Tarekegn Shado
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0 Addis Ababa University School of Graduate Studies Institute of Development Research Challenges of Sustainable Livelihood: the Case of Fishing Communities Around Lake Chamo Tarekegn Shado July 2006 Addis Ababa
Transcript of Tarekegn Shado
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Addis Ababa University
School of Graduate Studies
Institute of Development Research
Challenges of Sustainable Livelihood: the Case of Fishing
Communities Around Lake Chamo
Tarekegn Shado
July 2006
Addis Ababa
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ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES
CHALLENGES OF SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOOD: THE CASE OF FISHING COMMUNITIES AROUND LAKE CHAMO
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTERS OF ARTS IN
DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
BY: TAREKEGN SHADO SHANO
JUNE 2006
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Declaration
I, the undersigned, declare that the thesis is my original work, has not been presented for a degree in any other university and that all sources of material used for the thesis have been duly acknowledged. Declared by Confirmed by
Name Name TAREKEGN SHADO Dr. DEGEFA TOLOSSA __________________ ___________________ Candidate Advisor
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ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES
INSTITUTE OF DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH (IDR)
Challenges of sustainable Livelihood: the Case of Fishing
Communities around Lake Chamo
DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
APPROVED BY THE BOARD OF EXAMINERS: SIGNATURE
______________________________ ________________________
FACULTY CHAIRMAN
______________________________ ________________________
ADVISOR
______________________________ ________________________
EXTERNAL EXAMINER
______________________________ ________________________
INTERNAL EXAMINAR
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I remain indebted to a number of individuals and institutions who gave me moral, financial and material support during my study and in the course of the research work. First of all my heartfelt thanks and appreciations go to my research advisor Dr. Degefa Tolossa Whose ideas, professional comments were quite instrumental in shaping the study. His respectfulness, encouragement, close follow up and constructive comments helped me complete the research on due time. I am deeply grateful also to Dr. Workneh Nigatu for his relentless support and advice given to me while I was trying to identify crystallized research problem. I would like to extend my thanks to Gamo Gofa Zone Capacity Building Department for sponsoring my study and to the Institute of Development Research of Addis Ababa University for funding part of the research expenses. I am also indebted to Gamo Gofa Zone and Woreda Agricultural and Rural Development Departments for the facilitation they made by providing car and boat transport service to access the camping and fishing sites of Lake Chamo. I acknowledge gratefully the fishermen who shared their experience and knowledge. My special thanks go to fishermen Dagnachew Duma, Terefe Girma, Addisu Asha, Engedayehu Zeleke, Degefa Kaftimer, Gulelat Fanta, Samuel Sata, and to those people working in Chamo and Arbaminch Fishers’ Co-operative Associations. I express my respect to Bimerew Tadesse, senior expert in fishery in Gamo Gofa zone Agriculture and Rural Development Department, for his professional comments and provision of important materials. Abebe Banjaw and his family also deserve special thanks for the assistance they gave me in recording of audio and video. He made the field work more enjoyable. I would also like to thank my friends: Abera Ogato, Abera Uncha, and Wondimu Gaga for technical support they provided me in application of SPSS, producing map of the study area and language editing respectively. I express my sincerely gratitude to my family especially to my aunt Ean'kko Shano and to my sisters Gete Tsegaye and Erbe Eltto who have been taking care of me in the course of my study and the research work. Finally, I would like to thank data collectors who spent their vacation time sharing some challenges with me during field work in the hot weather of the study area.
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Table of Contents Page
Acknowledgement---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- i Table of Contents----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ii List of Tables---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- v List of Figures--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- vi List of Acronyms ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- vii Abstract --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- viii
CHAPTER ONE
Introduction ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1
1.1. Background-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 1.2. Statement of the Problem---------------------------------------------------------------- 2 1.3. Objectives of the Study ------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 1.4. Research Questions----------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 1.5. Significance of the Study---------------------------------------------------------------- 4 1.6. Scope of the Study------------------------------------------------------------------------5 1.7. Limitation of the Study-------------------------------------------------------------------5 1.8. The Structure of the Thesis--------------------------------------------------------------5
CHAPTER TWO
Methodology of the Study---------------------------------------------------------------------- 6
2.1. The Study Area --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6 2.2. Sample Selection ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8 2.3. Data Source, Collection Methods & Tools ------------------------------------------- 8 2.4. Data Analysis------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 10
CHAPTR THREE
Review of Basic Concepts and Literature------------------------------------------------------ 11
3.1. Concepts and Framework for Analyzing Livelihood of Fishing Communities ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 11
3.1.1. Definition of Terms ------------------------------------------------------------- 11 3.1.2. The Concept of Livelihood, Sustainability and Sustainable Livelihoods ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 12 3.1.3. Sustainable Livelihoods Approaches and Framework Origin of SLA and the Concept of Poverty --------------------------------------------- 14 3.1.4. Major Components of SLF----------------------------------------------------- 16 3.1.5. Principles of SLA---------------------------------------------------------------- 24 3.1.6. Importance of SLA as Applied to Fisheries --------------------------------- 26 3.1.7. Some Challenges of SLA------------------------------------------------------- 27
3.2. Resource Degradation, Access and livelihoods -------------------------------------- 28 3.2.1. Resource Degradation and Livelihoods -------------------------------------- 28 3.2.2. The Role of Common Pool Resources (CPRs) to Livelihoods ----------- 29 3.2.3. Thoughts on CPRs Management to Sustainable Livelihoods ------------- 30 3.2.4. Contribution &Constraints of Small scale Fisheries to Food
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Security and Poverty Alleviation --------------------------------------------- 32 3.2.5. Poverty and Vulnerability in Small Scale Fishing Communities--------- 33 3.2.6. Experience of Some Countries in Fisheries Management to Sustainable Livelihoods -------------------------------------------------------- 34 3.2.7. Fisheries Sector in the Rural Livelihoods and Economy of Ethiopia --- 36
CHAPTER FOUR
Overview of Lake Chamo Basin ----------------------------------------------------------------- 38 4.1. Lake Chamo and its Basin--------------------------------------------------------------- 38
4.1.1. Location of Lake Chamo ------------------------------------------------------- 38 4.2. Physical Properties of Lake Chamo --------------------------------------------------- 38 4.3. Geology, Topography and Drainage--------------------------------------------------- 38 4.4. Major Soil Types ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 39 4.5. Climate ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 40 4.6. Major Land Uses and Land Cover ----------------------------------------------------- 40 4.7. Population Trends and Settlement ----------------------------------------------------- 41 4.8. Historical Development of Lake Fisheries ------------------------------------------- 41
CHAPTER FIVE
Socio-Economic Profile of the Fishing Communities----------------------------------------- 44 5.1. Demographic and Social Characteristics --------------------------------------------- 44
5.1.1. Sex, Age, Marital Status --------------------------------------------------------- 44 5.1.2. Ethnicity and Religious Composition ------------------------------------------ 44 5.1.3. Educational Status of the Household Head ------------------------------------ 45 5.1.4. Family Size ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 45 5.1.5. Housing and House Condition -------------------------------------------------- 46 5.1.6. Major Health Problems ----------------------------------------------------------- 46 5.1.7. Organized/ Unorganized Fishers ------------------------------------------------ 46 5.1.8. Social Capital of the Fishermen ------------------------------------------------- 47
5.2. Economic Characteristics---------------------------------------------------------------- 47 5.2.1. Natural Capita Base ------------------------------------------------------ 47 5.2.2. Physical Capital Base ---------------------------------------------------- 48 5.2.3. Financial Capital Base --------------------------------------------------- 49 5.2.4. Major Livelihood Activities and Diversification -------------------- 50
5.3. Spatial Distribution of the Fishermen ------------------------------------------------- 50 CHAPTER SIX
Major Livelihood Challenges of the Fishing Communities----------------------------------52 6.1. Stress of Natural Capital Base and Livelihoods-------------------------------------- 52 6.2. Major Causes of fishery Resource Depletion----------------------------------------- 59
6.2.1. Increasing Fishermen and Fishing Efforts ------------------------------------- 59 6.2.2. Policy and Institutional Failures with Regard to Fishery Resource Management ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 61 6.2.3. Environmental Degradation ----------------------------------------------------- 65
6.3. Resource Access and Livelihoods------------------------------------------------------ 67 6.4. Conflict over Resource and Livelihoods --------------------------------------------- 70
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6.5. Low Level of Choice Diversification ------------------------------------------------- 74 6.6. Lack of Adequate Government Support----------------------------------------------- 77
6.6.1. Adequate Policy and Livelihoods ----------------------------------------------- 77 6.6.2. Technical Backup and Service Provision -------------------------------------- 78 6.6.3. Property and Life Insecurity of Fishermen ------------------------------------ 81
6.7. Lack of Voice ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 82 6.8. Lack of Alternative Employment Opportunities ------------------------------------ 83 6.9. Poor Saving-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 84 6.10. Natural Shocks -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 86
CHAPTER SEVEN
Household Coping and Adaptive Strategies in the Context of Food and Livelihood Insecurity-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 87
7.1. Household Food Insecurity and Coping Strategies ---------------------------------- 87
7.2. Social Capital and Food Security ------------------------------------------------------ 91
7.3. Livelihood Insecurity and Adaptive Strategies -------------------------------------- 94
7.3.1. Survival Diversification ---------------------------------------------------------- 94
7.3.2. Distress Migration ---------------------------------------------------------------- 96
CHAPTER EIGHT
Conclusion and Recommendation--------------------------------------------------------------- 101
8.1. Conclusion -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 101
8.2. Recommendation ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 104 References ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 107 Annexes ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 112
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List of Tables
Page Table 2.1: Sampling Strata and Sample Size Taken from each Strata --------------------- 8
Table 4.1: Fish Production from varies Lakes in Ethiopia for the Period 1994 up to
2003, Fresh weight in Tons--------------------------------------------------------- 43
Table 5.1: Age structure of sampled Households -------------------------------------------- 44
Table 5.2: Fisherman of Lake Chamo by Ethnic Category --------------------------------- 45
Table 5.3: Educational Level of the Sampled Respondents -------------------------------- 45
Table 5.4: Sampled HHs by Family Size Category-------------------------------------------- 46
Table5.5: Survey Households by Place of Residence--------------------------------------- 51
Table 6.1: Fishermen Responses Regarding Some Indicators of Fish Stock (N = 85) -- 52
Table 6.2: Yearly total Potential Yield estimates of Lake Chamo ------------------------- 54
Table 6.3: Trends of CPUE, for Major Species ---------------------------------------------- 56
Table 6.4: Response of Fishermen on Species of Fish Usually Targeted ----------------- 58
Table 6.5: Fishermen Perceptions on Trends of Fishing Efforts -------------------------- 60
Table 6.6: Fishermen Perception towards the Application of Fishery Management
Tools on Lake Chamo --------------------------------------------------------------- 64
Table 6.7: Access Options of Fishermen in Lake Chamo ----------------------------------- 68
Table 6.8: The current Saving Condition ------------------------------------------------------- 89
Table 7.1: Fishermen Perception of Household income Sufficiency to cover food
Demand -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 90
Table 7.2: Coping Strategies of HHs to Food Insecurity by Community ----------------- 90
Table 7.3: Reception of Help/Assistance from Relatives or Friends by Community----- 91
Table 7.4: Sources of fishermen household income in 2002, and 2006 -------------------- 95
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LIST OF FIGURES
Page
Figure 2.1: Location of Lake Chamo ----------------------------------------------------------- 6
Figure 2.2: Location of Fishing Communities and their Camping Sites ------------------ 7
Figure 3.1: A Framework for Analyzing Livelihood of the Fishing Communities ----- 23
Figure 6.1: Trends of Total Fish Landing from Lake Chamo, 1987-2004 --------------- 54
Figure 6.2: Trend of Total Fishing Nets Over Lake Chamo -------------------------------- 60
Figure 6. 3: Focus Group Discussion Two----------------------------------------------------- 71
Figure 6.4: Case Study One --------------------------------------------------------------------- 76
Figure 6.5: Focus Group Discussion One------------------------------------------------------ 79
Figure 7.1: Fishermen Moving to Resettlement Area --------------------------------------- 99
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LIST OF ACRONYMS
AFCA Arbaminch Fishers Co-operative Association ARDD Agriculture and Rural Development Department CCRF Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries CFCA Chamo Fishers Co-operative Association COMESA Common Market for East and South Africa CPRs Common Pool resources CPUE Catch per Unit Effort CRIDA Central Research Institute for Dry Land Agriculture, India DFID Department for International Development of UK EMA Ethiopia Mapping Agency EPA Environmental Protection Authority EPRDF Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front FAO Food and Agricultural Organization FOCA Fishermen Outside Co-operative Association
GDP Gross Domestic Product GOs Governmental Organizations HDI Human Development Index HH Household IBCR Institute of Biodiversity Conservation and Research IDS Institute of Development Studies IFAD International Fund for Agricultural Development LFDP Lake Fisheries Development Project MARD Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development MSY Maximum Sustainable Yield NGOs Non Governmental Organizations PA Peasant Association SFCA Sego Fishers Co-operative Association SL Sustainable livelihoods SLAs Sustainable Livelihoods Approaches SLF Sustainable livelihood Frame Works SNNPR Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples Region SNNPRS Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples Region State UNDP United Nations Development Program
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Abstract
Sustainable livelihood of a given community can be enhanced or constrained by a number of multifaceted factors. International, National, Local context, the asset base available to the community, different policies and institutions, and organization meant for the improvement of the well-being of the community, the livelihood strategies and the portfolio of activities pursued by the community at household level are the major ones among others. In line with this premises, the research is undertaken with the main objective of investigating the major challenges of the fishing communities around Lake Chamo, Arbaminch Zuria Woreda, South Nations Nationalities and Peoples Regional State of Ethiopia. To meet the research objectives both qualitative and quantitative methods are applied equally. Moreover, the research is underpinned by the Sustainable Livelihood Approaches and the framework which is recently championed in the livelihood analysis by different International Institutions. It is found that the fishing communities in study area have been facing specific challenges in addition to those faced by rural and urban communities engaged in other livelihood activities. Generally, ever depleting fishery resource, lack of adequate government support, unequal resource access, conflict over resource, lack of participation, little alternative employment opportunities, and poor saving behavior are the challenges on the sustainable livelihood of the fishing communities of Lake Chamo. Due to these adverse effects, fishermen have taken various coping and adaptive strategies at household level. In spite of these, most fishermen in the study area have ended in undesirable livelihood outcomes like poverty, food insecurity, distressful migration, and unsustainable livelihoods. To alleviate the problem and to maintain sustainable livelihoods adequate government support, sound fishery resource management system are recommended to be put in place by correcting policy and institutional failures and protecting the environmental degradation in the Basin.
