Zanzibar Seaweed Cluster Initiative (ZaSCI is an initiative which is officially registered in Zanzibar, Tanzania in 2017 with registration number L.2613 and its activities started in 2006. Currently ZaSCI has about 3,700 members who include farmers and small-scale processors.  ZaSCI operates in a Triple Helix Model by linking the Business (Farmers, Processors, Exporters, Buyers and Users), Government (Ministries), and Academia (Universities and Research institutions).

The aim of ZaSCI is to address challenges that are directly affecting seaweed farmers of which 80% are poor old women. ZaSCI intervenes in the main challenges of the impact of climate change which has resulted in decline in seaweed production, failure to farm the higher valued seaweed and low-unpredictable world market seaweed prices.

ZaSCI mostly works in two areas of innovation: developing innovation in deep water seaweed farming technologies and seaweed value addition by empowering farmers and processors in the new technologies considering that since 1989 there has been no innovation (both in farming and value addition) but only exporting of raw unprocessed seaweed.

The innovative activities of ZaSCI started with a group of 21 women in one village (Kidoti, North Region, Unguja) with production of the first seaweed value added product-seaweed powder which was used to make seaweed soap and body cream. To date ZaSCI has more than 28 groups of processors with a total number of 500+ processors (90% are women). ZaSCI is the first Cluster initiative to produce the first seaweed value added product in Tanzania.