Zamboanga Seaweed Industry Is Ailing

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Ulysses E. Israel / 21 Aug) The ailing seaweed industry needs rehabilitation as the local government has virtually neglected the top dollar earner industry which is the source of livelihood of at least 26,100 farmer families covering about 50 percent of the total villages of Zamboanga City.

The seaweed industry is confronted with problems such as low productivity and poor quality, lack of post harvest and drying facilities, high marketing and transport cost, limited access to global market information, and stiff competition.

The local extension office of the Department of Trade and Industry said the seaweed industry has been "neglected and abandoned" which explain why the production has been dwindling and why it is losing its markets to competitors.

Engineer Isidro D. Eijansantos, Jr., DTI development specialist, said the seaweed farmers are clamoring for assistance from the City Government with the use of part of the "auxiliary invoice" being collected from shipment of seaweed products.

At present, the City Agriculture Office (CAO) collects P20 per 100 kilogram of seaweed being shipped whereas in other cities only P15 per shipment is being collected regardless of volume, he said.

If a portion of the total amount collected could be used for the creation of nurseries and for financial assistance, the seaweed farmers will be greatly benefited, he said.

The production of the local seaweed industry from 2000 to 2003 has dwindled at an average of 28.37 percent annually due to heavy storm that destroyed number of seaweed farms that were never rehabilitated. About 77.6 percent of the farm areas planted to seaweed is located at the eastern part of the city comprising four districts out of the total six classified districts.

Seaweeds are grown in abundance in city's water due to the ideal agro climatic environment. The city has more than enough supply of manpower for seaweeds farming as it doesn't require highly skilled workforce.

Another reason for the sorry state is the practice of seaweed farmers to use salt in the process of drying the seaweed which contributed to low quality of the dried seaweed.

Eijansantos said DTI has been conducting information drive informing the farmers of the disadvantages of using salt in the drying process. Due to lack of other means of livelihood, the farmers, he said, use salt to speed up the drying but the quality suffers. As a result, the buyers would look for supply from other areas like Tawi-tawi, Sulu, Zamboanga del Sur and Zamboanga del Norte provinces.

The use of salt, he said, may speed up the drying but the finished product is still 50 to 55 percent wet and the standard moisture content should be from 38 to 40 percent.
This practice, he said, destroys the reputation of Zamboanga as a source of quality seaweeds. The seaweeds also require financial assistance to rehabilitate farms, especially after storms hit the city.

In 2000, the city has recorded a production of about 100,000 metric ton, in 2005; the recorded production of seaweed was 41,000 metric tons. It showed that the 60 percent reduction in the production of seaweed is "substantial", he said.

Considering the demand for dried seaweed in the world market, the deterioration of the industry is "very unfortunate", he said.

The DTI noted that seaweed can be used as raw material in the production of cheese, ice cream, yogurt, butter, sausages, cosmetics, capsules, vitamin, bacteria, culturing media, shampoo and lotion. The city exports dried seaweed to Korea, France, China, Spain, Taiwan, Chile, and Hongkong.