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CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1.1. Background
Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the World. As it is an agrarian society, agriculture
dominates the overall national economy in terms of food supply, employment, and export.
Agriculture comprises of about 50% of the country’s GDP, 85% of the employment, 90% of the
total export earnings, and supplies about 70% of the raw materials for the country’s medium and
large-scale industries (Zerihun et al. 2004: 212). The UNDP Human Development Report of 2005,
ranked the country 170 out of 177 countries with a Human Development Index (HDI) of 0.367 for
the year 2003 (UNDP, 2005, 222). The figure is much below as compared to Sub-Saharan African
average for the same year. The country’s economy is the weakest in its performance; poverty,
food and livelihood insecurity and famine are the usual phenomena in the country. Different
researches have indicated that 45-50% of the populations of the country live below absolute
poverty (Aklilu and Dessalegn, 2000: 6, Senait, 2001: 62, Degefa, 2005: 2). Domestic food
production on average covered only about 90% of the aggregate food demand. The remaining
10% of the food demand on average is often covered by foreign aid in the form of emergency or
relief aid for the years 1985-2000 (FDRE, 2002).
The poor who depend much on food aid in the country are not an aggregated whole. The sedentary
subsistence farmers, the landless, the traditional craftsmen, the causal workers, pastoralists, and
the small-scale fisher are among them. In Ethiopian context, it is too difficult to differentiate who
is the most vulnerable group. In spite of this, the small-scale fishermen are relatively one of those
groups who are neglected and bypassed from policy and technical support in the rural
development endeavourers of the country.
Though Ethiopia as a landlocked country has little potential to sea fishing, it has various inland
water bodies with suitable agro-ecology for fishing. Among these the lakes, rivers, major dams
and small water bodies are mentioned.
According to report of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) from the total
fish catch the share from the lakes is 85%, rivers 6% and from dams and small water bodies is
about 9% for the year 2001. Thus, the contribution of the lakes is very much significant.
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Moreover, it is the small-scale fishery sub-sector that provides the bulk of fish production and
consumption (MARD, 2004).
Nevertheless, the fishing sector of the economy has various problems. Among others,
mismanagement of the resource, inappropriate policies and institution, inadequate technical and
material backup to the sector and market are the major ones. Moreover, the Ethiopian lakes, on
which the inland fishing is mainly practiced, are threatened by catchment’s deforestation, shore
damage, water pollution, siltation, eutrophication and over fishing (MARD, 2004).
The root causes of these phenomena are lack of integrated participatory wetland management of
the area around the lake, population pressure and shortage of farmland in the nearby highlands,
absence of other alternative livelihood diversification strategies to rural-urban migrants, and
rampant rural poverty and unemployment. Moreover, the policy and institutional gap in the
management of common pool resources like fishery resource is a major factor in aggravating the
resource depletion and exposing the small-scale fishing communities for food insecurity and
unsustainable livelihood.
The contribution of fishing in the overall agriculture is not relatively given due attention in general
and its contribution to food security in particular. A Poor country like Ethiopia, if it aspires to
achieve food security and sustainable livelihood needs to manage and utilize every resource base
in a sustainable way.
1.2. Statement of the Problem
Though fishing contributes very less to the national economy of Ethiopia, in some areas like Lake
Chamo its contribution is very high in terms of employment, supplying cheap source of protein,
covering household food security to the fishermen. Moreover, there are high numbers of people
who are engaged and earn their living from fishing related activities like local boat making, fish
products transporting, and marketing. Recently, however, as the fishery resource get depleted from
Lake Chamo due to different reasons the well being of specially the fishermen worsened.
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According to FAO (2001) in fisheries management and development usually there has been a
misplaced emphasis both in theory and practice. The social aspect is neglected and only the biological
and economic aspect is given prime focus. The writer argues that the biologist, economists,
administrators, and politicians usually concerned first with marine biological species, and next
concerned with the allocation of fishery resource and maximizing the economic benefits from them.
The author further notes that fisheries management science, practice and policy, needs more emphasis
to human or social aspect (FAO, 2001:1). It is evident from this that any fisheries development
endeavor be it fisheries management tools, practices, policies, institutions, technologies to be
employed should be evaluated from improving the livelihood of the poor fishermen.
The Rift Valley Lakes System of Ethiopia is a home of large number of human population engaged in
various activities, which are directly or indirectly related to the well being of the lake ecosystem in
general, and the fish resource in particular on which the livelihood of the fishermen mainly depends.
Demographic, economic and socio-political changes threaten the existence and long-term
sustainability of the common pool fishery resource of Lake Chamo. The increase in population, high
demand of fish products, lack of livelihood diversification strategies, and high unemployment rate
have put serious stress on the common pool fishery resource of Lake Chamo.
The situation is worsened by inappropriate policy, institution and enforcement mechanisms to the
common pool fishery resource management in the area of Lake Chamo. Due to these and other related
factors combined the fishing communities’ household income decreased in real terms and they are
becoming vulnerable to seasonal and chronic food insecurity. Moreover, their sustainable livelihood is
at stake.
Fishery resource degradation and associated impacts on the livelihood of the fishing communities is
among the least researched areas in Ethiopia. Clear insight of the challenges, the coping and adaptive
strategies undertaken by the fishermen will help to integrate the small-scale fishing sub-sector in the
over all development endeavors of the country.
1.3. Objectives of the Study
The General objective of the study is to investigate the major livelihood challenges of the fishing
communities and draw lessons and indicate implications.
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Specific Objectives
The study has also the following specific objectives:
1. To asses the livelihood situation of the fishing communities and identify the major challenges that the communities are facing.
2. To examine the policy and institutional environment with regard to small scale fishing sub-sector in general and the fishing communities around Lake Chamo in particular.
3. To identify the determinants of intra household vulnerability to food and livelihood insecurity among the fishing communities.
4. To assess the coping mechanisms and adaptive strategies of the fishing communities.
1.4. Research Questions
The study will also try to answer the following research questions listed below:
1. What are the major livelihood challenges of the fishing communities around Lake Chamo?
2. Are there policy and institutional gaps to the management and sustainable use of the fish
resource from the lake?
3. What are the determinants of intra household vulnerability to food or livelihood insecurity
among the fishing communities?
4. What are their coping mechanisms and adaptive strategies?
1.5. Significance of the Study
It is the biological and ecological aspects of the Inland fisheries, which often get research attention.
The social aspect of the small-scale fishing sector is usually neglected. Moreover, the majority of
studies and scholarly works done in relation to natural resource management in Ethiopia focused
mainly on sustainable use of privately hold farm lands, and common property resources like common
grazing lands, communal forest management, and soil and water conservation on communal lands and
privately hold farm lands. Little has been done on the appropriate use of common pool open access
resources like fishery to the sustainable livelihoods of the small-scale fishing communities. In line
with this, it is hoped that this research will fill some of the knowledge gaps in the area under study.
Basically, the research work will have contribution in revealing the major livelihood challenges of the
fishing communities in the study area and draw some policy lessons and indicate implication. Thus, it
is believed that the research findings will contribute some lessons to the policy makers, resource
planners and managers, development practitioners and some implementing Government Organizations
(GOs) and Non Governmental Organization (NGOs).
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1.6. Scope of the Study
The study mainly focuses on the major challenges of sustainable livelihood, and the coping and
adaptive strategies undertaken by the fishing communities of Lake Chamo. The study is limited to
urban and rural fishing communities of Lake Chamo in Arbaminch Zuria Woreda, South Nation
Nationalities and peoples Regional State (SNNPRS).
1.7. Limitation of the Study
Any research, undertaking faces certain limitations. Similarly, this research is not free from such
limitations mainly caused by budget and time constraint. Among these, the rural non-cooperative
members who undertake fishing in part time basis are not included in the study. Moreover, lack of
sufficient literature on livelihood of inland fishing communities is another limitation of this
research.
1.8. The Structure of the Thesis
The thesis is organized in to two parts with eight chapters. The first part includes chapter one up to
chapter four, whereas the second part includes chapter five up to chapter eight.
Chapter one is the introductory part, which deals with the background, statement of the problem,
the objectives of the study, the significance of the study, etc. Chapter two describes the research
methodologies employed in the research. Basic concepts, the research framework, and literatures
are reviewed in chapter three. The fourth chapter shows the general background of the Lake
Chamo Basin.
In chapter five of the second part, socio-economic profiles of the fishing communities who are
included in the survey are described in general terms. The major livelihood challenges of the
fishing communities of Lake Chamo are discussed in detail in chapter six. The seventh chapter
deals with the household coping and adaptive strategies of the fishing communities in the context
of food and livelihood insecurity. In the last chapter conclusion and recommendations are made
for sustainable livelihood of the fishing communities in the study area.
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CHAPTER TWO: METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY
To address the research questions and the objectives, mixed methods mainly comprising
qualitative and quantitative research are employed. Despite the fact that there are two competing
schools of thoughts and perspectives on the importance and possibility of combining qualitative
and quantitative research methods in a single research, scholarly works of White (2002), Creswell
et al. (2003), Barrette (2004), Howe and McKay (2004), Degefa (2005), and others have revealed
the appropriateness of the mixed method to analyze issues like livelihood, poverty, and food
insecurity as cited in Degefa (Degefa, 2005:5-11).
2.1. The Study Area
The study is conducted in and around the town of Arbaminch, which is some 505 km away from
Addis Ababa. Lake Chamo is located at 14 km distance from Arbaminch town, which is the
capital town of Gamo Gofa Zone Administration, SNNPR. Lake Chamo is selected because of the
exposure and experience of the researcher. Moreover, in the area the fishing communities’
livelihood mainly depends on it.
Figure 2.1: Location of Lake Chamo.
Source: Ethio-GIS
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Source: From Ethio-GIS and Field Data.
Figure 2.2: Location of Fishing Communities and their Camping Sites
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2.2. Sample Selection
Eighty five households are selected by non-probability sampling technique; especially stratified
non-probability sampling is employed. This is mainly because; the study population seems to be
found in a certain strata. For example urban and rural organized fishing co-operatives members,
and non-members of rural and urban fishermen who operate privately. Moreover, there are full-
time fishermen whose livelihood is mainly depending on fishing and there are also part time
fishermen who practice fishing as additional activity to farming and petty trade. So, care is taken
to make the sample size representative from each stratum. Samples are also taken from the
fishermen living in nearby peasant associations like Shelemela. Sampled households are selected
purposively from each stratum.
Table2.1: Sampling Strata and Sample Size Taken from each Strata
Fishing communities
Total population
Sample size
%
Arbaminch Fishers co-operative association (AFCA)
125 26(20.8%) 30.6
Chamo Fishers Co-operative Association (CFCA)
34 10(29.4%) 11.8
Sego Fishers Co-operative Association (SFCA)
50 12(24%) 14.1
Fishermen Outside Co-operative Association (FOCA)
* 37(*) 43.5
Total * 85 100
Note: * Exact number is not known
2.3. Data Source, Collection Methods & Tools
In order to achieve the objectives of the study primary data is generated from household survey,
focus group discussion, case studies and key informant interview. Moreover, secondary data is
used as supplementary.
Survey
Survey employing pre-tested structured questionnaire on the samples selected households is the
main method to generate primary data on household demography, source of livelihood, access to
resource, food security /insecurity situation, household assets, the coping mechanisms and
adaptive strategies, their social ties and networks, the level of communities' participation in
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resource use and management, their perception towards the common pool resource use, and their
income trend (see Annex-I).
Case Studies
Case studies on ten households are conducted. It included eight male and two female household
heads. Moreover, care is taken to include cases from different social status and both from
organized and unorganized fishermen. Here, in-depth investigation is conducted to generate data
regarding demographic profile, experience in fishing, contribution of fishing to the livelihood of
the family, other livelihood strategies if any, household expenditure, its social, financial capital
base. Moreover, the major challenges of the household and the coping and adaptive strategies are
raised. Checklist was used to facilitate the data collection process.
Key Informant Interview
Key informant interview is another method employed to collect first hand data. Here, eleven
persons who have expertise knowledge, or who have life experience in the topic under study were
interviewed in depth. People who have been working in the Woreda and Zonal Administration
who have deep knowledge about fishery and fishing communities under the study were selected
carefully (see Annex -II).
Focus Group Discussion
Focus group discussions are conducted with the major stakeholders, which use the lake resource
for different purposes. The first focus group is composed of 23 household heads most of whom are
non-member of co-operative and currently shifting their livelihood strategies from fishing to
farming being involved in the government resettlement program. The second focus group is
consists of eight household heads who are non-member of fishers’ co-operative but full time
fishermen. The third group is mixed of both member and non-member of co-operatives and they
are eleven household heads. The fourth focus group contains fishermen and heads of the Chamo
Fishers’ Co-operative Association. Checklist is used to facilitate the discussion and to guide the
focus of the research (see Annex-II).
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Field Observation
Field observation is conducted to record the real events happening in the field and understand the
fishing communities closely .It enabled to experience the remoteness, the wilderness of the shore
where they conduct fishing. Moreover, it enabled to feel some of the challenges the fishermen face
working on water bodies and realize the absence of basic social services.
Secondary Source
The secondary data collected from the Woreda, Zonal Agricultural and Rural Development
Department (ARDD) and from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD),
and other related offices and Departments. Secondary data on the trend of fish catch, Mesh size, and
the fishing effort, the number of fishing firms, and fishermen engaged in full time and part time
fishing, the urban population and the population of the Woreda and Zonal Administration, the
technologies employed for fishing and transporting the products which directly or indirectly contribute
to the resource depletion is collected.
