Seaweed stakeholders join hands to raise quality

ZAMBOANGA CITY – Producers, processors, and exporters from the Philippine seaweed industry have launched a concerted effort to improve quality to sustain the country’s position as a major global supplier of seaweed and carrageenan.

This consensus was reached during the 4th Mindanao Seaweed Congress where industry experts presented measures meant to address concerns affecting production and the quality of seaweeds, and identified strategic developments to improve the image and competitiveness of the industry and its products.

Western Mindanao, including Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi supplies nearly 70 percent of the country’s seaweed production.

"The seaweed industry makes an enormous contribution to our national economy. We must continually exert efforts to maintain our leadership in the global market for quality seaweed and carrageenan products," said Agriculture Undersecretary Edmund Sana, who represented Agriculture Secretary Luis Lorenzo Jr.

Last year, according to the Seaweed Industry Association of the Philippines (SIAP), the country’s seaweed industry generated $138.6 million in exports of raw dried seaweed, semi-refined carrageenan, and refined carrageenan. The chief export markets are the United States, France, Denmark, the Netherlands, Korea, China, and Hong Kong.

Global demand for carrageenan is projected to grow at an annual rate of 4 to 6 percent in volume and 5 to 7 percent in value, according to Industrial Market Research International, an independent agency that monitors the global hydrocolloid (food sector) industry. By the end of the decade, Philippine exports of this product are forecast to exceed $200 million.

At the end of the Congress, participants presented resolutions directed at both the industry and government. The former dealt with the development of R&D programs on the beneficial and healthful effects of carrageenan and recommendation for seaweed processing plants to construct waste water and effluent treatment facilities. The latter concentrated on establishing support programs to ensure sufficient supply of seaweed in Western Mindanao and reducing fees imposed by local government units.

The 4th Mindanao Seaweed Congress was organized in coordination with the Seaweed Inter-Agency Task Force 9, with support from the USAID-funded Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM) Program. The Task Force is composed of the Departments of Trade and Industry, Environment and Natural Resources, Agriculture, Science and Technology and the Office of the City Agriculturist, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Regional Fisheries Training Center, and Zamboanga State College of Marine Science and Technology.