Raheema, Ubaida (2023) Baseline survey report: Increasing economic benefit to women fish processors in the Maldives. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), International Pole & Line Foundation Maldives (IPNLF).
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This baseline report provides information to measure progress on the outcome indicators of IPNLF's project, which aims to utilize FinTech through an e-market platform to support the expansion of small-scale businesses operated by women fish processors in the Maldives. This innovation has been selected by UNDP’s Ocean Innovation Challenge (OIC), out of 300 proposals received, to promote sustainable fisheries and the Blue Economy, and to receive incubation and financial support for 18 months. The project aims to improve business management, financial and digital literacy, and marketing skills for these women through capacity-building programs. The survey, which used both qualitative and quantitative methods, was conducted on Gemanafushi¹ island, during September 2022, and gathered information from 40 women on their involvement in processing fish, types of products produced, raw material sources, contribution of processing to income, access to markets, exposure to marketing and product standardization, digital literacy and technology, and perceptions towards FinTech. The survey findings revealed that 97.5% of the women interviewed used to process fish at some point, and 33% of them are still involved in processing on a smaller scale. Twenty percent of the women who have been processing fish have over 30 years of experience in processing fish in the form of smoked tuna, dried tuna, and/or Rihaakuru (fish paste)², which are made exclusively from tuna and command high prices in the Maldives. These small-scale, home-based businesses surveyed still produced fish-based products that were locally consumed as snacks and had a relatively long shelf life. A list of these products is included in the analysis section of this report. The scaling down or cessation of their processing operations was reportedly due to low profitability (36.6% of respondents), low demand (33.8%), and deception by middlemen (18.3%) related to the payment for their products sent out of the island via these middlemen. Of the 33 women interviewed who still had the infrastructure and equipment from their processing operations, 22 are not currently engaged in fish processing.
| Item Type: | Documents |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | Maldives, Reports, Fisheries Surveys, Women, Gender, Fish processing, Economic Impact, Income, Livelihood, Employment, Socio-economic Aspects, Fish Products, Market Access, Fisheries Statistics |
| Subjects: | Gender in Fisheries and Aquaculture |
| Depositing User: | Vivek D ICSF |
| Date Deposited: | 31 May 2023 06:56 |
| Last Modified: | 31 May 2023 06:56 |
| URI: | http://icsfarchives.net/id/eprint/19823 |
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