This study on marine protected areas (MPAs) in India analyzes the legal and institutional framework for their establishment, and uses two case studies–the Gulf of Mannar National Park and Biosphere Reserve, and the Malvan (Marine) Wildlife Sanctuary–to document and understand the experiences and views of local communities, particularly fishing communities,...

The objectives of this Technical Paper are to highlight the contribution that inland and coastal small-scale fisheries can make to poverty alleviation and food security and to make practical suggestions on ways that this contribution can be maximized. This paper is organized into three main sections. The first section discusses...

The paper compares the organizational structure and marketing strategies in organic supply chains operating under three certification schemes in developing and transition economies. A value chain management approach needs to be considered when analysing the requirements associated with supplying certified organic products. Regardless of the scheme, complying with organic standards...

In recent years the development of rural enterprises has increasingly attracted attention amongst the development community owing to the broadening of opportunities for the commercialization of smallholder agriculture. Despite this interest, there are several factors that continue to limit the capacity of farmers and rural entrepreneurs to make an effective...

This publication provides an overview of recent literature on the potential of the informal food sector (IFS) to facilitate an affordable supply of food to urban areas and generate income for low-income households. The goal is to identify global patterns, topics for further research, and policy suggestions. It also draws...

This publication reflects the outcome of an ambitious initiative to identify instances of exemplary forest management in the region and examine the core components of high quality forest management in an effort to illustrate good forest management to a wide audience and encourage others to take up some of the...

All over the world, the pressure to conserve ecosystems and their resources has been steadily rising. This has, in turn, led to conflicts between conservation imperatives and the livelihoods’ needs of the communities that interact with these ecosystems. An example of the impasse that such a state of opposition can...

Jambudwip is a 20-sq km island in the district of South 24-Parganas, in the Indian State of West Bengal, in the Sunderbans delta. Since at least 1955, Jambudwip has been used as a base for fishery operations and as a fish drying site, mostly by small-scale, artisanal fishworkers. Behundi jal...

These guidelines provide general principles and basic considerations for those involved in providing microfinance services to fisheries and aquaculture and for those who intend to include fishing and fish farming communities as part of the client base of their operation. The guidelines further elaborate on lending models, methodologies and policies...

The Trans-Himalayan region encompasses a number of countries situated in the midland and highland areas of the Himalayas, Karakoram, and in a broad sense also in Hindu Kush and Pamir. The mountains are characterized by a very low level of human development, with full exploitation or overexploitation of the natural...

Nets for Social Safety is a first –of –its-kind study, specially commissioned by the ICSF, to focus on the growth and changing composition of social security provisions in the fisheries sector of Kerala, a small coastal State in southwest India. John Kurien and Antonyto Paul, the authors of the study,...

The tribal societies of north-eastern India have wet rice cultivation as a land use activity, alongwith shifting agriculture (locally called `Jhum'), and the 'home gardens', which is an imitationof a forest but with economically important species. Wet rice cultivation is done at valleybottoms and sometimes on small terraces constructed at...

The thirteen papers presented in this publication review fish stocks and fisheries of mountainous areas of Asia: Himalayas (Bhutan, Nepal, northern states of India within the Himalayas), Western Ghats (India), Karakoram-Hindu Kush (Pakistan, Afghanistan), Pamir (Tajikistan), Tien Shan (Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan), Altai (Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China), high altitude lakes of Mongolia and...

Smallholder poultry production (i.e. family poultry) is an appropriate system that makes the best use of locally available resources. Family flocks are important providers of eggs and meat as well as being valued in religious and cultural life. There are three production systems for family poultry - free range, backyard...

In the last two decades prior to 1990’s a serious and severely damaging fish disease has been spreading through countries of the Asia Pacific region with dangerous consequences. Not only is this disease- now officially termed Epizootic Ulcerative Syndrome (EUS)- a scientific puzzle, it is also a worrisome social problem....

This short film explores the role of women fishworkers in selected regions of India. It looks at some of the problems they face in their daily work and the initiatives they have taken to deal with them. Many of these issues are highlighted in an interview with a woman fish...