Moreover, documented information related to the study is reviewed. Efforts have been made to review
the existing literature and documents. Books, Journals, statistical abstracts, from different libraries are
assessed. Internet websites is explored so as to collect up-date information about the subject area of the
study.
2.4. Data Analysis
Both qualitative and quantitative methods of data analysis techniques are employed. All the data
obtained from the primary sources is tabulated in a various forms of data presentation, and then data is
analyzed and interpreted. Similarly, the information obtained from focus group discussion and field
observation is described in a qualitative manner. The trend and temporal variation of fishermen, fish
catch, fishing effort, Mesh size, fishing technology, and fish price are analyzed using quantitative
methods.
Attempts have been made to use Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) for survey data entry
and analysis. Moreover, perception of the income and livelihood situation and their views regarding
government policies and support to fishing sub- sector and fishermen is analyzed using qualitative
techniques. Triangulation, systematic content analysis and description are among the quantitative data
analysis techniques applied. The level of data analysis is both household and community
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CHAPTR THREE: REVIEW OF BASIC CONCEPTS AND
LITERATURE
3.1. Concepts and Framework for Analyzing Livelihood of Fishing
Communities
3.1.1. Definition of Terms
Fishing communities: are both rural and urban who fish full time and part time to sustain their
livelihood from the Lake Chamo fishery.
Common pool resources: are open access resources that are not owned by any body but
constitutionally owned by the government and to which every body can have access. Common
pool resource has two main characteristics. First, it is difficult to exclusion. Second, it is
subtractable i.e. each user is capable of subtracting from the benefits that others drive from a
common pool resource.
Property right: According to Fouroboth and Pejorich (1972), property right is a set of rules
specifying the use of scarce resource and goods (Fouroboth and Pejorich cited in Yohannes,
1996).
Feeny et al. (1992) distinguish four regimes of property rights: private property, state property,
communal property and open access property rights (Feeny et al cited in Yohannes, 1996).
1. Private property ownership: the right to exclusively use a resource and to regulate its use
is vested in an individual or a group of individuals like a corporation. Resource
management for sustainable use under private property regime is not relatively
problematic.
2. State property right regime: rights are vested exclusively in government, which in turn
makes decision concerning access to the resource and the level and nature of exploitation.
Here, the general public has equal access and use right. According to Feeny et al. (1992),
unlike others, the state has coercive power of enforcement (Feeny et al cited in Yohannes)
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3. Communal property ownership- Here, unlike open access resource, it is not free to all. An
identifiable community with communal arrangements for exclusion of non-community
member and regulation for use of the resource among the users is its characteristics.
4. Open access Property Right- represents de-facto no ownership for it grants the right to
every body to use a given property without charge, permission, or hindrance for any
purpose at any time. Feeny et al. (1992) in Yohannes (1996) define open access as the
absence of well defined property right (yohannes, 1996:180). Dales (1992) defined as un-
owned except in a purely formal, constitutional sense and available to all (Dales cited in
Yohannes, 1996:80). Resource management for sustainable development is most difficult
under open access property right.
3.1.2. The Concept of Livelihood, Sustainability and Sustainable
Livelihoods
The livelihood concept is relatively recent in the discourse of poverty, food security, natural
resource management and development mainly associated with rural development. It is Chambers
and Conway who are usually cited as the first scholars to define the concept of livelihoods
(Scoones, 1998:2, Ellis, 2000:7, Degefa, 2005:72). According to Chamber and Conway (1992) in
Ellis (2000) livelihood comprise the capabilities, assets (stores, resources, claims and access) and
activities required for a means of living (cited in Ellis, 2000:7). Based on this definition, different
scholars have tried to adopt and define the concept. Among others, the Institute of Development
Studies (IDS) team is one, which defined livelihood as follows: “A livelihood comprises the
capabilities, assets (including both material and social resources) and activities required for a
means of living (Scoones, 1998:2).”
In both of these definitions the three building blocks of livelihood are capabilities, assets, and
activities. However, in IDS definition, the assets are divided into material and social while in
Chamber and Conway definition claims and access are also taken as assets. In the above
definitions the capability is taken as a component of livelihood. The capability concept is derived
from Sen (1993, 1997) and refers to the ability of individuals to realize their potential as human
beings in the sense of being (i.e. to be adequately nourished, free of illness and so on) and doing
13
(i.e. exercise choices, develop skills and experience, participate socially and so on) (cited in Ellis,
2000:7).
Similarly, Frank Ellis adopted the concept and modified the definition given by Chamber and
Conway. According to him:
A livelihood comprises the assets (natural, physical, human, financial, and social
capital), the activities, and the access to these (modified by institutions and social
relations) that together determine the living gained by the individual or household.
(Ellis, 2000:9)
In Ellis definition, the issue of capability is not explicitly put as in the others’. However, it seems
to be included in what he calls human capital. Moreover, in Ellis definition the assets of livelihood
are clarified more and the issue of access is given much weight.
In the evolution of the concept of livelihood, different terminologies and concepts were borrowed
and used from alternative structures of ideas. A good example as mentioned earlier is the use of
the Amartya Sen’s concept of ‘capability’ in the definition of livelihoods by Chambers and
Conway (1992) and in the modified version of Scoones (1998) as cited by Ellis (2000:17).
Because of this and different definitions being given the meaning of livelihood is elusive.
According to Ellis the use of capabilities as a component in the definition of livelihood is
potentially confusing since its meaning overlaps assets and activities (Ellis, 2000:17). According
to Scoones, on the contrary, the use of the capability concept (Sen 1984, 1987) provided a wider
definitional scope for the livelihoods concept (Scoones, 1998:3).
Similarly, the concept of sustainability is vague in spite of its wide use in issues associated with
environment, livelihood, and development. Sustainability shows the capacity of a system to
replenish itself or expand over time. In an ecosystem context, it refers to biomass and species
diversity, but in its application to human needs, it means sustaining outputs available for human
consumption, and therefore the capacity of a resource or system to keep up the same or increase its
contribution to human welfare and well-being (Ellis, 2000:125).
14
Thus, livelihood is said to be sustainable when it can cope with and recover from stresses and
shocks, maintain or enhance its capabilities and assets, while not undermining the natural capital
(Scoones, 1998:3, Swift and Hamilton, 2001:87, Chambers & Conway, 1992:7 Cited in Ellis,
2000:7). In relation to sustainability of a system the terms like stresses and shocks are frequently
used. According to Scoones, a stress is small, regular, predictable disturbance with cumulative
effect on the system whereas a shock is a large, infrequent, unpredictable disturbance with
immediate impacts (Scoones, 1998:4).
3.1.3. Sustainable Livelihoods Approaches, Its Framework,
Origin of SLAs and the Concept of Poverty
The sustainable livelihood approach is a new approach to poverty alleviation. The analysis of
poverty conventionally takes into account mainly income and consumption as criteria. On the
basis of this criteria, a person is poor only if his/her income level is below a certain poverty line,
or if consumption falls below a stipulated minimum (Farrington et al. 1999:2). According to
Chambers (1987), however, income is only one of a range of aspects, which the poor themselves
highlight when they are asked what poverty means to them. Others include, a sense of insecurity
or vulnerability, lack of a sense of voice, level of health, literacy, education, access to assets, etc.
(Farrington et al. 1999:2).
As income /consumption model was found to be ineffective in the analysis of poverty, the basic
needs perspective was developed as alternative approach as it views poverty beyond income and
include the need for basic health and education, clean water and other services which assumed to
prevent people from falling into poverty (Farrington et al. 1992:2). More recently, poverty has
been defined in terms of the absence of basic capabilities to meet these physical needs, but also to
achieve goals of participating in the life of the community and influencing decision-making.
Sustainable livelihoods (SL) approaches draw on this improved understanding of poverty, but also
on other streams of analysis, relating for instance to households, gender, governance, and farming
systems, bringing together relevant concepts to allow poverty to be understood more holistically
(Farrington et al. 1992:2).
15
Sustainable Livelihoods Framework /SLF/
As a measure to reduce the number of poor people living in extreme poverty by half by 2015,
Department for International Development (DFID) of UK consulted widely in order to increase its
understanding of the nature of poverty and how it might be addressed. One of the outcomes of this
consultation was the sustainable livelihoods (SL) framework.
The framework is an analytical device for improved understanding of livelihood and poverty.
(Farrington, et al. 1992:2)
Similarly, according to Swift and Hamilton, the sustainable livelihood framework is analytical
framework, which attempts to widen our insight of how people use the resource at their disposal to
construct their livelihood (Swift and Hamilton, 2001:82). The sustainable livelihood framework is
first designed to analyze and improve rural livelihoods. However, it is also being used in urban
areas with certain modification (Dessalegn, 2001, Swift and Hamilton, 2001:82, Degefa, 2005:85).
As livelihoods itself, the sustainable livelihood framework is dynamic that different scholars based
on Scoones have modified and attempted to put it in basically similar but with a slight different
form to suit their analysis. In most of the presentations of the framework, the major five
components are usually recognized with different terminology and sequence. These are the
context, livelihood resources, institutions, livelihood strategies, and livelihood outcomes
(Scoones, 1998:2, Ellis, 2000:31,Swift and Hamilton, 2001:82, Degefa, 2005:89). However, some
scholars like Scoones (1998:2), Ellis (2000:30), and Degefa (2005:89) differentiated and
disaggregated the livelihood activities and the adaptive and coping strategies and made the major
components of the sustainable livelihood framework into six as context, resources, access
modifiers, productive activities, coping and adaptive strategies and outcomes. In most of the
works of the scholars the sustainable livelihood framework is presented in sequential two-
dimensional view (Scoones, 1998:2, DFID, 1999, Ellis, 2000:31, Swift and Hamilton, 2001:82,
Degefa, 2005:89).
However, recently International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) developed an
alternative livelihood framework. The IFAD team criticized the original sustainable livelihood
16
framework developed by DFID and others for not actually placing the poor in the center of the
framework. Moreover, the “horizontal” arrangement of the sustainable livelihood framework of
DFID and others is criticized for it encourages a “left to right” reading. According to IFAD team
the poor themselves tend to be easily lost within the livelihood framework previously designed by
DFID and modified by others (Hamilton J, 2002:2). IFAD’s SL Framework is less sequential and
it is circular and puts the poor at the center and rearranged all important linkages among different
elements in the framework. The rearrangement has given greater salience and the relations among
different elements have become more immediately apparent (Hamilton, 2002:3). Moreover, the
IFAD, alternative SL Framework incorporated additional group of livelihood assets-‘personal’
assets to the five contained in the original SL Framework.
3.1.4. Major Components of SLF
Contexts/Settings
The contexts or the settings are the most important aspects of the sustainable livelihood
framework in the analysis of rural poverty. According to Scoones (1998) the contexts are the
conditions and the trends which include history, politics, economic trends, climate, agro-ecology,
demography, and social differentiation. Similarly, Carney (1998) named it as ‘vulnerability
context’, which comprises many of the same factors listed under context by Scoones (Carney cited
in Ellis, 2000:37).
Ellis similarly based on Scoones (1998) and Carney (1998) adopted the framework and
acknowledged the importance of context in livelihood analysis. According to Ellis, livelihood is
constructed in a context of trends and shocks. In his adopted SL Framework, the trends include
population migration, technological change, relative price, macro-policy, national economic
trends, and world economic trends. The shocks include natural and man made catastrophes like
drought, floods, pests, diseases, and civil wars.
Degefa (2005:89) in his part adopted the SL Framework from Scoones (1998) Carney (1998),
Ellis (2000) and Devereux (2003) and categorized the context in to three – namely shocks, trends,
and broader contexts (which include government changes, ideological shifts, inappropriate rural
17
policies, land reallocation, and marketing situation) while analyzing rural poverty and food
insecurity in Ethiopia.
The emphasis given to context in almost all analysis of sustainable livelihood is with the belief
that development and change are path dependant that present livelihood options are affected to
certain degree by the previous events (Swift and Hamilton, 2001:84). Moreover, development
efforts at community or micro level could be affected by socio-economic, political, and policy
environments at national or global level.
In sustainable livelihood analysis of the small scale fishing communities in the study area, the
contexts could be the overall national economic development trends, especially rural development
trends, the overall political and socio-economic condition of the country, ineffective and exclusive
rural development policies which give less attention to fishery sub-sector and fishermen, trends of
population pressure, trends of rural to urban migration, market, up-stream deforestation and
siltation.
Assets
The other basic components of the SL Framework are the assets. The assets could be those which
are owned, controlled, claimed or in some other means accessed. They are the capital base upon
which households are able to undertake production, engage in labor markets, and participate in
reciprocal exchanges with other households.
According to Scoones assets are the basic material and social, tangibles and intangibles upon
which the ability of a household depends to pursue different livelihood strategies (Scoones,
1998:5). Similarly, Ellis describes assets as stocks of capital that can be utilized directly, or
indirectly, to generate the means of survival of the household or to sustain its material well-being
at different levels above survival (Ellis, 2000:31).
In the analysis of SL, different researchers have identified and grouped assets into various
categories. Among others, Swift (1989) grouped assets into three broad categories namely –
investments, stores and claims. According to the same writer investments include human,
18
individual and collective assets; stores include food stores, items of value such as gold, and money
in the bank; and claims include reciprocal claims on other households, and claims on patrons
(chiefs, etc), government, and even on the international community. On the other hand, Maxwell
and Smith (1992) in a food security context, grouped assets into productive capital, non-
productive capital, human capital, income and claims(Maxwell and Smith cited in Ellis, 2000:32).
Similarly, Reardon and Vosti (1998) classified assets into natural resource assets, human resource
assets, on-farm physical and financial resources, off-farm physical and financial resources
(Reardon and Vosti cited in Ellis, 2000:32). Moser (1998) on his part categorized assets of a
household into labor, human capital, productive assets, household relations, and social capital
(Moser cited in Ellis, 2000:32).
Recent literatures on the analysis of SL by DFID, Scoones (1998:5), Swift and Hamilton
(2001:83), Ellis (2000:32) categorized the assets into five groups namely natural capital, physical
capital, human capital, financial capital, and social capital. However, very recently, the IFAD
team came up with a new alternative sustainable livelihood framework as indicated earlier and it
incorporated a new asset. The IFAD team calls it ‘personal’ assets. According to the IFAD team
the ‘personal’ assets are those factors which may affect the choices of individuals and households
regarding their livelihoods. The personal assets include people’s internal motivations, their will to
act and promote change, their drive to assert their right, and their spiritual side of their lives
(Hamilton et al. 2002:4).
From this it is evident that as sustainable livelihood itself is dynamic, the framework used to
analyze it is also changing with new concepts and ideas. Thus, it is too difficult to list exhaustively
all the assets of sustainable livelihood and categorize them into distinct groups. The
categorizations used in most of the scholarly works by (Scoones; 1998, Ellis: 2000, Swift and
Hamilton, 2001) have been reviewed in brief in the following section.
� Natural Capital: include the land, water, and biological resources which people use to
generate means of survival. Sometimes natural capitals are termed as environmental resources
and are thought of jointly as comprising the environment (Ellis, 2000:32). In fishing
livelihoods the most important natural capital is the fisheries resource with its ecosystem.
19
� Physical Capital: are physical assets that are created by economic production process. In
economic terms, it is defined as producer goods as it is purchased in order to create a flow of
output in the future (Ellis, 2000: 33). It includes buildings, irrigation canals, roads, tools,
machines, and soon. Infrastructural assets like roads, power lines, and water supplies are also
important physical assets that facilitate livelihood diversification. (Ellis, 2000:33)
� Human Capital: According to Carney (1998), human capital refers to the labor available to
the household: its education, skills, and health (Carney cited in Ellis, 2000:33). Investment in
education and training and the skills acquired through pursuing one or more occupations
improve the human capital of a household. Similarly, better health condition of a household
improves the efficiency and effectiveness of labor as an asset (Ellis, 2000:34).
� Financial Capital: refers to stock of money to which the household has access. It comprises
savings, access to credit in the form of loans. According to Frank Ellis, the absence of
financial markets or distrust of such financial institutions in many societies, result in savings
being held in other forms. In rural Sub-Saharan Africa, the keeping of livestock often plays an
important role as store of wealth and as security to bad times (Ellis, 2000:34). Similarly,
according to Swift (1989) gold, jewelry, and food stocks are put as alternative means of
holding for varying periods (Swift cited in Ellis, 2000:34).
� Social Capital: Moser (1998) defined social capital as reciprocity within communities and
between households based on trust deriving from social ties’ (Moser cited in Ellis, 2000:36).
According to Frank Ellis, however, the definition given by Moser puts the emphasis on
localized reciprocity. Ellis in his part broadens the definition of social capital as community
and wider level social claims in which individuals and households can draw by virtue of their
belonging to social groups of varying degrees of inclusiveness in society at large (Ellis,
2000:36).
Mediating Processes
In the analysis of sustainable livelihood mediating processes are the basic components of the
framework. Mediating processes are those elements, which can promote or influence the access of
various assets by a household or by a group of people in pursuing different portfolios of livelihood
strategies (Ellis, 2000:31).
20
Different scholars in analyzing SL used the concept of mediating processes with slightly different
term and scales. For example, in DFID’s SL Framework it is termed as transforming structures
(levels of government, private sector) and processes (laws, policies, culture, institutions)
(Farrington et al, 1999:3). Swift and Hamilton, on their part, consider mediating processes as
institutions and organization (Swift and Hamilton, 2001:83). Similarly, in Degefa’s adapted
livelihood framework, the mediating processes include institutions, organization and social
relations (Degefa, 2005:89).
Social relations
Refer to social position of individuals and households within a society. It comprises such factors
as gender, caste, class, age, ethnicity and religion (Ellis, 2000:38). In rural areas such factors are
very influential in determining access to resources.
Institutions
According to North (1990) institutions are the formal rules, conventions and informal codes of
behavior that comprises constraints on human interaction. Example of institution, include laws,
land or water tenure arrangements, the ways market work in practice (North cited in Ellis,
2000:38).
Why institutions are important in the analysis of the SL? According to Scoones, understanding
institutional process allows the identification of restrictions/barriers and opportunities (or ‘gate
ways’) to sustainable livelihoods. The writer further argues that understanding of institutions and
organization is the basis to designing interventions which improve sustainable livelihoods
(Scoones, 1998:11).
According to Johnson (1997) institutional sustainability is important. The author argues that
institutional sustainability may be put into question when significant change occurs in contextual
setting. The writer further argues that common property regimes may work successfully under
condition of abundance and equality, but rapidly fail if demand for the resource out strips supply,
or if distribution power in the community become imbalance (Cited in Swift and Hamilton,
2001:86). Institutional sustainability doesn’t negate their dynamic nature. According to Scoones,
21
institutions are dynamic, continually being shaped and reshaped over time. They are part of a
process of social negotiations, rather than fixed ‘objects’ or ‘bounded social systems’ (Scoones,
1998:10).
As power relations are embedded within institutional forms, individuals and groups to construct
their own strategies of resource access can manipulate institutions and organization. Different
institutional arrangements frame access to and use of resources differently for different groups
(Swift and Hamilton, 2001:85).
Organization
According to North (1990) organization are groups of individuals bound by some common
purpose to achieve objectives (North cited in Ellis, 2000:38). Government Agencies,
Administrative bodies, NGOs, Associations and Private companies are examples of organization.
Activities and Livelihood Strategies
Livelihood strategies are composed of activities that generate the means of household survival.
According to Barrett and Reardon (2000) cited in Tesfaye (2003) activities are the particular uses
to which productive assets are put (Tesfaye, 2003:119). The activities carried out by rural
households can be categorized in different ways. Ashley and Carney (1999) grouped activities on
the basis of whether activities use natural resources as input or not. natural resource based
activities include, collections of item such as fuel wood and fruit, fishing, pastoralism, food
cultivation, non-food cultivation, livestock keeping, weaving, thatching, so on. Non-natural
resource based activities include: trade, services, manufacturing, remittance, and other transfers
(Ellis, 2001:41, Ashley and Carney cited in Tesfaye, 2003:119). On the other hand, Barrett and
Reardon (2000) as cited in Tesfaye (2003) classified livelihood activities by sector as farm versus
non-farm, by function, wage versus self employment and by space, local versus migratory
(Tesfaye, 2003:119).
According to Scoones there are three strategy types, with respect to which different configurations
of assets – mediating process – activities apply. These are:
• Agricultural intensification or extensification
22
• Livelihood diversification and
• Migration
Agricultural intensification: refers to the increase of output per hectare of land or animal by
application of more labor, capital or technology. In the case of fishing it could be increase of fish
catch per hectare of water body by applying more labor or improved fishing technologies without
actually passing the maximum sustainable yield. The key assets here are land and water body for
agricultural intensification, attention is directed towards the institutions and organizations that
facilitate technical change in agriculture (Ellis, 2000:41, Swift and Hamilton, 2001:86).
Extensive Agriculture: refers to a strategy of livelihood where more land, or animal, or water
body (in the case of fishing) is brought into production process at the same levels of labor, capital,
or technology (Swift and Hamilton, 2001:86).
Livelihood diversification: refers to a livelihood strategy of a household where their economic
activities are diversified from reliance on farming (livestock or cropping) to seeking a wider range
of on- and off-farm sources of income (Ellis, 2000:41, Swift and Hamilton, 2001:86)
Diversification as a livelihood strategy is either carried out by necessity or choice. Davies (1996)
considers diversification either survival or choice whereas Hart (1994) looks diversification as
survival or accumulation (Davies, 1996; Hart 1994; cited in Ellis, 2000:55). Necessity or survival
diversification is a strategy of livelihood which aims at coping with temporary adversity or more
permanent adaptation of livelihood activities, when other options failing to provide a livelihood.
On the contrary, choice diversification is voluntary action for the purpose of accumulation
(Scoones, 1998:7).
Migration is another livelihoods strategy adopted by households. People move from their initial
source of livelihood, and seek a living in another livelihood system. The causes of migration could
be voluntary or involuntary.
23
Figure 3.1: A Framework for Analyzing Livelihood of the Fishing
Communities
Context/setting
International Context
• Structural adjustment program
National Context
• National development trends
• Rural development policies
• Population pressure
Local Context
• Reduced land holding size
- Rural-urban migration
• Little job opportunity
• Poor wet land management
• Ever depleting fishery resource
• Natural disasters
Assets/ Capitals
• Natural capital
• Physical capital
• Human capital
• Financial capital
• Social capital
Mediating process
Social relations
• Membership of a
community
• Membership to Ider
• Membership to Iqub
• Kinship
Institutions
• Fisheries development
and utilization proclamation
• Poorly managed CPRs
regime
• Assistant' to a
cooperative member
Organization
• Regional, zonal Woreda
Administration
• Regional, Zonal Woreda
ARDD
• Cooperative Desk
• Fishers cooperative
association
Activities and
Livelihood
adaptive
• Fishing
• Farming
• Petty trade
• Choice diversification
• social transfer
• reduce consumption
• family splitting
• sale of assets
•
• distress migration
Desired Outcome
• Resilient
• Food
secured
Undesired outcome - Fragile
• Food insecure
• Poverty
• Unsustainable
resource utilization
• Unsustainable
livelihood
Source: Adapted from Scoones (1998), Ellis (2000), Swift and Hamilton
(2001), Degefa (2005)
Livelihood
Outcomes
24
3.1.5. Principles of SLA
SL approaches are strategies for alleviation of rural poverty and bringing sustainable rural
development. They have strengths over other conventional rural development approaches, like
sector (project) approach, basic needs approach, and integrated development approach, and so
on. This is mainly because of the fundamental principles on which they are based: The core
principles of SL approaches are as follows:
A Focus on People
Sustainable livelihood approaches (SLAs) put people at the center of development. This
means, practical application of SL concepts:
� Start with an analysis of people’s livelihoods and how these have been changing over
time.
� Fully involve people and support them in achieving their own livelihoods.
� Focus on the impacts of different policy and institutional arrangements on people’s
livelihoods.
� Show how informal institutions often fit situations better than formal ones and hence
are preferred by the main actors.
� Seek to influence institutional and policy arrangements so as to promote the agenda of
the poor.
(Farrington et al., 1997:4)
Holism
SL approaches allow the identification of livelihood related opportunities and constraints
regardless of where these occur. SL approaches are:
• Non-sectoral and applicable across social groups.
25
• Recognize multiple influences on people, and seek to understand the relationships
between these influences.
• Recognize multiple actors (private sector, NGOs, Government bodies, Community
Based Organizations, Communities, so on).
• Provide complex picture, they give a truer impression of rural life and poverty; for
instance, by showing that strategies such as diversification and migration are rational
livelihood strategies, rather than new and disparate phenomena.
• Seek to achieve multiple livelihood outcomes, to be determined and negotiated by
people themselves.
(Farrington et al., 1997:4)
Macro-Micro Links
SL approaches attempt to link the micro, meso, and macro levels, and ensure learning and
information sharing at all levels (Toner and Franks, 2005:5).
Dynamism and Optimism
SL Approaches:-
� Place current events in their dynamic context, rather than looking at a ‘snapshot’ of a
situation at a single moment in time.
� View current situation as outcomes of past changes (Swift et al., 2000:91).
� Are optimistic. As indicated by Moser (1998) SL Approaches seek ‘to identify what the
poor have rather than what they do not have’ and ‘to strengthen people’s own incentive
solutions, rather than substitute for’ block or undermine them (Ellis, 2000:23).
Sustainability
SL approaches final target is ensuring sustainable livelihoods.
SL approaches seek sustainability in four levels:
26
� Financial sustainability – where the system is sustainable without outside funding.
� Institutional sustainability – to what extent the newly introduced institutions to
alleviate poverty fit or integrate with the existing institutions.
� Environmental sustainability – to maximize the sustainable use of natural resources
with minimized waste and pollution.
� Social sustainability – minimizes social exclusion, and complements the local cultural
context (Toner and Frank, 2005:5).
3.1.6. Importance of SLA as Applied to Fisheries
The SLA as applied to fisheries can assist to understand the nature of poverty and entry points
to alleviate it. This is because the approach:
� looks at more than just catch or production levels.
� helps with recognition that fisheries support more people than if only consider
production.
� can help to identify opportunities for diversification to help with overexploitation of
inland water bodies and marine fisheries.
� can help administrators understand that fishing communities have needs problems, and
opportunities outside the sector.
� helps to understand the synergy between stakeholders at all level.
� supplements money-metric assessments of poverty, and helps to explain the causality of
poverty.
� enhance policy makers’ understanding of human and social capital for developing anti-
poverty strategies.
� focuses on vulnerability to make analysis dynamic and flexible(FAO,2002:5).
27
3.1.7. Some Challenges of SLA
In spite of the strengths mentioned earlier, the SLAs are not free of weakness in analyzing rural
poverty. Ellis has identified some:
� Livelihood security, which is in large part about perceptions, but which derive
behaviors and practice, are difficult to measure.
� SL approaches, though they are good at finding problems, they are less good at finding
solutions.
� SL approaches give little attention to distributional issues, despite an implicit concern
for the poorest.
(Ellis, 2000:91)
� The relative importance of the various asset types in the asset Pentagon of SL
approaches is known little (FAO, 2002:5)
� Similarly, according to Bryceson (1999), the SL approaches narrow the focus on
household welfare and agriculture. According to the same author, the SLA doesn’t
consider a bigger development perspective outside agriculture. The writer argues that
African agriculture is no longer viable and there is a need for policy shift outside
agriculture, which is not incorporated in the SLAs (Ellis, 2000:92).
On the contrary to this view, Carney asserts that as over 850 million people in the world are
undernourished, the SLAs should give due focus to agricultural productivity and that they help
increase the poor people’s access to food (Carney, 2006:1).
In the foregoing section of this chapter the basic concepts and the framework for analyzing the
livelihood of fishing communities is discussed. In the next section, attempts are made to review
related literatures and some research findings.
