpond effluent water.[4]

Career

From 1993 to 1996, Msuya researched the socioeconomic and environmental impacts of seaweed farming.[2][5] She pioneered the start of seaweed farming in southern Tanzania in 1995 and 1996.[2][5] From 2005 she has been researching technologies to add value to seaweed (e.g. for making tubular nets).[2]

Since 2017 Msuya has been part of a team implementing the GlobalSeaweedSTAR project to safeguard the future of seaweed aquaculture against the effects of climate change in countries such as Tanzania, Philippines and Malaysia. A project led by the Scottish Association of Marine Science (SAMS) and funded by the UK Research and Innovation Global Challenges Research Fund.[6]

Msuya has worked as a research officer at the Tanzania Fisheries Research Institute (TAFIRI) in Kigoma, Tanzania. She is a former Chief Laboratory Scientist and Senior Researcher in Marine Biology at the Institute of Marine Sciences of the University of Dar es Salaam based in Zanzibar.[7] The need for the Tanzanian industry to develop resilience towards environmental impacts has been a key focus area for her.[8]

Msuya is one of five international trainers in Innovation and Cluster Facilitation. She trains on seaweed farming technologies, value addition and integrating seaweed with other marine products such as sea cucumbers, shellfish and finfish.[9]

Msuya has worked with FAO, WIEGO, UNIDO and WWF. She has contributed to the start of seaweed farming in Mauritius, Rodrigues and Mayotte.[2]

She is a member of the Tropical Agriculture Association (TAA), the Royal Society of Biology (RSB),[2] the World Aquaculture Society (WAS),[10] the International Seaweed Association (ISA), Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association (WIOMSA) and the Pan African Competitiveness Forum (PACF).[2]

Msuya is the founder and chairperson of the Zanzibar Seaweed Cluster Initiative (ZaSCI). As part of this initiative, she has contributed to producing seaweed products[11] including powder, cosmetics and foods.[12][9] ZaSCI is also assisting Zanzibar to scale-up seaweed processing through implementing seaweed processing plants for semi-refined carrageenan (the gel that determines the quality of the red seaweeds farmed in the island).[2]

Selected publications

  • Msuya, Flower E.; Neori, Amir (December 2008). "Effect of water aeration and nutrient load level on biomass yield, N uptake and protein content of the seaweed Ulva lactuca cultured in seawater tanks". Journal of Applied Phycology. 20 (6): 1021–1031. doi:10.1007/s10811-007-9300-6. S2CID 20524645.
  • Neori, Amir; Msuya, Flower E.; Shauli, Lilach; Schuenhoff, Andreas; Kopel, Fidi; Shpigel, Muki (November 2003). "A novel three-stage seaweed ( Ulva lactuca ) biofilter design for integrated mariculture". Journal of Applied Phycology. 15 (6): 543–553. doi:10.1023/B:JAPH.0000004382.89142.2d. S2CID 22870531.
  • Schuenhoff, Andreas; Shpigel, Muki; Lupatsch, Ingrid; Ashkenazi, Arik; Msuya, Flower E; Neori, Amir (May 2003). "A semi-recirculating, integrated system for the culture of fish and seaweed". Aquaculture. 221 (1–4): 167–181. doi:10.1016/S0044-8486(02)00527-6.
  • Msuya, Flower (2011). The influence of culture regimes on the performance of seaweed biofilters in integrated mariculture. ISBN 978-3-8454-3642-5.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Rubagumya, Emmanuel (15 April 2020). "Tanzania: Flower Msuya. A scientist fighting tirelessly to promote seaweed farming". Aquaculture Magazine.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rubagumya, Emmanuel (2 April 2020). "Tanzania: Flower Msuya - Fighting Tirelessly to Promote Seaweed Farming, Products". Daily News. Archived from the original on 6 April 2020. Retrieved 14 February 2021 – via AllAfrica.
  3. ^ a b c Msuya, Flower. "At first it was not easy" (PDF). People and the Environment. Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association. pp. 13–15. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2020-12-04. Retrieved 2021-02-27.
  4. ^ Msuya, Flower (2004). "The Influence of Culture Regimes on the Performance of Seaweed Biofilters in Integrated Mariculture".
  5. ^ a b "Flower Ezekiel Msuya". Global Shakers.
  6. ^ "How seaweed farming can help tackle global poverty". The Fish Site. 24 September 2020.
  7. ^ Brugere, Cecile; Msuya, Flower E.; Jiddawi, Narriman; Nyonje, Betty; Maly, Ritha (2 January 2020). "Can innovation empower? Reflections on introducing tubular nets to women seaweed farmers in Zanzibar". Gender, Technology and Development. 24 (1): 89–109. doi:10.1080/09718524.2019.1695307. S2CID 213899411.
  8. ^ Msuya, Flower (January 2012). A Study of Working Conditions in the Zanzibar Seaweed Farming Industry. Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing. ISBN 978-92-95095-40-3.
  9. ^ a b Waycott, Bonnie (6 August 2018). "Women in aquaculture: Dr Flower Msuya". The Fish Site. Archived from the original on 27 October 2020. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  10. ^ "Feed firm backs African aquaculture". The Fish Site. 12 November 2018. Archived from the original on 17 January 2021. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  11. ^ Msuya, F.E. (2006). "The Seaweed Cluster Initiative in Zanzibar, Tanzania. In Mwamila B.L.M. and A.K. Temu, Proceedings of the 3rd Regional Conference on Innovation Systems and Innovative Clusters in Africa, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, September 3-7, 2006". Proceedings of the 3Rd Regional Conference On...: 246–260. Archived from the original on 2016-06-23. Retrieved 2021-02-28.
  12. ^ Coates, Karen J. (21 May 2018). "Warming waters hurt Zanzibar's seaweed. But women farmers have a plan". Christian Science Monitor. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 28 February 2021.