The Livelihood Strategies and Food Management of the Small-Scale Fishing Communities: A Case Study from Inland Open Water Area of Bangladesh

Abstract

Fisheries sectors are contributing significantly to a community from their livelihoods and food security perspective. Though, fisheries sector is supporting about 11% of the total population’s livelihood of Bangladesh but fisherman is one of the most vulnerable communities in Bangladesh. However, the livelihood of Small Scale Fishers (SSFs) especially who do fishing in the inland open water area are undervalued both in the global and national scale by the scholars.  Using a primary data survey on 352 SSF households, this study discussed the livelihood strategies and the food management behavior of SSFs of the inland open water area of Bangladesh. This study found that SSFs do fishing on average for 7.4 months in a year, and rest of the months they are involved in other income generating activities. Moreover, 61.93% stated that they have conflicts over fish catching. Besides fishing, 88.54% SSFs do agriculture labor as their part time income generating activities.  On the other hand, most of the households (71.6%) grow their primary food from their family firm, but 41.2% households struggle for their food on average 2.7 months in a year. Furthermore, 44.6% households reported that their daily food items are decreasing over the years. Additionally, 89.95% households reported that more than 50 percent of their annual income come from fishing.

Keywords: Small Scale Fishing, Inland Open Water, Fishing Community, Livelihood Strategy, Food Management