Sustainable seaweed farming and its contribution to livelihoods in Eastern Indonesia

Abstract

Seaweed farming has been used as a tool for livelihood strategy of coastal communities in Eastern Indonesia. This study aimed to analyse the characteristics of seaweed farming activity, analyse the constraints and opportunities of seaweed farming, and analyze the marketing channel of seaweed farming. This study were used structured and semi-structured questionnaires as qualitative approach, and interviews were conducted with 294 in total respondents in South Sulawesi and West Nusa Tenggara Provinces. The data were analyzed used descriptive statistics, supply chain analysis, and SWOT. The finding shows that seaweed farming plays as a primary source of household support in small-scale level (2-4 plots in each). Some constraints hinder the development of this activity, such as disease, post-harvest difficulties, farm ownership, shifts in the monsoon season, marketing constraints, quality of seaweed seeds, farm ownership, and imperfections in post-harvest methods. The supply chain of seaweed with has provided benefits (price margin: IDR 1000/kg), such as speedily supplying investment and daily operational funds, without interest through the efforts of middlemen with an exclusive relationship. As a conclusion, traditional seaweed farming method can be as key driven for sustainable seaweed farming and livelihoods for local coastal community.