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RI targets supply chain issues to get in on global seaweed rush
As Indonesia’s seaweed production continues to fall even as global demand rises for the commodity, the government is banking on a new pilot project that aims to address ingrained supply chain issues.
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A family of seaweed farmers cleans their freshly harvested seaweed on Sept. 25, 2020 on Nusa Lembongan, Bali. (Reuters/Nyimas Laula)
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mid rising global demand and production, Indonesia’s seaweed production has been declining steadily because of supply chain issues. The government is trying to tackle the problem with a pilot project that it hopes will touch every aspect of the industry and provide a blueprint for businesses across the country.
Indonesia’s coastline totals 99,000 kilometers, second only to Canada’s, according to the WorldAtlas website, making the archipelago an ideal place for seaweed cultivation.
And true enough, the country also ranks second in terms of output, only behind China. According to a report published in Hakai Magazine, seaweed farms account for 40 percent of the nation’s fishery output and employ around 1 million people.
However, the latest available data from the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry show that seaweed production has been declining by hundreds of thousands of tonnes per year, dropping from more than 10.5 million tonnes in 2017 to barely above 9 million in 2021, even as many other countries have seen multifold growth in their production.
Data from the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) show that global seaweed production has grown more than sixfold over the past 30 years.
“The problems are both upstream and downstream in the supply chain,” the ministry’s aquaculture director general, T.B. Haeru Rahayu, told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
The main downstream issue was the high cost of logistics and transportation, resulting in tiny profit margins, explained Haeru, while outdated farming practices had been identified as the key problem upstream.
