Africa report
Madagascar: in Belo-sur-Mer the cultivation of seaweed, a lucrative activity for its inhabitants [2/3]
Audio 02:24
On the sand, Yvette hangs new cuttings on lines that her husband, in pink, will take to the water.
In all, the farmer cultivates 1200m of lines of seaweed.
In Belo-sur-Mer, 70 people work as seafarers.
© RFI/Sarah Tetaud
By: Sarah Tétaud Follow
3 mins
They can be yellow, green, red, gleaming in the sun, always very viscous and endowed with an incredible capacity to proliferate.
They are cotoni algae.
In Madagascar, they are grown for a gelling and thickening substance they contain, prized by the food and cosmetics industries.
The production, intended 100% for export, is carried out by a multitude of farmers from the seas.
Advertisement
From our correspondent in Antananarivo,
“
You see there, I wash them, I brush them, I pamper them with my seaweed
.
The sun is at its zenith.
The tide is low.
From the water up to her waist, Yvette inspects one by one her “lines”, ropes on which algae grow.
At 34, this mother is happy with this new job, started just two years ago.
“
Before, I was looking for sea cucumbers. But now, there aren't any more.
We have exhausted the resource.
So I started growing algae.
It's easy to grow algae.
»
Yvette was trained by Ocean Farmers, a Malagasy company specializing in this type of crop.
They are the ones who gave him the equipment to launch his activity: crop lines, cuttings, dryers and sorting tables.
“
My seaweed and my floats have to be clean.
I remove the impurities, the small algae that stick to mine.
Otherwise, they risk catching parasites and becoming ill.
I come to wash them every day, every day.
»
By starting this profession, relatively recent on the island, the farmers of the area, won over by this activity, have all signed a contract with Ocean Farmers.
They undertake to comply with specifications, to use durable equipment, to watch over their harvest to prevent the spread of disease.
In exchange for which the company undertakes to buy their entire harvest from them, at a fixed price, 1,000 ariarys per kilo (24 euro cents), regardless of the fluctuation in the world price of the seaweed.
Something to delight Nampy, Yvette's husband.
“
I'm happy to give my wife a hand in the seaweed.
Because it makes money.
You can earn up to 300,000 ariary (
71.40 euros)
per month!
»
After 45 days of culture, the algae are collected, dried, sorted and then sent to Tuléar, in the south of the island, before being exported to France, Normandy, to an American factory specializing in the extraction of carrageenan. , this texturizer in high demand by manufacturers.
“
Over there, they use it to make toothpaste, and what else?
I forgot !
Plastic bedpans and lots of other plastic stuff, I think.
»
The carrageenan market is booming.
Good news for the ten Malagasy companies operating in this sector and their seafarers.
But for the activity to last over time, the responsible development of the sector and the preservation of the marine environment are crucial.
► To read also: Madagascar: in Belo-sur-Mer, the tradition of dhows continues [1/3]
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
Madagascar
Agriculture and Fishing
Trade and Exchanges