28
3.2. Resource Degradation, Access and livelihoods
3.2.1. Resource Degradation and Livelihoods
Various researches at macro level have indicated that natural resource degradation and depletion
has the most immediate impact on rural poverty. Rural poverty, food insecurity, malnutrition, and
under-nutrition are closely linked to the degradation of environment, as poverty depletes natural
resource, which in turn aggravates the suffering of the rural poor. When people's survival is at stake
they are forced to farm marginal lands, to reduce fallow periods, to cut vital forests in their search
for arable land or fuel, to overstock fragile rangelands and to over fish rivers, lakes, and costal
waters (Indriss, et al., 1992: 305).
The interplay of natural resource degradation, poverty, food insecurity is so complex that one
reinforces the other. The nexus could be looked both at national level and at household level. At the
national level studies indicate that there are different patterns of relationship between economic
growth (per capita income) and resource degradation (World Bank: 1992, 2002 cited in Alemu
2003: 10). According to Alemu, for some resource degradation problems, as incomes (per capita)
rise resource quality worsens until a certain level of income, after which the resource quality
improves. This has led to what is known as grow now and clean up later approach. However,
studies also indicate that the extent of relationship is different for different countries depending on
the level of knowledge, environmental policies pursued, and environmental awareness and
institution by countries at the same level of per capita income (World Bank, 2002, cited in Alemu,
2003: 10).
At the household level there are various views concerning the link between resource
degradation and poverty. The mainstream view is that poverty is a major cause of resource
degradation (WCED, 1987; World Bank, 1992 cited in Alemu Mekonen (2003: 10). Alemu
further stated that even if poverty is not the direct 'cause' of resource degradation, it could have
indirect role in affecting the designing of appropriate policies (Alemu, 2003: 10).However, while
poverty and resource degradation may be positively correlated, correlation does not imply
causation (Barbier, 1999 cited in Alemu ,2003: 11). He argues that a more complex set of variables
comes into play when looking at the links between poverty, food insecurity and resource change.
Demographic, cultural, and institutional factors and market failure are considered as important
29
variables in the poverty resource degradation nexus (Alemu 2003: 11). However, most of the
researchers agree that the poor are victims of resource degradation.
The resource depletion and degradation becomes worse when it is an open access common
pool resource with high demand. Moreover, inefficient management due to inappropriate
policies and institution aggravates the situation. It is exacerbated when there are external
factors that degrade ecological balance of the resource and where there are diverse users of the
resource.
3.2.2. The Role of Common Pool Resources (CPRs) to Livelihoods
Accesses to common pool resources (CPRs) have substantial contribution to livelihoods of the rural
poor, especially to small and marginal farmers, fishermen and landless laborers. As indicated by
Central Research Institute for Dry Land Agriculture (CRIDA) India, the CPRs have widened the
range of income generating activities available to people in rural areas, provide input to agriculture,
and served as a safety net for people in drought years, in terms of income generation and food
supply. CRIDA further asserted that CPRs have played a major role in peoples coping strategies in
drought years and the events of other contingencies in most of semi arid India (www.nri.org).
Similarly, conducting a field study on common pool resources and poverty in India, Beck and
Nesmith have estimated that CPRs contribute significant portion to the income of poor rural
households (Nesmith cited in Johnson, 2004: 416).
Judha, in his part measured the resource and incomes provided by various types of commons and
have made a convincing case that the rural poor are disproportionately dependant on the low pay
off options offered by common pool resources (Judha cited in Johonson, 2004: 417).
In line with this, Bernus (1988) suggests that in Sahel region where annual rainfall is low and its
distribution erratic, the products obtained from CPRs have been critical elements in the livelihood
and survival of many rural communities, particularly in times of drought (Bernus cited in Williams,
1988). The writer further continues that in Nigeria, in dry years when the millet crop fails, fruits of
trees from CPRs are collected and pounded into flour that is used to prepare different kinds of food.
30
Similarly, the sales of products like stimulant leaves, fruits, fodder, and firewood collected from
CPRs provide an important contribution to household income.
According to research conducted by FAO, the access to CPRs, such as fishery is especially
important to maintain household well being in the face of shocks and crises as livelihood strategies
and coping mechanisms. Fishing can play an important role as a safety valve when agricultural
production or livelihood strategies in non-fishing communities are under threat due to vulnerability
to land degradation adjacent to inland water bodies (FAO, 2006:6). Nevertheless, common pool
resources, like inland fisheries on which the livelihoods of the poor fishermen depend might be
depleted and degraded due to poor management practices and inappropriate policies and institution.
The resource base of open access fisheries might be ruined due to other factors like rural poverty
and ecological degradation due to lack of integrated wet land management practices. Where
pressure on a common pool resource is very high due to different factors, the resource will become
degraded and its productivity will suffer and hence the peoples who depended on CPRs would be
vulnerable to temporal or chronic food insecurity and poverty (Williams, 1998).
3.2.3. Thoughts on CPRs Management to Sustainable Livelihoods
There are schools of thoughts, which compete in the literature of common pool resource
management for sustainable livelihoods. One is responding to Hardian's tragedy of the
unmanaged commons, which is primarily concerned with the problem of achieving collective
action to conserve natural resources that are both depleted and unregulated. The second one is
influenced by notions of moral economy such as Scott (1976), Thompson (1971), and entitlement
Sen (1981) deals with the problem of creating and sustaining resource access for poor and
vulnerable groups in society (Beck, 1994; Jodha, 2001; Mosse, 1997 cited in Craig Johonson
,2004: 408).
As a consequence, scholars have long questioned the incentive for efficient and sustainable use of
common pool resources (Gordon, 1954; Scotl, 1955; Hardin, 1968) and solutions have been
proposed, such as state control and management or privatization of the commons (Demsetz, 1964
as cited in Adhikari, 2001: 1).
31
The property rights school argues that private property is the most efficient way to internalize the
externalities that arise from CPRs use. It also makes the contention that private property right will
spontaneously emerge in reality to increase efficiency (Demsetz, 1967, cited in Adhikari, 2001).
However, Adger argues that allocating property right has not always led to successful management
of common pool resources. According to him other institutional arrangements such as co-
management or collective action may lead to more supportive management. He argued that there
are many cases where private property rights have been allocated but management has not been
supported because local stakeholders' interests have not been considered. He further noted that the
top-down allocation of property rights alone is not adequate to prevent resource degradation of
common pool resources (Adger, 2003).
An increasing number of scholars, however, advocate that decentralized collective management of
CPRs by their users could be an appropriate system for overrating the tragedy of the unmanaged
commons (Berkes, 1989; Ostrom, 1990, 1994) as cited in Adhikari (2001). Similarly Adger agrees
on the importance of collective management of resources but poses conditions under which it is
successful. He argues that success has been the result of a comply interaction of the resource, the
technology of enforcement, the relationship between resources and user groups, the features of the
user groups, and the relationship between users and the state and legal system(Adeger,2003)
Under this formulation according to Wade (1988),Ostrom (1990) and others, the likelihood of
successful management is affected by a number of factors. First, the boundaries of the physical
resource should be defined. The more clearly defined the greater the chance of successful common
pool resource management. Second, if the users are residents in the location of the resource then
this increase chance of success through reducing enforcement cost. Enforcement and other
transaction costs are weighted against the benefits from the resource. Third, the greater the demand
for the output and high reliance on the resource within a livelihood system, the greater the chance
of successful commons property management. Fourth, the better defined the user group, the greater
chance of success. He further stated that congruence between appropriation and provision rules and
local conditions is a critical prerequisite for successful management. Taylor (1988) Supporting this
idea argues that community is the most important (Taylor cited in Adger, 2003: 198).
32
3.2.4. Contribution &Constraints of Small scale Fisheries to Food
Security and Poverty Alleviation
Fish has historically played an important role in food security in many countries and
contributes to do so in globally, providing 15-16 percent of animal protein intake. The
importance of fish products in many coastal, lake and floodplain areas is very much grater than
this global average (FAO, 2006:5). Small-scale marine and inland fisheries play great role in
food security through the preservation and processing of fish for trade to inland markets. Inland
fisheries may contribute more to national and local food security because of the subsistence
nature of much of the fishing activity. Moreover, small scale fishing, marketing and processing
provide an important means of income generation for many of the poor and food insecure and
who are not officially categorized as small scale fisheries .In Ethiopian context, this is
especially true to those who are engaged in fish filleting at landing beach, fish transporting by
human labor, fish retailing and those who are preparing fish food for local consumption
According to FAO, the ability of small-scale fisheries to contribute to food security and
poverty alleviation can be constrained due to stock depletion, lack of access to capital, limited
alternative employment opportunities, and lack of appropriate technology. However,
constraints in the form of governance and policy issues over access to and control over aquatic
environments and the distribution of benefits accruing from these resources is probably the
most important (FAO, 2006:6)
Understanding the major constraints of the small-scale fisheries, FAO has come up with Code
of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (CCRF) to achieve food security and alleviate poverty.
The FAO, CCRF is coherent set of principles, rules, ethics, and standards that should be
considered by nations, and regional fishery organizations and arrangements, NGOs, and
industries as well as other stakeholders of the fishery sector in relation to the conservation,
management, and development of fisheries on sustainable basis (FAO, 2002).
Although, FAO members as of October 1995 adopted the CCRF, it has faced constraints to
implement. The major constraints identified by FAO, include inadequate institutional and
33
technical Capacity, inadequate funding, lack of information, inappropriate legislative
framework, and socio-economic implication of reducing fishing efforts (FAO, 2002:8)
3.2.5. Poverty and Vulnerability in Small Scale Fishing Communities
Unlike farming, livestock rearing, and urban poverty there are limited studies of the nature,
extent and causes of poverty in fishing communities.
A study carried out in the Hobyo fishing village in Somalia revealed that nearly all the
households were found to be living below the poverty line established for the study. Studies
also indicated that fishing communities in Ghana, Mauritania and Sierra Leone are also unable
to attain minimum level of subsistence. In Mauritania they are considered a lower social caste. The
same study warned that the suffering endured by the poor fishing communities would increase as
their fishing grounds are increasingly exploited by modern fishing fleets (FAO, 1994).
Bene et al. (2000) conducting a research on livelihood strategies of fishermen in northern
Cameroon and have identified that the level of livelihoods diversification is the most important
factor in determining the well-being categories in fishing communities. The writers mentioned
that the poorest rely in a larger proportion on fishing (Bene et al., 2000: 1). Adger et al. on their
part conducting a research on socio-economic condition of inland fisheries have identified that
the richest fishers are those with ownership and access rights (Adger et al. cited in Bene et al.,
2000: 5).
According DFID sustainable Fisheries livelihoods program (2001) in a study conducted in
Ghana, the constraints and vulnerability of fisheries communities are mainly due to resource
depletion, increasing competition on open access resources, inequitable use of resources,
natural disasters like storms, and over-reliance on one type of asset and lack of options.
Moreover, lack of government support, remote locations and poor services, low literacy and
innumeracy, and weak organization capacity are other factors that expose fishing communities
to poverty (DFID, 2001, 23-25).
34
According to FAO report (2002), poverty in small-scale fishing communities is
multidimensional phenomena and cannot be exclusively attributed to endogenous factors
within the fisheries sector such as over fishing or excess fishing capacity (FAO, 2002: 5). The
same report shows that for reducing poverty in small-scale fisheries control of over access by a
certain group or individual, reduce power of the middle men, sustainable exploitation,
protecting from industrial vessels, and alternative employment opportunities perhaps are
important and widely supported (FAO, 2002: 5).
Another similar study conducted by FAO on strategies for sustainable contribution of small
scale fisheries to food security and poverty alleviation states that many small scale fishing
communities are isolated from land based society, not only geographically, but also socio-
economically, culturally and politically. According to the study, this is demonstrated by the
often disproportional low investment in management, research and support for the sector
relative to the many people involved. As a result, the small scale fishing communities are
vulnerable, leading to poverty and reduced food security due to climatic and other events like
seasonal or yearly fluctuations in stock abundance, poor catches, bad weather, economic
factors such as market price fluctuations and variable access to market, policy factors affecting
the right of small-scale fishers, and occupational factors such as the dangers of working at sea
or lake. Moreover, environmental degradation from natural or human-induced causes further
increases vulnerability (FAO, 2003: 4).
3.2.6. Experience of Some Countries in Fisheries Management to
Sustainable Livelihoods
In fisheries management, according to Adger, some countries have implemented private
property rights, while others have seen the necessary evolution of the local management in the
absence of the state (Adger, 2003: 195).
Ruddle (1998) and others have demonstrated the historical persistence of the Van Chai village
fisheries system in Vietnam, whereby each local ancestral shrine in villages laid down the rules
for fishing, including acceptable technologies, profit sharing and dispute conciliation (Ruddle
cited in Adger, 2003: 197). White (1994) on his part demonstrates a range of co-management
35
solutions to coral reef management where the state has been ineffective in preventing overuse,
the sharing of rights with local user can, in particular circumstances, lead to more sustainable
management outcomes (White cited in Adger 2003: 197).
Similarly, Maarten asserts that the state is not the only party involved in regulation of resource use
and management. He argues users of the natural resources also have strong ideas about rights and
duties, and create organizational structures to put them in to practices (Maarten, 2003: 634).
In countries like Chile, New Zealand an individual transferable quota system has replaced state
regulation of fisheries to promote sustainable harvesting (Hughey et.al. 2000; Pena, Jorres,
1999, cited in Adger, and 2003: 197).
According to Ben-Yami and Anderson (1985), in many areas small-scale fishermen compete
with each other for limited and declining resources, or are forced to compete with larger,
commercial or industrial scale operators. In such situation management on regulation of
fisheries, however, is often highly political issue which can be solved for the benefit of the
small-scale fishermen only if the government is prepared to take the legal, political and
enforcement steps necessary to redistribute the resource (Ben-Yami and Anderson, 1985: 2).
Finally, Adger argues that neither co-management nor the emergence of collective action is ever
simply spontaneous phenomena. Governments, agencies of governments, or private resource
owners do not easily give up their vested interests and power bases (Adger, 2003: 198).
