Several aid agencies have provided microfinance or other forms of financial support to farmers either directly or through Indonesian government agencies. For example, the
PNM is a state-owned investment firm that has funded farmer training and provided finance products to seaweed farmers.
4.4 Farm structures
In Indonesia, seaweed farming was found to be primarily a village-based family business.
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Two distinct approaches to farm management were encountered in the present study. The most common one was a “nuclear family” model, where spouses
share work and income among themselves, their children, their parents and other first-degree blood relations. The other approach was the “lead farmer” model, where
one person or a small team of people own the enterprise, are actively involved in the day-to-day operations, assume responsibility for managing the farm enterprise,
and undertake marketing and selling of the crops produced. Farm labour generally consists of extended family members and neighbours who provide labour on a
piecework basis.
The most common real property structure of Indonesian seaweed farming enterprises is a “proprietary” model where the farm enterprise directly owns
physical farm assets and holds the rights to farm in the locations where it operates. The nuclear family model predominated among farmers surveyed during the
present study; however, sharing of labour and assets among farmers was a common occurrence. In Indonesia, this practice is known as “gotong royong” or “kerja bakti”.
Usually, kerja bakti takes place among farmers that belong to the same farmer group “kelompok”. Labour sharing generally occurs during periodic instances of intense
activity such as farm construction, harvesting, drying and attaching of cuttings to lines. Shared physical assets generally include drying platforms, boats and work
shelters.
An uncommon structure was the “tenant” model, where the farm enterprise pays fees for the right to use physical farm assets andor to farm in the locations where it
operated. Also uncommon was the “sharecropper” model, where the farm enterprise pays rent as a percentage of crop yields for the right to use physical farm assets andor
to farm in the locations where it operated. One approach that has been tried and failed several times is the “estate farm” model, whereby the farm is owned by individuals
not active in day-to-day operations while actual management and operation are undertaken by people on salary. Substantial village-level control of seashore utilization
has certainly been an impediment for any estate farming approach because aquaculture sites are generally sought after by many village members.
5. CHALLENGES AND THE WAY FORWARD
