Presentation for Mini-Research conducted on Socioeconomic Analysis and Livelihoods of the Fishery villages in Ayeyarwady Delta, Myanmar

1. Report on Socio-economy
Analysis and Livelihoods of the
Fishery Villages in Laputta and
Bogalay Townships

2. Study Coverage
Bogalay
Laputta
• Two villages in Fresh Water Region
• Two villages in Brackish Water Region
• Two villages in Saline Water Region
Two major Townships

3. Illitrate
Read/…
Monast…
Primary
Middle
High…
Graduate
1%
3%
15%
53%
20%
8%
0
3%
5%
16%
49%
20%
5%
1%
Bogalay
Laputta
<50000
50001-100000
100001-150000
150001-200000
200001-250000
>250000
4%
23%
31%
27%
7%
9%
5%
28%
36%
20%
5%
5%
Bogalay
Laputta
Socioeconomic Profile of the Fishery Villages
Agriculture
Fishery
Livestock
MSE
Casual
9%
81%
3%
1%
6%
11%
79%
2%
1%
7%
Occupation
(Livelihood)
Bogalay
Laputta
2%
18%
76%
4%
Wealth
Rich
Better off
Poor
V. Poor
75% of respondents
finished only Primary
31% of respondents
Are in chronic poverty
80% of respondents
Are considered POOR
Non-resilience to Shocks
80% of respondents
Are landless fishermen
Income Education

4. Livelihoods
• Fishery and Paddy Farming are the main livelihoods in the targeted
villages of the two townships.
• 80% of respondents are engaging in fishery as their main livelihood
80%
2% 1%
10%
7%
7%

5. Gender
• Statistically female constitutes 51% of the population
• Traditionally men are responsible to make family livings and hence
women mostly stay home and help the husband’s livelihood, and few
are engaging in home based micro business (1%)
• 2% of respondent HH reported that decision making power is on
men, 4% reported that it is on woman, 94% of HH reported that it was
equally decided hence also reported husband provided 100% of his
earning to the wife to manage the family expenses
Total Laputta Bogalay
49%
47%
52%51%
53%
48%
Male & Female Ratio Male
Female 4%
94%
2%
Decision Making
Female
Equal
Male

6. Poverty
80% of households (997) out of the total of 1255 households in
six villages are considered poor (or) very poor households and
indeed they are landless fishermen
2%
18%
76%
4%
Wealth Ranking
Rich
Better off
Poor
V. Poor

7. Access to Land
89% of Fishery HHs in Bogalay and 91% in Laputta
DOES NOT have access to agricultural land, however small percentages
of fishery HHs ranging from 9% to 11% have access to some
Agricultural land and are considered ‘better off’
Laputta Bogalay Fresh Saline Brakish Fresh Saline Brakish
Township Laputta Bogale
9% 11%
4%
8%
16%
12%
8%
12%
91% 89%
96%
92%
84% 88% 92% 88%
Yes
No

8. Investment for Fishing Gear
Low Fish Catch
Boats are small
Fishing plots are small
Fishing nets damage
Lack of manpower
No problem
49%
27%
8%
8%
3%
1%
6%
Challenges in Fishery Livelihood
• Investment for Fishing Gear (i.e. Access to Finance) is the number
one challenge for the fishermen, 100% of respondents claimed that
they have no access (i.e. not qualify) to institutional microfinance
• Low fish catch in the river is the second highest concern

9. Fishing Rights
85% to 100% of respondent fishermen are engaging in river
(inland) fishery
Inland Fishing rights’ is also one of the major concerns and a
burden for the poor fishery households in the Delta, especially
the “competitive Tender system” of Bogalay was mentioned as a
biggest constraint for the Bogalay fishermen, on the other hand
“per net per year License system” in Laputta, was mentioned as
favorable system for the poor fishermen, hence evidently Bogalay
fishermen are poorer than Laputta fishermen.
Coastal River Creek
2%
85%
14%
0
100%
0
Laputta
Bogalay
Rich Betteroff Poor V. poor
41%
16%
75%
8%8%
42%
48%
2%
Bogalay
Laputta

