A Seaweed Development Programme (SDP) can only be formulated based on certain assumptions and risks which can be verified and monitored at regular intervals during the duration of the programme. For a successful industry to develop in Samoa, farming has to be an attractive activity to a number of rural people, while at the same time a commercially viable and sustainable export business must become established. Successful commercialisation programmes in other regions have frequently required a consortium of effort involving Government co-operation and support an aid donor, foreign personnel with experience in marine agronomy, and the support of a foreign processor willing to guarantee the initial product market.
With any development programme it is important to distinguish between research and development, and commercial seaweed trading. Government organisations have a role to play in research and development, but generally are less well-equipped to succeed at trading, which is better left to the private sector. Aid donors through expert consultants can have a role to play in assisting both research and development and the commercial trading sector with advice and capital items. The author is of the view that aid to farmers should be only in the form of advice and technical demonstrations, and not in farming materials or subsidised crop prices, as the latter creates an artificial and inflated financial return which is often unsustainable.
The following production tables and costs should be considered only as a starting point of reference. More precise actual data applicable directly to Samoa should be gained from monitoring financial returns and farmer inputs from the first family farms established at the recommended sites.
No specific farm size is recommended as the flexibility of seaweed production allows for a range of commitment levels, and experience has shown that households decide on their own level of farming activity depending on cash needs and other obligations and commitments.
For income projection purposes the standard off-bottom farm module of 50 square metres is used. This has been developed as a starting unit by DLA Ltd. in other Pacific islands and requires a labour input of about 2 hours per week. This type of module is recommended for a commercial development in Samoa.
Farming Method: Off-bottom fixed depth planting.
| Planted area | 50 square metres |
| Total area including access ways | 70 square metres |
| Length of culture lines | 5 metres |
| No. of culture lines | 30 |
| No. of plants per line | 25 |
| Total No. of plants | 750 |
| Planting density | 15 plants per square metre |
| Gross Production | |
| Harvest interval | 49 days |
| Mean seed cutting weight | 150 grams |
| Mean harvest weight | 1064 grams |
| Mean Relative Growth Rate | 4.0% per day |
| Module harvest weight 1064 × 750 | 798 kilogram |
| Less operating loss 14% (112 kg) | 686 kg |
| Less cuttings for re-planting 112.5kg | 573.5 kg |
| Dry weight production (1:8 ratio) | 71.7 kg |
| Annual production (7 harvests per year) | 502 kg per year |
| Farmer price @ Samoa Tala 0.75/kg | |
| Gross product per module | 376.50. Samoa Tala (SAT) |
(Costs are based on estimated landed Apia CIF prices of farming materials sourced in bulk from Fiji and Indonesia.)
| 22 posts 6 – 7cm diameter length 80cm (provided by the farmer from local materials) 115 kg of living cuttings provided free of charge. | ||
| 30 3mm diameter culture lines of 5m length + 1m for tying | SA Tala | |
| 30 × 6 = 180m @ SAT 0.04/m | 7.30 | |
| 25m of 6mm diameter rope @ SAT 0.146/m | 3.70 | |
| Total capital costs | 11.00 | |
| depreciation period: 3 years | ||
| cost per year | 3.66 | |
| Running costs | ||
| Raffia or “tie-tie” | 4.77 | |
| Total yearly module input | 8.43 | |
| Gross product yield | 376.50 | |
| Input | 8.43 | |
| Total value added | 368.07 | |
| Value added/week | 7.08 | |
| Total Labour input (approx.) (person hours/week) | 2 Hrs | |
| Average value added per hour | 3.54 | |
| Other Inputs for farms from 4 to 16 modules in size (sourced in bulk from New Zealand) | SATala | |
| 1 × Plastic sheet @ SATala 3.59/m | 21.55 | |
| 1 × Ground drying synthetic [email protected]/m | 35.42 | |
| 4 × Wet harvesting bags @Tala 5.74 each | 22.96 | |
| Total capital costs | 79.93 | |
| Depreciation over 5 years | 16.00 | |
The labour time input can be broken down into the following activities:
| Harvesting | 28% | Sea time |
| Re-tying new cuttings | 50% | Land based time |
| Planting out culture lines | 14% | Sea time |
| Drying and packing | 7% | Land based time |
| Repairs and maintenance | 1% | Sea time |
More than 50% of the time spent on farming activities is spent on the land rather than in the sea. The re-tying of new cuttings can be accomplished inside existing dwellings or under shade shelters. A common practice that fits well with other household duties is for new cuttings to be attached to culture lines during the evening, often as a family activity, and the lines secured at the farm site early the following morning.
