The organisation onboarded 33 new seaweed farmers and has begun biosecurity and husbandry training.
MARI Oceans has expanded its operations in South Sulawesi with its newest site in Takalar, onboarding 33 farmers bringing the total number of farmers benefiting from MARI's community-based-seaweed farming enterprise to 50.
The organisation takes a research-driven approach to seaweed farming and seeks to build long-lasting partnerships with established organisations and individuals that have worked across the Indonesian seaweed sector for the past 20 years. MARI Oceans helps develop sustainable business models for producing seaweed while fostering transparent business principles and environmentally friendly measures. The newest farm site is helping the organisation create partnerships between seaweed farmers and businesses – and allowing Indonesia’s seaweed industry to meet its food security and livelihood generation potential.
"We are proud to achieve this important milestone in the MARI journey. Takalar was the right place to expand because of its strong seaweed farming tradition. We especially thank Pak Boedi Sardjana, who strongly supports MARI's expansion. Farmers' response has been great so far (in Takalar) and we look forward to serving the community," said Dodon Yamin, CEO of MARI Oceans.
In the first few weeks of setting up in Takalar, the MARI team has held meetings with farmers and the diverse community, hired its first site officer – Shindu and conducted the first biosecurity training led by quality and farm management expert, Muhammad Irlan and country operations manager, Anis Nur Aini.
MARI has also set up a seaweed drying platform or para para for drying fresh cottonii. Going forward, the team plans to follow up with farmers on their recent harvest, encourage more farmers to cultivate and provide high-quality seedlings by implementing SOPs for seedling cultivation and conduct more personalised training for Takalar farmers.
