Sea Forest seals $9m deal with Ugandan-based agricultural tech company

An innovative Tasmanian company cultivating seaweed to reduce global greenhouse gases has locked in a deal with an African agricultural technology business. Here’s the details.

Sea Forest lead seaweed technician Steph Maresse. Picture: Supplied

An innovative Tasmanian product will be heading to farmers in one of the poorest parts of the world under a three-year deal worth $9m.

Sea Forest has locked in a deal with an East African agricultural technologies business Noa’s Herd to distribute its proprietary animal feed supplement.

The East Coast based company cultivates the native red Australian seaweed asparagopsis to create a feed supplement — called SeaFeed — for cattle and sheep.

The supplement is designed to cut methane emissions each animal produces by up to 90 per cent.

Tasmanian company Sea Forest in Swansea is expanding. Image: Sea Forest.

The new deal is expected to start in early 2025 and involve 30,000 cattle across 15 farms in Uganda and Kenya.

It has the potential to wipe out more than 60,000 tonnes of carbon equivalent emission each year, which the Ugandan-based company says it will measure the reduction in methane using green feed devices.

The business model of the program includes covering the cost of feeding the animals the SeaFeed supplement by sharing the proceeds from the sale of carbon credits with farmers.

Under the agreement, Sea Forest will receive USD$2m per annum over the course of the initial three-year deal, with an option to later expand.

Sea Forest founder Sam Elsom

Sea Forest chief executive Sam Elsom said it was the company’s mission to make a meaningful contribution to greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.

“Our partnership with Noa’s Herd in East Africa is an important step towards this outcome,” Mr Elsom said.

Noa’s Herd co-founder and CEO Nicholas Katongole said it was an important partnership.

“Not only will it be reducing methane emissions from day one, but this project will provide capital to farmers in one of the poorest parts of the world through carbon credits,” he said.

“This access to finance will allow them to catch up with the rest of the world and help sustain their livelihoods.”

This isn’t the first major deal struck internationally by Sea Forest. In July, they entered a partnership with UK supermarket giant Morrisons to exclusively supply their product to assist the chain’s introduction of lower-carbon beef products.

Sea Forest also shared plans earlier this year to increase production by 100 times at its Swansea facility.