The projected annual farm incomes shown in Table 1 are based on a conservative mean relative growth rate (RGR) of 4.0% per day and a price of Tala 750.00 per tonne paid to the farmer.
Table 1 Projected Production and Returns from Different Size Units Based on a 4% per day Mean Relative Growth Rate
| Modules No. | Culture Lines | Area sq metres | Production tonnes/year | Income Tala/Year | Labour hours/week |
| 1 | 30 | 50 | 0.502 | 376.50 | 2.0 |
| 2 | 60 | 100 | 1.004 | 753.00 | 4.0 |
| 4 | 120 | 200 | 2.008 | 1506.00 | 8.0 |
| 8 | 240 | 400 | 4.016 | 3012.00 | 16.0 |
| 16 | 480 | 800 | 8.032 | 6024.00 | 32.0 |
| 20 | 600 | 1000 | 10.038 | 7530.00 | 40.0 |
| 21 | 630 | 1050 | 10.540 | 7906.50 | 42.4 |
The 4.0% mean RGR provides annual gross incomes which are deliberately conservative to avoid creating expectations that may be overly optimistic. In fact mean RGRs recorded at other Pacific sites have ranged from 3.5% to 8.5%. The RGRs at Line Islands production sites have never been below 5.0%, and are 7.0 – 8.0% at some locations.
The number of person/hours per week correlates most closely with the number of culture lines managed by the farmer/household, so, when higher than 4.0% RGR is experienced the same number of culture lines provides a higher yield, and hence higher income, with a disproportionately small increase in the labour input.
Other Pacific locations have shown that all adult members of the family become involved in regular farming activities. Women in particular, frequently undertake more than 50% of the labour input. It is therefore more appropriate to refer to household or family incomes from farming, rather than individual farmer or supplier returns.
Although Table 1 above shows that there is potential for households to each produce in excess of 10 MT per year, it is recognised that seaweed farming will become only a part-time activity for most households. The level of time commitment will depend on other cash-earning opportunities and the time spent on subsistence living activities, such as fishing and food production. However, a large number of small part-time units, each producing less than 3 MT dry weight per annum, can be of equal importance to the viability of an export industry as the few households which each produce more than 10 MT per annum.
On Tabuaeran in the Line Islands one of the largest suppliers, a husband and wife team with help from other family members, is producing at the rate of 18.3 MT per annum, which on their farmer price of AU$400.00/MT, returns the household a gross income of AU$7,320.00. A further seven households produced in the 8 to 17 MT per annum range in 1998. These figures merely demonstrate what can be achieved in good growing areas. Site fertility and farmer diligence are key factors that determine the financial return to the household.
The initial start up capital costs for rope and raffia are small at around Samoan Tala 16.00 per farm module, and not likely to inhibit new entrants. The first production can be dried on coconut leaves, but for those farmers who later increase their activity to over 100 culture lines a further capital outlay of around Tala 80.00 is required. This is for plastic sheeting to protect drying product against rain, shade cloth to provide a drying surface free of ground particles and wet harvesting bags for efficient containment and handling of the expanded harvest.
A recent 1997 Government survey of household income and expenditure gave the average household income in Savaii as Tala 31.16 per day, and in much of rural Upolu as Tala 35.36 per day. Food poverty analysis showed that household expenditure on food was not sufficient to meet daily dietary requirements in 48.2% of households in Samoa. It is believed the gross incomes outlined in Table 1 would be attractive to the poorest households, particularly the over 7,000 households identified as having basic needs expenditure deficits. In other Pacific locations cottonii farming has been shown to out-compete copra production as a cash income, being less arduous work and providing a better return for effort when both commodities have the same producer price. Copra producers in Savaii are currently paid Tala 0.66/kg – 0.73/kg.
