Stage 1

Diagnosis (obtaining and analysing baseline information)

Step 1. Details of the study locations/village livelihood profile

Pulicat is a coastal area, which lies 60 km away from Chennai. Pulicat lake, with an average water spread area of 350 sq. km. is the second largest lagoon (bay) in India. Pulicat is endowed with diverse natural resources, which includes both aquatic and terrestrial flora and fauna. Many mangrove species, herbs, and cultivated crops such as paddy and cashew are found here. There is also a bird sanctuary situated in the village Annamalaichery, which attracts tourists. Other tourist attractions are the Dutch cemetery and boating to see the estuary where the Pulicat lake joins the sea. Unfortunately, thousands of acres of land was cleared for the North Chennai Thermal Power Station. The Ennore Satellite port and a petro-chemical complex are progressively damaging the Pulicat ecosystem.

The shrinking lake in Pulicat area is experiencing too much of exploitation of fishery resources. Several years ago, this lake was endowed with many fishery resources when the lake was deep and broad. However, now the fish catchments are less, quantitatively and qualitatively. Moreover, nearby industries are letting down their effluents in the Pulicat lake. Introduction of mechanized and fibre boats collapse the ecological balance of the lake which directly affects the breeding of fishery resources, thereby leading to depletion. Thirty-two villages are dependent on the Pulicat lake for their daily fish catching.

Some villages in and around Pulicat are agriculture based. Agricultural lands are mainly saline and not suited for raising crops. The groundwater is not good. The agricultural lands are totally rain fed where one crop in a year is not successful.

In general, livestock rearing is not practiced in a systematic manner for lack of grazing lands and fodder. So in Pulicat area, agriculture and animal husbandry are not promising enterprises. People living in the coastal villages are poor and hardworking, leading a life by doing all kinds of seasonal and hard jobs such as collection of shells, caching fish in owned/shared/hired crafts and hand catching of prawns and fishes by drowning in the water for a long time.

The prime occupation of the villagers is agricultural labour. Men are engaged in land preparation, formation of bunds and channels, harvesting and threshing. Women are employed in transplanting, weeding, winnowing and cleaning of the produce. Besides fishing and agricultural labour, people are involved in other livelihood activities such as cattle rearing, construction works, tailoring and embroidery, running small grocery shops, tiffin centres, retailing, working in brick kilns, practicing agriculture in owned/leased out lands, street vending of fish, vegetables/fruits, greens etc. Some are employed in nearby garment companies and computer centres.

The land use pattern clearly indicates the pre-dominance of rain fed agriculture. Lack of water for irrigation sets largely the limits for improving productivity. Moreover the average land holding size is small (0.5 ha). Agriculture is not a priority on Minjur where most of the surveyed villages are coastal and depend on fishing in the Pulicat lake.

Too many people depend on the limited and declining natural resource base. Over-fishing has led to reduced fish catch. Fishing is now undertaken in rotation in the villages. There is a high dependence on unskilled labour.

Step 2. Details of household livelihood profiles

Households in coastal villages are all engaged in fishing activity in either owned or shared or hired crafts. Many of the fishing villages do not have alternate livelihood options. Three to four villages share the particular area of fishing in the “padu” system (fishing by rotation). In such cases, each village is getting a chance of catching twice in a week on an average. They do not know any other options to improve their economic status. In some villages, people are engaged in activities linked to fishing. They go as labour in the boats. Some are engaged in the loading and unloading activities in Pulicat fish market as labour. People in some villages pull rickshaws to transport fish from the banks to the market and elsewhere. Some families are engaged as labour in brick kilns and construction works. In most of the villages, people are engaged in some non-farm business activity such as running petty shops, groceries, tailoring, retailing, livestock rearing, shell collection (seasonal), employment in nearby companies such as computer centres, teachers in local school, garment factories etc, drivers in owned or private vehicles (tourist place).

Majority of households in Minjur face food shortages indicating that the majority of households in this location are poor and food insecure.

The main source of income for households comes from agriculture. Dependence on agricultural labour is significantly high. Most of them work as agricultural labour in nearby villages where farming is important. For 25% of the households fishing from Pulicat lake is their main source of income.

Step 3. Details of women’s livelihood profiles

In fishing villages, most of the women are not going for any work. The young wives are not allowed to go out of the village. Only elderly women go out for fish vending. Though they would like to engage in some activity to support the family, they are not allowed due to the customs. If anything could be done at the household level within the villages, they are keen to try that. Among the muslim community, women are not going out of the house/village because of religious customs. Even the girl children are not allowed to pursue their education after a certain age. In the agricultural-based sample villages, women are employed mostly as agricultural labour. Since agriculture is not a successful enterprise in Pulicat area, women are not getting year-round employment. Alternate livelihood options are not within their reach because of the lack of credit, training and other services.

* Note:
1. Women engage in multiple activities and so the same women engaged in two activities would get  counted against each activity.
2. Percentage figures indicate the percentages to the total women engaged in different occupations and not the actual number of women or economically active women.

Maximum numbers of women are engaged as labourers. The second major activity women are involved in is livestock (milch animals and poultry). Women labourers and those involved in small livestock will be the two major clients for programme design.

Step 4. Details of women’s aspirations

Women have multiple aspirations. The study revealed that all want to improve their standard of living and have a good quality of life. Those who could articulate their aspiration, talked about constructing a better house and providing better education to their children. Except for the few women who are constrained by caste, occupation and religious constraints, all want to improve their income by engaging in some of the activities/occupations, which they currently see as relevant.

• Business non-farm includes grocery shops, small petty shops, cashew and NTFP business, tiffin centres, tea shops, goat business, tailoring shops, cloth shops, small contractors etc.
• Livestock includes dairy, piggery, poultry and goatery
• Labour non agriculture skilled includes artisanal, traditional and minor skills are barbers, carpenters, palm leaf weaving, drivers, mechanics etc
• Agriculture/horticulture owned/leased activity includes purchase of additional lands, improvement of the existing practices, fencing, irrigation facilities etc
• Aquaculture is promoting fish, prawn and shrimp culture either in own/leased lands
• Employment refers those who aspire to be employed in public and private sectors
• Fisheries in owned/shared crafts refer going for fish catching in owned /shared crafts
• Labour in agriculture implies assured labour availability throughout the year within the village especially in Mawphlang Block of Meghalaya
• NREGS refers to the rural employment guarantee programme implemented by the Government
• Others include education, better housing, pension, health services, toilets etc
• Post-harvest activity includes value addition to the farm/fish/forest produce
• Rent on Assets include lending out vehicles on hire, rent on building

Though many women are keen on starting some non-farm business activity, none was able to suggest the kind of support and services they require for doing the same, except credit. All believe that if they could get credit, they could engage successfully in these activities. This clearly reveals their lack of experience of setting up new activities and the lack of awareness and knowledge about other kinds of services and support (technical training, entrepreneurial skills, market links etc) required to establish a business opportunity.

Step 5. Details of support and service networks

The final step of stage 1 was to collate information and details of the support and service networks available in Minjur Block.

Step 6.  Implications for Programme Design

On completion of the baseline data, the project team reviewed the information and identified some important points that need to be borne in mind when moving onto the design stages. The implications for programme design in Minjur are: