By: Emy Maro (Secretary and Coordinator of the FoRLa Information Center)

On October 19, 2015, FoRLa held another "Socialization of Grass Savings Action Plan and Quality Control Training for Dried Seaweed Products". Located at the FoRLa Alor office, Jln Hasanudin Kel. Binongko-Alor/NTT, this socialization was given to motivators and representatives of cultivators from villages in Kabola, Northwest Alor, Pantar and Northwest Pantar Districts (Pante Deere, Alaang, Wailawar, Kayang/West Kalondama, Alila, Bana, Wetabua, Wahing-Aimoli). Presenters on seaweed savings were Asyari Abdul Karim as FoRLa Treasurer and Emy Maro as FoRLa Secretary and Information Center Coordinator. The system is built to be as simple as possible so that it is easy to run by members. The motivators as the spearheads in the field will be the key to implementing savings in each village.

The socialization of the savings system delivered by the FoRLa board received positive responses from all participants who attended. Participants looked enthusiastic and gave many fresh ideas to support the plan that will be implemented in the near future.

FoRLa members agreed to deposit 10 kg of dried seaweed per year plus 1 kg to anticipate shrinkage. This is an interesting development because saving has not yet become a culture among farmers. They are starting to think about the benefits of saving and are interested because savings can be started with just 10 kg of dried seaweed per year and the results can be taken at any time. To cope with the small amount of savings in the first year, it was agreed that each new member could withdraw their savings in the second year.

Not only thinking about the benefits of savings for them, participants also thought about the sustainability of FoRLa, as the institution that assisted them. It was agreed that 20% of the savings will be given to the organization, which will be used for operational and routine mentoring costs for each group.

In addition to establishing an agreement on the seaweed savings system, training was provided to ensure that the quality of seaweed deposited by the farmers was in line with what the market wanted. Leksy Selan, coordinator of UD Hasil Laut, was invited to share his knowledge and skills in recognizing the characteristics of quality dried seaweed. One by one, participants tried to identify visually and by means of organoleptic (felt by hand to determine the level of dryness).

Further socialization will be conducted in each village with all FoRLa members present. Pante Deere village was the first to receive the socialization on October 22, 2015, followed by Alaang and Alila villages on October 27, 2015. Still in the same month, socialization will be conducted in Aimoli and Wahing on 28 October, while the villages in Pantar (Bana, Wailawar, West Kalondama and Kayang) will get their turn in November 2015. We are optimistic that if all elements of this organization and members unite their hearts, all these good plans will be blessed by the Almighty. Let's continue to follow the progress and look forward to the next success story.

FoRLa is a member NGO of JARING-Nusantara, a network of local NGOs, fishermen/cultivators groups, coastal community forums with the vision and mission of realizing sustainable and responsible fisheries improvement practices. WWF-Indonesia is a member and one of the initiators of JARING Nusantara.