Things are looking up for the local
seaweed industry.
For centuries, Filipinos have made a living from the
rich marine ecosystem that surrounds the country. And
upon the advent of the seaweed industry in the early
1950’s, many people along the coastal areas shifted to
seaweed farming as their primary means of livelihood.
It has emerged as a major dollar earner for the country,
and its potential to help rescue fisherfolk in the
countryside from poverty has drawn the attention of the
Philippine Development Assistance Program.
PDAP is a non-government organization committed to
promoting and developing rural enterprises for poverty
peace in conflict-affected areas, and has taken it upon
itself to help develop the seaweeds industry,
particularly in Sitangkai in Tawi-tawi, one of the
poorest provinces in the Philippines.
Sitangkai accounts for half of the output of the
Philippines’ seaweed industry.
And so, PDAP has designed the Sitangkai Seaweeds
Industry Master Plan, which calls for providing the
communities with the necessary financing, technology,
entrepreneurial of ability and other capacity
development programs they need to actively participate
in the dynamic and fast-growing market of organic and
natural products.
The Canadian Ambassador visited the town on May 22 to
see the project. A donors’ forum will follow in
September 2006 so that the project’s details will be
shared with those willing to see the masterplan through.
If successful, the masterplan will be strengthened and
expanded to all the coastal municipalities of Mindanao;
Sulu, Basilan, and the Zamboanga peninsula, also in
Bicol region, Visayas and some part of Northern Luzon.
