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Mama Ice: Finding solutions for survival

GEF-UNDP-PEMSEA Arafura-Timor Seas Programme

By IW:LEARN

March 25^th, 2022

Sofice Lithik smiled kindly when we met at her home in Oeseli Village of Rote Ndao Regency, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT). The 49-year-old seaweed farmer invited us to sit in the courtyard of her house, which had just been repaired following damage caused by hurricane Seroja. "In the front yard of the house there was a Siwalan tree and banyan tree,” she explained, pointing to the garden, now virtually empty. “But when the storm hit, the trees fell and landed in the living room". Thousands of houses in Rote Ndao Regency suffered a similar fate when the tropical cyclone Seroja hit Indonesia's southern shores in early April.

Sofice Lithik, standing in the garden of her home in Oeseli Village, Rote Ndao. Many people in Indonesia’s southernmost region suffered damage to their homes when a cyclone hit the area in April 2021.Photo credit: ATSEA-2 programme

Not far from her house, a mango sapling is draped with ropes and buoys hanging from the branches. Sofie Lithik, known locally as ‘Mama Ice’, is one of several seaweed farmers and small-scale fisherwomen in the village. Every day, this mother of two heads out to sea, her schedule determined by each day’s tidal conditions; when the tide is low, Mama Ice will take care of the seaweed first, and then when the tide turns, she joins her husband fishing with nets on the open sea. It’s little wonder then, that she sometimes comes home early, and sometimes quite late. When they get home, however, her husband's work is done, but not hers. She is responsible for preparing meals, monitoring her children, and ensuring that the family's needs are fulfilled.

Seaweed farming is a common source of income for many in Oeseli Village, including the women. Since 2003, the provincial government has been providing assistance in the form of equipment and training, but this support is generally directed towards the men

“I use a small fishing net with five heads,” explains Mama Ice, pointing to a pile of nets, each varying in size. "If you leave in the afternoon, then you will still be fishing late at night," she added. She and her husband sometimes take a canoe to the open ocean, where they cast 2-2.5-inch nets and catch melo; a small fish that’s transported and sold per basket.

“I usually paddle the canoe and my husband takes the net, because he has lost one of his arms and is not so strong anymore," said Mama Ice with a wry smile. In the past, fishermen in Rote Ndao Regency were known to use explosives when fishing. However, since the early 2000s, the local community has abandoned this habit, because it has claimed many lives and caused physical disabilities. Mama Ice's husband is one of many whose lives have been altered in this way. In fact, the couple used to fish this way together in the Oeseli Village area, until one night the dynamite blew up in his hand, meaning his arm had to be amputated. Since then, fishermen in Oeseli Village have stopped using bombs to fish. Mama Ice does not necessarily leaving his husband alone without help, she came forward to take the initiative to do 'considered men work', as paddling canoe is deemed as men job. Women can thrive in any situation, their coping mechanism is quite solid compared to their male partners.

Mama Ice mentioned that, apart from catching fish using a simple net, she has also become a seaweed farmer. Eventually, multiple roles of women play yet their role often overlooked by the society. In the past, seaweed farming was big business in Rote Ndao District. Prior to the 2000s, people farmed using struts of bamboo. However, this was deemed too unstable, especially when the wind season arrived, because the wooden supports can suddenly break and the seaweed gets carried away by the current. Fortunately, since 2003, the provincial government of NTT has been promoting seaweed farming in the Rote Ndao area. However, assistance from the government – in the form of ropes, seeds, buoys and anchors that were distributed to the local community – were all handed over to the husbands. In addition, capacity building training is generally aimed at men.

"In the past there were men who provided training on seaweed farming to the husbands, then they passed this info on to us," explained Mama Ice. She remembers how seaweed production in the early 2000s could cover all household needs; in just one harvest, Mama Ice can collect 1.5 – 2 tonnes of seaweed, which is valued at approximately IDR 2 million (US$ 140). Being a seaweed farmer is a common job in households throughout Oeseli Village, and Mama Ice is no exception. However, after an oil spill, sedimentation in the form of slippery and slimy mud has caused their seaweed plants to stunt, and often die. “Before the oil spill, we [seaweed farmers] used to float seaweed in the deep sea. But since 2009 and until now we can't do this anymore,” she lamented. "We have to rack our brains to find food, because big fish are difficult to catch, and the seaweed is dead". Currently, healthy areas for seaweed farming are dwindling, due to increased pollution in the area. It’s no wonder then, that seaweed farmers are racking their brains to find solutions for survival.

The community is no longer able to rely solely on the seaweed farming sector. As a result, many of them – and especially the women of the village – have taken on multiple burden. They should be considered as a baseline for how to facilitate women's access to alternative livelihoods and relevant capacity building to alleviate their financial resources. Mama Ice is no exception; being a wife, a fisherwoman and a seaweed farmer is not easy. Every day, she has to get up early to prepare breakfast and lunch for her family, before leaving for work. She travels to the seaweed plantation on foot for around 1km. If the sea abides, she will venture out with her husband in the afternoon and catch fish until the sun goes down.

A seaweed farmer in Rote Ndao inspects their plantation. Since an oil spill in 2009, the resulting pollution has made farming seaweed increasingly difficult. Photo credit: ATSEA-2 programme

Mama Ice is just one of many women who have had to adopt multiple roles. Furthermore, the absence of women's voices in decision making makes it increasingly difficult for them to get access and assistance from the government. This was because the government calculated aid based on the head of the family, who was invariably the husband or a ‘man of the house’. Decision-makers rarely take wives into consideration, even though they are usually the backbone of the family. To make matters worse, climate change and the degradation of ecosystems have affected the condition of women and caused them to be increasingly marginalised.

In response to these emerging challenges, the ATSEA-2 Programme has conducted field surveys to identify core locations of marine pollution and areas of vulnerability to climate change. Moving forward, the ATSEA-2 Programme will focus on ecosystem-based adaptation through Integrated Coastal Management (ICM). Programmes such as planning, adaptation to climate change, adaptation to alternative livelihoods, and local coastal and marine conservation will involve women in every decision-making process, including increasing market potential and facilitating access for seaweed farmers. Therefore another programme is conducted to support the establishment of a seaweed farmers group to enable their contribution and participation in the decision-making process through Musrembang (Musyawarah Pembangunan Desa). As we might be aware, women tend to be more bashful to convey their interests and aspirations alone, however, when they are in the forum, they might have more courage to speak up and convey their idea.

Contribution by Vivekananda Gitandjali

About the ATSEA-2 Programme

ATSEA-2 is the second phase of the Arafura & Timor Seas Ecosystem Action (ATSEA) programme; a regional partnership involving the governments of Indonesia, Timor-Leste and Papua New Guinea, with the support of the Australian Government. Its objective is to collectively manage high marine and fisheries resources in the Arafura and Timor Seas (ATS) region. Since its inception in 2019, the programme has been working to promote sustainable development in the ATS region and improve the quality of life of its inhabitants through a combination of restoration, conservation and sustainable management of marine-coastal ecosystems. The ATS is an area of high productivity in the region and ATSEA-2 is committed to safeguarding the livelihoods and prosperity of coastal people, particularly in its transboundary areas, through the implementation of sustainable integrated concepts. ATSEA-2 is a Global Environment Facility (GEF)-funded programme, managed and executed under the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA) Resource Facility (PRF) is an implementing partner.

For more information on the ATSEA-2 programme, please contact the Regional Project Manager, Handoko Adi Susanto (hasusanto@pemsea.org), visit the project page on iwlearn.net or the project website.