Tropentag, September 17 - 19, 2013 in Stuttgart-Hohenheim "Agricultural development within the rural-urban continuum"

Factors Affecting the Participation in Sea Farming Project: An Empirical Finding from Panggang Island, Indonesia

¹Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Dept. of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, Germany
²Bogor Agricultural University, Agribusiness, Indonesia

Abstract

Aquaculture plays an important role in reducing poverty and ensuring food security, particularly within coastal areas. Kepulauan Seribu is a part of the capital city of Indonesia, Jakarta, but it experiences severe pollution and environmental degradation caused by mining, marine transport, irresponsible and destructive fishing activities in the area. In fact, Kepulauan Seribu not only has the lowest Human Development Index (HDI) but also the highest poverty rate, compared to other areas in Jakarta. In order to improve the local community's welfare while conserving the marine ecosystem, the local government and Center for Coastal and Marine Research Studies (CCMRS) initiated a project called "sea farming" in Panggang Island, Kepulauan Seribu. Sea farming is a mariculture-based project to create sustainable marine resource management.

The study aimed to examine the factors influencing participation in the sea farming project in Panggang Island. The probit regression showed that factors which significantly influence a households' decision in joining the sea farming project were education, occupation, household size, and membership in a non sea farming organisation. The results indicated that the project was more attractive for the less educated, whose primary occupation was not as a fisherman, had less household members, and were less involved in any organisation other than sea farming. This implies that the project managers should communicate the objectives and positive impacts of the project effectively to attract the fishermen as main beneficiaries.

Keywords: Aquaculture, mariculture, Panggang Island, sea farming

Contact Address: Evita Fathia Luthfina, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Dept. of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development
current address: Bogor Agricultural University, Bogor, Indonesia, e-mail: e.fathialgmail.com