10. Fishing net Motorboat Boat
86%
31%
18%
92%
34% 28%
Laputta
Bogalay
Fishing Gear
86 % of fishermen in Laputta and 92% in Bogalay owned some fishing
nets. Over 30% owned motor boats and 18% in Laputta and 28% in
Bogalay owned non-motor boats, however the rest about 45% of
fishermen does not owned boat, and 8% to 14% of fishermen does
not owned fishing net or boat.
(The cost of the motorized boat and nets is estimated at 2000 US$)

11. 1-10 Viss 11-20 Viss 21-30 Viss 31-40 Viss 41-50 Viss >50 Viss
22% 22%
16% 16%
13%
11%
42%
9%
33%
5% 5%
7%
Laputta
Bogalay
Low Fish Catch
• 89% of fishermen in Laputta and 93% in Bogalay are able to catch less
than 50 viss of fish per month, less than 2 viss per day (below the FAO
estimates 2012)
• Average income of the majority of fishermen is estimated at 1$ per day
(below national poverty line “3$ per day” – IHLCA – UNDP 2011)

12. All More than
half
Half Less than
half
19%
7%
55%
19%
8%
18%
53%
21%
Laputta
Bogalay
COPING MECHANISM
Eating Captured Fish
About 79% of fishery family in Bogalay and 81% in Laputta are eating at
least half of their captured fish
Eating Captured Fish

13. Rare Sometimes Often
4% 4%
0
12% 12%
3%
Laputta
Bogalay
COPING MECHANISM
Skipping Meal
• 27% of fishery family in Bogalay and 8% in Laputta are skipping the meal
(rare, sometime and often (3% Bogalay))
Skipping Meal

14. COPING MECHANISM
Debt Cycle
41% of fishery family in Laputta and 49% in Bogalay reported that they
are in viscous debt cycle for whole year, Majority of respondents claimed
that they do not have access to institutional microfinance because they
are not qualified for the strict qualifications set by the MFIs
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
10%
0
15%
14%
2%
10%
0
3% 3%
2%
0
41%
2%
8%
12%
5% 5% 5%
2% 2% 0
6% 6%
49%
No. of months in debt per year
Laputta Bogalay

15. Conclusion
• Approximately 60% of population in Delta are engaging in small scale
inland fishery sector, (60% of 7 million/5 = 840,000 HHs) and 80% of
them (672,000 HHs) are considered poor.
• Poor fishery households of the Ayeyarwady Delta are struggling to meet
their daily food and essential household needs, therefore are socio-
economically disadvantaged.
Challenges
Social Concern
• Access to finance is the number one challenge for the poor fishery
households, hence 41% to 49& of the households are living under the
poverty line, thus altogether 80% of the rural households claimed as
‘poor’ and does not qualify for any Microfinance projects although
numbers of MFIs are operating in the Area
Environmental and Economy Concern
• Low Fish catch is the second highest concern of the fishery households,
and average fish catch is reported at less than 2 viss per day which is
lower than the average estimated by the FAO in 2012.

16. Recommendations
• A strategy for sustainable livelihoods development and poverty
reduction for the poor fishery households in the Delta is by default
strongly correlated with a focus on development assistances for small
scale fisheries, livestock, and to a lesser extent micro enterprise sectors
• Access to Finance (Save the Fishermen)
(1) It is recommended to establish community based Fishermen
Cooperatives (or) ROSCA (Rotating Saving & Credit Association)
(consists of at least 10 poor fishery HHs per group)
(2) One time cash grant of 2500$ per group should be injected to the
each group as a first rotating grant, hence effective and sustainable
saving and rotating mechanism should also be establish benefit the
everyone in the group
The objective of the fund is to finance the poor fishermen in
(a) purchasing of fishing boat and gears with their own money (2000$)
(b) establishing of livestock (or) MSE at home as a secondary income
generation (500$)
• Sustainable fishing practice and enforcement
• - It is also recommend that sustainable fishing practices should be
made legal and enforced strictly