Most of them, however, agree on the importance of appropriate institution for management of
common pool resources, in this case fisher resource. Why fishery management and sustainable
use of the resource? The answer recalls among others an address speech made in 1984 by
Saouma on FAO world conference on fisheries management.
Behind the abstract terminology of fisheries management and development, lies
the real world of the fisherman. It is a world in which he leads an often difficult
and frustrating existence, facing dangers greater than those that attend upon
the farmer, and sometimes for less reward above all his courage and tenacity of
purpose deserve our full respect. Let us remember, too, that fishermen families
in many parts of the developing world live in remote areas, and are among the
poorest of the poor (FAO, 1984).
36
3.2.7. Fisheries Sector in the Rural Livelihoods and Economy of Ethiopia
Lake fisheries have in the past played a very negligible role in the household income of the
rural people and the national economy. The main reason is people neither fished for sale,
neither barter nor even use for home consumption as most of the lakes are located in areas
where malarial mosquitoes are widely spread. Moreover, land-based resources including
forests, arable land for settled agriculture and pastureland for cattle rearing were abundant
(Bossche et al., 1991:14).
However, the drastic growth of population during the last four decades has led to land
degradation, shortage of agricultural land and depletion of natural forests from the rain fed
highlands. This has caused occupational migration of highland people to the low lands,
including certain lake-sides with basic infrastructure e.g. roads, and medical facilities which
are gradually eradicating malaria (Bossech et al.,1991:14) Hence, recently fishing is playing
the most important role in the rural economy in terms of employment, income generation, and
nutrition especially in areas near Rift Valley Lakes.
Fishing from inland water bodies in the country is carried out as a main source of livelihoods
for people who are engaged in full time and as a coping mechanism to seasonal and part time
fishers. A recent report by Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has
estimated that the number of people engaged in fishing to be about 15,000 (MARD,
Unpublished document). Similarly research conducted by COMESA has revealed that fishery
sub sector in Ethiopia contributes about US$10 million to the economy (COMESA,
2004:29).Though this amount is small proportion almost less than 1 percent of the GDP, the local
level and household level importance of the sub-sector is very great. In fishing related activities
like fish gutting, flitting, transporting, marketing, and net and local boat making the number of
people who are engaged as source of livelihoods is much higher around those major fishing lakes
and rivers of Ethiopia.
The major factors causing increased engagement in fisheries are the free access to the resource,
high rate of unemployment, increased cost of meeting basic needs, privatization of fish trade and
increased producers price, and higher earnings than certain other agricultural sectors (Bossche et
al., 1991:12)
37
In spite of the contribution of small-scale fisheries to the livelihood of considerable number of poor
people in Ethiopia, the resource base of the lakes on which the lion share of fish production of the
country depends is recently under threat. Institute of Biodiversity Conservation and Research
(IBCR) of Ethiopia have identified that weak institution for fish management and proper use, low
awareness, discontinuity of research on wet land, poverty and lack of alternative means of
livelihoods, dependence of local communities on natural forest as source of energy, human and
livestock pressure, and Erratic rain fall as threats common to all lakes in Ethiopia (IBCR, 2000:36)
To alleviate the problem, the Federal Government of Ethiopia came up with a fisheries
development and utilization proclamation in 2003, mainly covering utilization, access, and
environmental aspects (Proclamationno.315/2003). Following this some Regional States like
Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples Regional State (SNNPRS) have issued their respective
fishery resources management and development proclamation (Proclamation number 78/2004).
The fisheries management and development proclamation of the Federal and Regional States is not
yet supplemented by specific rules and regulation. Hence, it is quite difficult to put in place the
specific fish resource management tools for sustainable livelihoods of the fishermen.
In this chapter we have discussed the SlAs, SLF and its components in relation with small-
scale fishing communities and related literatures on livelihoods of small-scale fishers. In the
coming chapter efforts are made to highlight the study area.
38
CHAPTER FOUR: OVERVIEW OF LAKE CHAMO BASIN
4.1. Lake Chamo and its Basin
4.1.1. Location of Lake Chamo
Lake Chamo is one of the southern Rift Valley lakes wholly situated in Ethiopia. Though its most
part is found in Gamo Gofa Zone, in Arbaminch Zuria Woreda, the lake is also bounded by
different Woredas like Amaro, Dheresh, and Konso Special Woredas of South Nations
Nationalities and Peoples' Regional State (SNNPRS) (EMA, 1988). Astronomically Lake Chamo
is located between 50 41' 40" North up to 50 58' North latitude and 370 27' East up to37040' East
longitude (EMA, 1988) (see page 6 and 7).
4.2. Physical Properties of Lake Chamo
Lake Chamo has an average altitude of 1108 m. a. s. l. It has a surface area of 350 km2, a mean
and maximum depth of 6 and 13 meter respectively (EPA, Unpublished Document). However,
due to different reasons, the surface area of Lake Chamo has shown significant decline since
1960s. An empirical study conducted by Seleshi (2001) has shown that the surface area of
Lake Chamo is about 328. 63km2 (Seleshi, 2001: 20).
According to Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) the drainage area of Lake Chamo is
18,573km2 (EPA, Unpublished Document). Arbaminch Zuria Woreda, Bonke Woreda, parts of
Dita Woreda, Chencha Woreda from Gamo Gofa Zone and Dherashe, Konso, and Amaro
Special Woredas of SNNPR fall within Lake Chamo Basin.
4.3. Geology, Topography and Drainage
Geology
The Tertiary uplift and formation of the rift was followed by the extrusion of large masses of
basaltic magma through fishers. As a result, in the Rift Valley Lakes basin, including that of
Lake Chamo, basalts, ignimbrites, percolates, and lacustrine sediments overlie the ancient
basement rocks. Quaternary basalt flows are found near Arbaminch town and the hill that
separates the two lakes called “the Bridge of Heven.” The Rift Valley floor near Lake Chamo
is filled with alluvial sediments (EPA, 2005: 50).
39
Topography
As Lake Chamo is found within the lakes sub-region, in the Ethiopian Rift Valley system, the
two escarpments, known as eastern and the western escarpments rim it in both sides. On the
Western and Southern side Lake Chamo is surrounded by the Gamo-Konso massifs and in the
eastern side by the Amaro Mountains, which is part of the eastern escarpment.
Topographically, Chamo basin varies from 1108 m.a.s.l. near the lake shore to as high as 4200
m.a.s.l. in the Chains of mount Gughe (EMA, 1988, EPA, Unpublished document).
Drainage
Lake Chamo basin falls mainly in the Inland drainage basin, especially, in the lakes basin
(NAE, 1988: 9). River Kulfo is the only perennial river that flows from the Gamo Highlands to
Lake Chamo. There are small intermittent streams like Sile and Elgo that drain in to Lake
Chamo from west direction. Recently there is no out flow from Lake Chamo. However, there
was out flow to Segen River through what is commonly known as Segen Metenfesha (EMA,
1988).
4.4. Major Soil Types
Soil types of Lake Chamo basin is directly related to parent materials: basalt, ignimbrite, lava,
genesis, volcanic ash, and pumice, riverine and lacustrine alluvium (Markin et.al., 1975 cited in
EPA ,Unpublished Document).
Fluvisols
In the shore lines of southern and western part of the lake is mainly covered by fluvisols, which
are very fertile and developed from river and lacustrine deposits (NAE, 1988: 7). These soils
are intensively used soils for agricultural practices. However, water logging in some place is a
major problem.
Orthic Acrisols
Orthic Acrisols are mainly found on sloppy terrain. These soils are chemically poor, the
contents of weatherable minerals are generally low, and the PH is less than 5.5. As a result,
40
they have limited potential for agriculture. These types of soils covered the mountainous areas
to the west of Lake Chamo (NAE, 1988:7). These parts of the Chamo Basin are densely settled
and the soils are highly eroded.
Luvisols
The Eastern side of Lake Chamo is mainly covered by luvisols. These soils have good
agricultural potential (NAE, 1988: 8).
Dystric Nitosols
Dystric Nitosols are deep, clayey red soils with an argillic B horizon. They are found on almost
flat to sloping terrain in high rainfall areas. As they have good physical properties like uniform
profile, stable strictures, deep rooting volume, and moisture storage capacity, they have good
potentials for agriculture. Some areas in the North Western part and southern part of Lake
Chamo are covered by Dystric Nitosols in the basin (NAE, 1988: 8).
4.5. Climate
In the Chamo basin the type of climate varies farm semi-arid to Afro-Alpine. In the basin, rainfall
varies form average annual rainfall of 400mm in the southern part of the Lake up to 2400mm
in the North Western highlands of mount Gughe Chain in the basin (NAE, 1988: 12).
The mean annual temperature of the highest part of the North Western mountains in Bonke and
Chencha Woredas is below 150c where as it is up to 250c in the southern part of the Lake within the
basin (NAE, 1988: 12).
4.6. Major Land Uses and Land Cover
Chamo basin is covered by different natural vegetation, and different land uses are practiced.
Savannah
The shoreline in the western and southern part of the lake under the escarpment is covered by
grasses, sedges, and scattered trees. This strip of plain land is densely populated and intensive
agriculture is practiced. Cotton, maize, and currently banana is planted. State farms like Elgo
and Sile are examples of intensive farming in the plain land adjacent to the lake (EMA, 1988;
NAE, 1988).
41
Bushland and Shrub Land
In the Lake Chamo Basin the intermediate zone between the humid highlands and semi arid
low lands are covered by Bushland and Scrublands. This type of vegetation covered the
Southern and Northern part of the lake.
In the humid transitional zone warm crops like maize, Teff, and Sorgum are widely grown.
Moreover, in some areas coffee and chat are also grown as cash crops.
Deciduous Vegetation
In the Chamo basin, scattered forests and deciduous woodlands cover the highlands. Bambo is
a common forest in the western highlands. In the highlands of the basin, mixed peasant
agriculture is widely practiced. The common crops grown are barely, and wheat among the
cereals and potato from the root crops. Enset is also commonly grown.
Ground Water Forest
Very dense ground water forest of its kind covered the shoreline in the northern part of the
Lake. It was a source of wood for Arbaminch town. Recently, however, this forest is strictly
controlled by the park administration.
4.7. Population Trends and Settlement
Chamo basin is one of the densely populated wetlands of the country. The population of Lake
Chamo Basin is estimated to be around a million taking in to account the estimated population
of those Woredas which fall within the basin (SNNPRS, Population Bureau report, 2004). The
highlands of the basin have been settled for long times in history. It is the lowlands adjacent to
the lake that is densely settled in recent times mainly by the people who came from highlands
due to population pressure and people who settled by the government resettlement program
during the Imperial Regime.
4.8. Historical Development of Lake Fisheries
Lake fishing in the Rift Valley Lakes began in the mid 1950s and early 1960s when demand
for fish developed in the capital among the foreign community and some upper class urban-
42
based Ethiopians. Fishing was first started in Lake Ziway, Awassa, and Koka by providing
fishing concessions to a single entrepreneur for an entire lake (MOA, Unpublished document,).
According to elderly fishermen, fishing in Lake Chamo began in 1960s using traditional hook
and lines mainly for home consumption and local market in Arbaminch town. At that time
there were about 20 to 30 fishermen engaged in fishing individually. In 1975, later on, these
people were organized and set up the first fishers’ cooperative known as Arbaminch Fishers
Co-operative Association (AFCA) with technical assistance of the government.
In the 1960s and 1970s the people residing near Lake Chamo were not much accustomed to
fishing and consuming fish products. Land based activities like cattle rearing and food
production for subsistence was their source of livelihoods. At that time, fishing had a very
negligible role to play in the household economy of the people around Lake Chamo in terms of
employment, income generation and nutrition. However, this situation has been changed over
time (Bossche et al., 1991:15).
The Major Fish Species of Lake Chamo
The fish fauna in Lake Chamo and Abaya is much richer than that of other Rift Valley lakes.
As both lakes are situated in the same closed basin, they have the same fish fauna and were
connected intermittently via the Kulfo River. Accordingly, there are about 2o species of fish in
Lake Chamo. Among these species, which have major economic importance, are the Nile
Perch, Tilapia, Labeo, Catfish, Barbus, and, Bagrus. However, Nile Perch, Tilapia and Labeo
species are more demanded and are accustomed by the local people and the far distant market
(MOA, Unpublished document).
Relative Productivity of Lake Chamo
Fish productivity of a Lake depends on a number of factors. Algal biomass, fish stock,
favorable coastal lines, area of the water body etc are mentioned among others (IBCR,
Unpublished document).
43
Lake Chamo, in spite of its area, was relatively much more productive than any other lake in
the country. Available data for the years 1994 up to 2003 indicate that on average fish catch
from Chamo is about 33.6% of the total fish catch from all major lakes (seeTable 4.1.).
Table 4. 1: Fish Production from various Lakes in Ethiopia
for the Period 1994 up to 2003,Fresh weight in Tons
Year Abaya Awassa Koka Langano Tana Ziway Chamo Grand
Total
%
Chamo
1994 477 936 417 280 789 2183 1039 6121 17
1995 890 466 411 200 976 2070 1528 6541 23
1996 347 500 686 248 1103 2234 3465 8583 40
1997 333 575 739 491 1470 3180 5258 12046 43.6
1998 339 696 725 558 1252 3011 7055 13636 51.7
1999 477 794 596 355 1183 2536 3884 9825 39.5
2000 655 790 867 301 935 2450 3893 9891 39.3
2001 583 489 710 356 702 2151 3353 8344 43
2002 358 326 791 931 853 2454 3446 9159 37.6
2003 538 660 625 1100 1454 2236 2712 9325 29
Average 499.7 623.2 656.7 482 1072 2451 2928 8712.6 33.6
Source: COMESA, 2004:24, Gamo Gofa Zone ARDD, Unpublished document
In the preceding discussions, efforts are made to introduce the study area in particular and the
Lake Chamo Basin in general. The next chapter gives an overview of the socio-economic
profile of the respondent households of the survey.
44
CHAPTER FIVE: SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROFILE OF THE FISHING
COMMUNITIES
5.1. Demographic and Social Characteristics
The fishing communities of Lake Chamo fisheries can be grouped into different demographic
and social features.
