In this episode, Professor Dave Little interviews early-career researcher Alex Pounds of the Institute of Aquaculture at the University of Stirling, UK. She is part of a small team funded by Innovate UK, working to understand the issues faced by women oyster harvesters in the Sherbro River Estuary in Southern Province, Sierra Leone. Alex explains the potential impact of climate change on the oysters and mangroves where they grow, the implications for the value chain which supplies growing urban populations, and on the livelihoods of the women involved. She also provides insights into how some of the value chain activities themselves contribute to climate change and hence the need for significant innovation in this sector.

This project is a follow-up to an earlier project in the same location funded through the Darwin Initiative. See our previous blog article about the third annual ‘Bonthe Oyster Festival’