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5. CHALLENGES AND THE WAY FORWARD
Sustainable development of seaweed farming in the Philippines entails efforts from various stakeholders to overcome a number of constraints on the economic, social,
environmental and governance aspects of the seaweed value chain. Some major issues and requirements identified by different stakeholders are summarized below.
Important issues and requirements in terms of production include: • expansion of farming areas to deeper waters;
• appropriate site selection and zoning arrangement; • development and access to farming technologies suitable to the farming location;
• development of, access to, and proper use of high-quality cultivars e.g. fast-
growing and disease-resistant; • prevention or control of “ice-ice” malaise and Neosiphonia infestation;
• establishment of nurseries in strategic areas nationwide. Important issues and requirements in terms of seaweed processing, marketing and
trade include: • access to good-quality dry seaweeds by local processors;
• access to fair trade and market links by seaweed farmers and processors; • more efficient value chain through minimizing layers of trading and eliminating
illegal traders; • establishment of well-functioned BDSs to link farmers associations directly to
processors; • further development of markets for carrageenan products.
Important issues and requirements in terms of RD and financial services include: • close interaction and collaboration between seaweed farmers and research
communities; • access to local bank loans by farmers, especially small-scale farmers.
5.1 Trade and marketing
A number of trade and marketing issues must be addressed to ensure continued growth of the industry:
• Brand management: Each segment in the value chain has to develop and protect its own brand to maintain and increase its market share. Awareness of culture
practices that relate to product quality and food safety must be enhanced and linked with market requirements.
• Adding value near crop sources: This practice would provide a higher income and diversify sources of livelihood to the seaweed farmer.
• Secure electronic transaction systems: Appropriate in places where information and communication technology is accessible.
• Traceable transactions and product flows: Ecolabelling could play an important role as it would provide valuable information about the product.
• Testing, verification and certification: A duly certified laboratory could examine the RDS and provide certification for a number of attributes, MC in
particular. • Market knowledge and information: producers need to be linked with proper
agencies that could provide accurate price information.
• Product innovation and development: Processors need to engage in continuous
RD in order to meet the changing needs of the end users. • Marketing and sales tools and services: Aggressive and effective marketing
strategies, along with excellent customer service, need to be undertaken by processors.
• Electronic buy–sell systems: The fastest and simplest means of buying and selling carrageenan is via electronic mails. Business transactions are performed in a few
minutes and can be closed in a day. Among farmers, the Short Message Service
SMS and Multimedia Messaging Service MMS are powerful tools for the buying and selling of RDS. A farmer or trader can e-mail a picture of the RDS to
larger traders, exporters or processors for preliminary assessment. • Education and training systems: Continuing education on GAPs for seaweed
farmers and training on quality control for workers and managers in processing plants are essential.
• Regional collection and distribution hubs: The establishment of these networks is essential to carrageenan processors for efficient sourcing of RDS and for local and
offshore marketing of the final product.
5.2 Education and RD
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