5.1.1. Sex, Age, Marital Status
The survey result reveals that all of the household heads included in the survey are males. This
is because fishing in the study area is practiced by males. In terms of age structure, 49% of the
respondents are in the age category of 21-30. The maximum and minimum age of the
respondents is 52 and 20 years, respectively.
Table 5.1: Age structure of sampled Households (HHs)
Age category No. of HHs Percent
Less than or equal to 20 6 7.1
21-30 42 49.4
31-40 24 28.2
41-50 11 12.9
Above 50 2 2.4
total 85 100
Source: Own survey result (2006)
Regarding marital status, 89% of all the respondents are married while 8% of them are single
and the remaining 3% are widowed and divorced.
5.1.2. Ethnicity and Religious Composition
The survey result shows that the fishing activity from Lake Chamo is Carried out by different
ethnic groups mainly living around the lake. However, the Gamo ethnic group comprises about
75% and followed by Gofa ethnic group which is about 10.6% of all the respondents.
45
Table 5.2: Fisherman of Lake Chamo by Ethnic Category
Ethnic group No. Fishermen %
Gamo 64 75.2
Gofa 9 10.6
Zayse 2 2.4
Amhara 2 2.4
Konso 2 2.4
Others 6 7.0
Total 85 100
Source: Own survey result (2006)
In terms of religious composition, 64% of the survey households are followers of Orthodox
Christianity, and the proportion of Protestants and Muslims is 35% and 1% respectively.
5.1.3. Educational Status of the Household Head
The majority of the sampled household heads are within primary education level whereas 20%
are in the secondary level of education. Of the remaining, 10.6% are illiterate whereas 7% are
only able to read and write.
Table 5.3: Educational Level of the Sampled Respondents
Educational level No. of fishermen %
Illiterate 9 10.6
Read and write 6 7
Primary 53 62.4
Secondary 17 20
Total 85 100
Source: Own survey result (2006)
5.1.4. Family Size
The average household size of the respondents is 5.31 (sd. 2.00), which is slightly greater than
the regional average, which is 4.7 (CSA, 1994). Household size of the respondents ranges
between one and ten members.
46
Table 5.4: Sampled HHs by Family Size Category
Family size category No. HHs %
1-4 30 35.3
5-7 44 51.7
8-10 11 13.
Source: Own survey result (2006)
5.1.5. Housing and House Condition
From the sample respondents about 73% have their own private house of different status. The
remaining 27% of the households, largely urban fishermen live in rented houses. The type of
house in which families live could imply the status of the household in a certain community.
Accordingly, from the total respondents, 21% live in grass thatched houses. The majority
(79%) live in corrugated iron sheet houses. However, living in a corrugated iron sheet house
doesn't necessarily imply better standard of living. What is more important is the overall
material from which the house is constructed. As learnt from the field observation, most of the
houses either owned or rented by the fishermen are not even plastered by mud and are simply
covered by locally made low cost materials such as qartha (wall cover made of bamboo).
5.1.6. Major Health Problems
Most of the respondents reported that Malaria, typhoid/ typhus, and malnutrition are the major
health problems of the households. At community level too, Malaria is one of the first health
hazards of the fishing communities. Similarly, 93% of the respondents replied that waterborn
diseases like Jardia are the common health problems of the fishermen, as they don't get clean
water for consumption while their long stay in the lakeshore.
5.1.7. Organized/ Unorganized Fishers
Fishermen whose livelihoods mainly depend from Lake Chamo differed from one another in
terms of either organized or not in fishers co-operative.
The majority of the fishermen are not members of fishers co-operative. Of all the respondent
fishermen 44% are not a member of any fishers cooperative.
47
Among the organized fishers co-operatives two are urban based and one is rural based.
Arbaminch fishers’ cooperative and Chamo fisher co-operative are urban-based fishers’
cooperatives that are set-up in 1976 and 2001, respectively. Sego is rural based fishers' co-
operative which is found in Shelemela Peasant Association. It is also recently set up (2001)
fishers' co-operative.
5.1.8. Social Capital of the Fishermen
In Rural livelihood security, mutual social supports are critical components. It is social claim
among households, or at community, or wider level in which individuals and households can drow
by virtue of their belonging to social groups (Ellis, 2000: 36). According to Yared, the reciprocity
among the members of a community helps the members of that community livelihood to meet
resource deficits, enhance their capacity of assets accumulation (Yared, 2002: 33).
To secure their livelihoods in one way or the other, most of the respondent fishermen (96%)
participate in local social gatherings like Ider, church and neighboring coffee ceremonies. They
emphasize the importance of participating in such social gatherings to their livelihoods,
especially during bad times. However, the social cohesion of the fishing communities with
other counterparts is not as such strong as most of them pass their time in remote areas, which
force them not to be engaged in every day life of the society.
As found from focus group discussion and the case studies, the reciprocity with relatives is
very important in the livelihoods of the fishermen of Lake Chamo in time of livelihood stress
and shocks.
5.2. Economic Characteristics
5.2.1. Natural Capita Base
The fishery resource base with its ecosystem is the most important natural capital of the fishing
livelihoods. The security of fishermen's livelihoods depends on the sustainable use of resource base
which in turn depends on a number of factors. Among others, the trend of fish catch with respect to
fish stock, and the overall land use management of the wetland ecosystem in the basin.
48
The survey result and information from the focus groups indicated that the fishery resource
base of Lake Chamo has been under stress causing an adverse effect on the livelihoods of the
fishing communities. All of the survey respondents replied that the fish stock condition of Lake
Chamo has decreased significantly over time.
All of the respondents, irrespective of organization status, urban or rural residing replied that
the fishery resource depletion has adverse effect on household income. About 29% of the
survey respondents have felt the resource depletion effect since 2002. Forty percent of the
survey respondent fishermen have felt the effect since 2004.
5.2.2. Physical Capital Base
In fishing livelihoods physical capitals are those that are owned by individual fishermen to
carryout fishing and other producer goods owned by a group as being a member of fishing
cooperative. Moreover, those infrastructures or services which could enhance fishing like well
prepared landing sites, small work shops for gutting/flitting of fish, fish transporting, boot
making and services like clean water, and basic health are considered as physical capital.
The survey respondents replied that all of them have basic fishing equipments like local boat
made of 'Sokke' tree, different types of fishing gillnets, hook lines and loglines, and different
locally made fish gutting and flitting equipments e.g. Knife of different kinds.
The number of fishing efforts that a fisherman owns and employs for fishing determines the
level of income of the fisherman. It was found difficult from the survey to get the number of
fishing efforts (like gillnets, hook lines, local boat) that a fisherman owns and employs.
However, from focus group discussions held with different groups, it is found that some
relatively rich fishermen belonging to co-operatives have more than 50 fishing nets of different
kinds. These fishermen usually employ assistant fishers who are not a member of fishers co-
operative.
49
Regarding fisheries infrastructure of lake Chamo, it is found from the survey result that there is
not as such prepared fish landing site, shade or services for fish gutting and flitting, and
workshop for boat making. Moreover, it is found that there is no service of clean water, and
basic health to the fisherman along the lakeshore or nearby. Finally, most of the fisherman
camping sites are not accessible by land routes. Thus, fish and fish products transporting
services from the landing sites are very poor, especially to unorganized groups. However,
Arbaminch fishers co-operative have about eight motorized boats of different capacity to be
used for transporting of fish and fish products from landing sites to common terminal and
necessary fishing equipments and consumer goods back to fishermen. This co-operative has
also its own fish-transporting car for transporting fish and fish products from the common
terminal to market sites in Arbaminch. Moreover, this organization has its own freezer plant to
store fish.
5.2.3. Financial Capital Base
Financial capital refers the financial resources that people use to achieve their livelihood
objectives. It includes flows as well as stocks namely the availability of cash or equivalent. Of
all the survey respondents, 86% of the households derive livelihoods mainly from fishing, and
the rest 14% of the household earn additional income from farming and livestock ownership.
Thus, land holding and livestock are the most important financial capital for 14% of the
fishermen who are included in the survey. The rural fishermen have landholding and livestock
of different size. Urban fishermen put their financial assets in the form of household goods.
Regarding the income trend of the households, the survey result shows that the income
fishermen get from fishing has seriously been reduced as explained by the resource depletion
and access denial to some fishermen. The survey result reveals that in 2002 about 49% of the
households got a monthly income of more than 1000 Birr. However, in 2006 only 6% of all
respondents got a monthly income between 300-500 birr, the rest get a monthly income less
than this amount.
50
Of all the respondents, 27% currently save some amount of money in local saving institutions
like Iqub. The great majority of the respondents (73%) replied that currently they are not
saving for future.
Concerning credit reception and credit source of the fishermen, 44% of the respondents replied
that they borrow money. The major sources of credit to these fishermen are fishers’ co-
operative associations, non-relatives, relatives and local institutions like Ider and Iqubes.
According to the survey result, 49% of the households get credit from fishers'cooperative, 27%
receive from non-relatives, 19% from relatives and the rest 5% from Idirs and Iqubes.
5.2.4. Major Livelihood Activities and Diversification
About 86% of the households included in the survey replied that they are mainly
engaged in fishing. The rest 14% of the respondents are engaged in fishing and mixed farming.
Almost all of the respondents who are engaged in fishing and mixed farming are the rural
fishermen from Shelemela Peasant Association.
Recently, however, fishermen tend to be engaged in petty trade and wage labor at household
level. This seems to be carried out as coping strategy to the adverse effects of resource trend
condition of Lake Chamo.
5.3. Spatial Distribution of the Fishermen
The fishermen of Lake Chamo are both urban and rural based. The urban residing fishermen
are mainly living in different Kebeles of Secha and Sikela sub-cities of Arbaminch town.
However, the rural fishermen are those practicing fishing in addition to farming in different
peasant Associations like Shelemele, Ganta Kanchame, Zaysse, Elgo, Ludda, etc.
51
The urban fishermen of Lake Chamo are mainly residing in kebele 09, 08, and 01 of
Arbaminch Town. Of all the respondents about 22, 19% and 17% of the fishermen live in
kebeles 09, 08 of Sikela sub-city and 01 kebele of Shecha sub city of Arbaminch, respectively.
Table5.5: Surveyed Households by Place of Residence
Kebele/PA No. HHs %
01 14 16.5
02 2 2.4
03 3 3.5
04 7 8.2
06 3 3.5
08 16 18.8
09 19 22.4
10 5 5.9
11 1 1.2
12 3 3.5
Shelemela 12 14.1
Total 85 100
Source: Own survey result (2006)
52
CHAPTER SIX: MAJOR CHALLENGES OF THE FISHING
COMMUNITIES
6.1. Stress of Natural Capital Base and Livelihoods
In the foregoing chapter, attempts have been made to describe the personal and household
characteristics of the survey respondents. Moreover, an overview of the assets of the fishing
communities has been made. This chapter tries to show the major challenges and determinants
to vulnerability of the fishing communities, both at household level and community level.
Fishing communities of Lake Chamo are vulnerable to different challenges in their livelihood
processes. The stress of natural capital base i.e. fishery resource depletion is one among others.
Although it is difficult to measure which asset would be more important in one's livelihoods of
the asset categories, the natural capital base tends to be more crucial for poor people as whose
livelihood overwhelmingly depends on land, forest and water resources. Similarly, the fishing
communities of Lake Chamo derive their livelihoods from natural capital and its sustainability
is by far important in their livelihoods. As the survey result indicates, 86% of the respondent
fishermen livelihood is based on fishing with no access to farmland and other source of
livelihood options. Thus, considerable resource degradation could have impact on household
income, food security, and overall sustainability of the fishermen livelihood.
The result of survey, focus group discussions, case studies and secondary sources reveal that
there has been serious fishery resource degradation from Lake Chamo. All of the fishermen
included in the survey complained and reported the depletion of the fish resource from the lake
over time. They reported that fish weight and height, their catch per unit effort and condition of
fish stock has declined seriously over time (Table 6.1.).
Table 6.1: Fishermen Responses Regarding Some Indicators of Fish Stock
Changes of Fish Stock Indicators Over Time
(N=85)
Some Indicators of fish
stock
Decreased Much decreased
Fish weight and height 16 (18.8) 69 (81.2)
Catch per unit effort (CUPE)
6(7.1) 79(92.9)
Condition of fish stock 10(11.8) 75(88.2)
Source: Own survey result, 2006, Note :( figures in brackets are percentages)
53
The survey result is in line with the report of the Zonal and Woreda Rural and Agricultural
Development Offices of Gamo Gofa Zone. A recent study conducted by Mekonnen, expert of
Animal and Fishery Development of Gamo Gofa Zone Agricultural and Rural Development
Department (ARDD) explains the resource status of Lake Chamo as one which is on the verge
of collapse due to a long time intense fishing pressure (Mekonnen, 2005: 55).
Studies have indicated the over fishing of Lake Chamo and the threat of some species like Nile
perch. The Nile perch species was over fished before 1998 by applying a new fishing net locally
called Gancho net, which is not a recommended net (EPA, 2005: 57, COMESA, 2004: 31, IBCR,
2000: 37). Similarly, a final report of Lake Fisheries Development Project (LFDP), phase II (1998),
has revealed that the then rate of exploitation for major species like Nile perch, Tilapia, Labeo were
not sustainable and that catches would soon drop significantly from the lake. The report further
warned that the fish stock would be at risk as early as 1998 (LFDP, 1998: 40).
In spite of such early warnings of the stress on the resource base of Lake Chamo, the issue has
not been given due attention by respective government bodies. Fishermen of Lake Chamo,
however, have felt the adverse effects of the resource stress and are disparate of the
sustainability of the natural resource base on which their livelihoods depend.
Indicators of Stress on Resource Base
According to Scoones, measuring natural resources sustainability is too difficult (Scoones,
1998). In spite of this, it is possible to evaluate the condition of natural resource base of the
fishing communities of Lake Chamo using both objective and subjective indicators.
In analysis of the resource condition of a given fishery over time, it requires comparing the
actual status of fishery with the 'optimal' level. In fishery, the Maximum Sustainable Yield
(MSY) is probably the most widely used concept to define this 'optimal' level. It is the highest
yield (in terms of biomass or weight) that may be taken from a fishery without endangering its
sustainability (LFDP, 1994: 2). The same report warns that stock productivity could also vary
from year to year due to external factors like climate. Thus, the estimates of MSY should be
understood as long term average (LFDP, 1994: 2).
54
Based on the above premises, lakes fisheries development project in phase II, made some
efforts to estimate the MSY of various lakes of Ethiopia. Accordingly, applying seven different
empirical models, it was found that the MSY for Lake Chamo ranges from 600 up to 5600
tones per year and the average being 2400 tones (see Table 6:2). The basic data used for the
estimation were area of the lake, mean depth, shore length, mean temperature, conductivity,
stock biomass, mortality rate, etc. (LFDP, 1994: 2). The empirical models are mathematical
formulas derived by fishery economists.
Table 6.2: Yearly total Potential Yield Estimates of Lake Chamo
Model
Number
Estimated potential yield in tone per year Estimated productivity per
hectare per year (in tones)
1 3000 87
2 1800 52
3 1000 29
4 1100 32
5 600 18
6 5600 159
7 3500 101
Average 2400
Source: LFDP, Phase II, Working Paper No 10, p- 2
Figure 6.1: Trends of Total Fish Landing from Lake Chamo in Tones (From 1987-2004)
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
8000
1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003
Trend of Yearly Total Fish Landing
Yearly Total Fish Landing
Source: For the years 1987- 1998 LFDP, Phase II, final Report.
For the Years 1999 -2004 Gamo Gofa Zone ARDD, Unpublished document
55
From the Figure 6.1 of total yearly fish catch trend of Lake Chamo, three distinct periods of
fish resource exploitation could be identified.
In the first period, i.e. between 1987 up to 1995, it is found that the total yearly estimated catch
was gently increasing from year to year. However, the yearly catches were below the MSY
potential of the lake. During this period the demand for fish was relatively low, the fishing
technologies and efforts applied were very low, land based natural resources were relatively
abundant and the opportunity cost for fishing was lower than other sectors (Bossche et
al.,1991:14). As a result of this, during this period fishery resource was not a constraint in
fishermen's livelihoods.
However, if we look the second period i.e. the period between 1996 up to 1998, the total
estimated yearly catch from the lake was beyond its safe level production. During this period,
different trainings were given to the fishermen, especially to those who are organized under
fishers co-operative. Moreover, new fishing technologies like gillnets of different kinds were
introduced, fish processing, preserving and transporting technologies were introduced to
Arbaminch fishers Co-Operative Association (AFCA) mainly by Lakes Fisheries Development
Project, phase II (Since 1992), South Lakes Fishery Development Project, which is funded by
Dutch NGO, and similar projects by GTZ and World Vision Ethiopia (IBCR, 2000: 19).
Moreover, the demand of fish and fish products increased locally and far distant towns and
cities. This has increased the market territory of fish and fish products from Arbaminch up to
Jimma, Moyale and Addis Ababa. As a result, businessmen and fishermen earning from fish
was very high. Thus, more people were attracted to the fishing activities from Lake Chamo. In
the second period, the total catch trend increased very fast, reached peak in 1998 with total
catch of 7055 tons, and then after the total catch has been declining (see Figure 6.1). Based on
the MSY concept it is possible to say that the fish resource base of Lake Chamo has been over
fished during this period.
The third period is the period, which begins from 1999 up to now. During this period, in spite
of high demand for fish products, high number of fishermen and fishing efforts, the total
estimated catch of fish tends to be resource constrained and production has declined over time.
56
More recently, starting 2003/04, the total estimated catch from the lake is even below the
MSY, which indicates that biological over fishing or significant resource depletion has
happened in the previous period.
Another indicator of stress of fishery resource is the trend of catch of fish species in a given
time period usually within 24 hours in a standard fishing net. As total catch is the function of
catch per unit effort (CPUE), the CPUE has also been seriously declined from Lake Chamo for
major species (see Table 6.3 and Figure 6.1).
Table 6.3: Trends of CPUE, for Major Species in Kg
Year Tilepa Net (TN) Labeo Net (LN) Nile Perch Net (NPN)
1998 47 51.9 1.4
1999 24.8 26.4 0
2000 22.1 20.5 0
2001 13.5 12.8 0
2002 10.2 10.4 0
2003 4.6 0.0 2.3
Source: Gamo Gofa Zone ARDD
From the Table 6.3 it is evident that catch on average for a standard net of Tilapia, Nile perch
and Labeo were 47, 1.4, and 51.9 Kg respectively per standard net per day in 1998. However,
in 2002 it was reduced to a level of 10.2 kg, 10.4Kg and nil per net per day for the same
species (see Table 6.3). In 2003 for Tilapia and Labeo species the CPUE is reduced to 4.6Kg
and nil, respectively. After four consecutive years of little catches the Nile Perch seems to
recover on the Lake and the CPUE reached 2.3Kg in 2003.However, recently the CPUE for
nile perch also has declined significantly. From these secondary sources, it is possible to infer
that the natural resource base of Lake Chamo has been in continuous stress over time, which
would have adverse effect on the livelihood of fishermen.
In addition to secondary sources, the primary source obtained from the fishermen during the
fieldwork has also revealed clearly the level of stress on natural resource base and its adverse
effect on sustainable livelihoods of the fishing communities.
57
Voice of the Poor Fishermen Regarding Natural Capital Base
We are in a problem due to the resource depletion. Even if we are a member of fishers
co-operative, and have fishing assets we are unable to catch sufficient fish. No one
would believe me if I leave fishing after 32 years of experience and start daily labor.
A fisherman from AFCA
Focus Group 3, (2006)
The above response implies that the sustainable natural capital is the most important in fishermen
livelihood of Lake Chamo. Having fishing assets, and being a member of co-operative doesn’t
necessarily guarantee for sustainable resource exploitation in a degraded natural resource scenario.
“If we buy Wogollo (local boat) by 130 birr and start fishing, the return we get from fishing
these days does not cover the cost of Wogollo and other expenses” Focus Group- 3, 2006.
The response suggests that the fishermen’s income recently is getting so low that it doesn’t
cover even expenses they incur to fishing due to the reduction of catches which is in turn the
function of resource status.
Even if the catches are so low and income of fishing is not in a position to cover the household
food needs, some of the fishermen still prefer to stay near the lake.
I am here in the shore of the lake not hoping to feed my families as catches are reduced
significantly due to resource depletion. Rather, I came simply to cover my own
stomach, and hide here in the desert than staying in the town and being teethed by
others who were jealous while our income was better.
Informal talk with a fisherman, Feb- 2006
The response suggests that the reasons some fishermen stay along the lake shore in depleted
resource condition is to reduce household food expenditure by covering self food demand from
the low catch of fish. Moreover, the fishing ground is taken as a place to be away from some
provoking actions of others who know that some of the fishermen were not good while their
income was better.
58
Some fishermen are in distress condition and even leaving their fishing work mainly due to the
stress on the resource base. Sharmo Georges, 43 years old, with 25 years experience in fishing,
breadwinner for his six family members is a good example:
Since 1980, I have been engaged in fishing. I used to get 1000 to 1500 birr per month
from fishing while the stock condition was good. Currently, however, I become hopeless
and I don’t expect to feed and educate my children from fishing income. Even if I stay
for a month or two on the water, sometimes I came back home empty handed. We are
now living by selling livestock like goat, sheep, and other assets like Jewelry.
Very recently, due to very low income from fishing, I abandoned fishing and went to
farm the land that I inherited from my father. I came after two months stay there. I
came to have clearance and collect the money given to a member when she/he leaves
the co-operative association according to the by-law of the association.
I prepared to engage in farming rather than dying of starvation. It will not be problem
for more than one year till I adapt farming; thereafter I can feed my families.
Sharfo Shanka , Case study 2, (2006)
In the literature it is repeatedly warned the overexploitation of the Nile perch species and they
are not well informed about the tragedy of the natural resource base and the recent threat of
some more species of fish from the lake (see Table 6.4).
Table: 6.4: Response of Fishermen on Species of Fish usually targeted
Usually target Se. No Type of fish
Yes No
1 Nile perch 70(82.4) 15(17.6)
2 Tilapia 82(96.5) 3(3.5)
3 Labeo 0 85(100)
4 Barbus 0 85(100)
5 Cat fish 19(22.4) 66(77.6)
6 Bagrus 35 (41%) 50 (59%)
Source: Own survey result, 2006
As can be seen from the Table 6.4 the two species currently targeted from Lake Chamo are
Tilapia and Nile perch. From the total respondents 82% and 70% target Tilapia and Nile perch,
respectively. The main reasons as reported by the survey respondents were the relative
abundance of the two species and the market value of the two species. Bagrus, currently, is the
third most important fish species targeted by fishermen. The species of Labeo and Barbus are
currently not targeted as their number is seriously depleted. A young fisherman, Terefe Girma,
59
expressed the situation as follows: “If a handful gift is promised for fishermen to catch the
Labeo species from Lake Chamo, no one can do so as the species is near extinction.”
Similarly, another fisherman expressed his view regarding the same species depletion as
follows: “If the whole population of Arbaminch town were ‘sent’ to Lake Chamo for catching
Labeo, none of them would catch the given species.”
The same fishermen said that some seven years before, this species was abundant in the Lake.
The near extinction of some fish species like Labeo and Barbus calls immediate action to
reverse the tragedy.
6.2. Major Causes of fishery Resource Depletion
We have seen in the previous section the trend of resource exploitation, the current status of the
natural resource base of Lake Chamo, and some of the adverse effects of the resource stress on
the livelihood of the fishermen. In the next section, I will try to show the major causes of the
stress of the natural resource base of Lake Chamo.
6.2.1. Increasing Fishermen and Fishing Efforts
As indicated earlier, in Chamo Basin the trend of population number and density has increased
rapidly in the last four decades and it has its own effect on the resource exploitation of the
wetland, including fishery resource. The overall population pressure and the resultant reduction
of per-head land hold size in the surrounding highlands forced high rate of rural-urban
migration. The situation accompanied by low employment opportunity in Arbaminch town has
resulted in high unemployment rate and forced many people to engage in fishing as a means of
livelihoods. It is found from the survey result that 61.2% of the respondent fishermen are
originally migrants who have come from the nearby highlands in search of job.
As the number of fishermen increase, the numbers of fishing gears also have increased on
average over time.
60
Figure 6.2: Trend of Total Fishing Nets Over Lake Chamo
Trend of Total Fishing Effort
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
Year
Ye
arl
y F
ish
ing
Eff
ort
s
Trend of total fishing
effort
Estimated standared
Source: Gamo Gofa Zone ARDD, Unpublished document.
As can be seen from the Figure 6.2, the total fishing net employed on Lake Chamo has
increased from the period between 1988 up to 2003. Similarly, all of the survey respondents
replied that over time the number of fisherman and fishing gears have increased (Table 6.5).
Table 6.5: Fishermen Perceptions on Trends of Fishing Efforts
Se. No Trend of fishing efforts Increased Much
increased
1 Number of fishermen 21 (24.7) 61(71.8)
2 Number of fishing nets 16(18.8) 67 (78.8)
Source: Own survey result (2006)
A fisherman in one of the discussions with focus groups expressed the increasing number of
fishermen and fishing nets as follows:
The current situation would not have happened if fishing had been practiced wisely.
The Government hasn’t managed the resource. Without studying the fish stock
condition of the lake, a lot of fishermen and fishing nets are allowed. As a result many
students who didn’t succeed in their academic performance, landless farmers, and
urban unemployed all entered to the lake and they looted the resource.
Member of AFCA
Focus Group 3, (2006)
61
The above response shows that due to weak resource management practice of the government
the fishery resource of Lake Chamo though owned constitutionally by the government turned
to be common pool resource where every body can have access. Thus, new entrants from
different walks of life joined the lake with high number of fishing gears beyond the stock
capacity of the lack. Similarly, a study conducted by Amare (2001) has pointed out that the
population growth, expansion of subsistence agriculture, large scale state farm, expansion of
manufacturing plants, and unmanaged fishing activity has put unprecedented pressure on Lake
Awassa basin since the beginning of 1950s.The author further noted that due to unsustainable
resource utilization the lake and its surrounding has been changed to a threatened unit which as
he mentioned calls for immediate rehabilitation (Amare, 2001: 6).
6.2.2. Policy and Institutional Failures with Regard to Fishery Resource
Management
Generally, in the analysis of sustainable livelihoods, understanding the success or failures of
policy and institution is very important to identify restrictions/barriers and opportunities to
sustainable livelihoods (Scoones, 1998: 11). This becomes evident especially with regard to
management of CPRs like fishery resources for sustainable livelihoods.
Johonson (2004) argues that a common pool resource regime is successful only when there is
abundant resources and when equity is maintained. The author further argues that CPRs fails if
demand is higher than supply, or if there is inequity of resource distribution. The situation in
the study area supports this argument, whereas the number of fishermen and fishing gears increased
the fishery resource has become so scarce and the common pool fishery resource which is the
source of livelihood to the fishing communities become at risk. According to report of FAO (2006)
in such a condition constraints to have appropriate policies and institutions could lead small-scale
fishers to vulnerability and insecurity of livelihoods (FAO, 2006: 6).
Similarly, the fishing communities of Lake Chamo seem to be constrained due to lack of
appropriate policy and Institutional support with regard to management of their fishery
resource base. Fishery management is the pursuit of certain objectives through direct or
indirect control of effective fishing efforts or some of its components. Generally, the control
62
aspect of management is thought to be appropriate for fishery resources that are ‘over
exploited’ while the development is thought to be appropriate for fishery resources that are
underexploited (FAO, 1982, cited in LFDP, 1994: 1).
After long years of delay, the Federal Government of Ethiopia has issued fisheries
development and utilization proclamation with he objective of conserving fish biodiversity,
control of overexploitation of fishery resource, ensuring sustainable contribution by fisheries
towards food security and expand aquaculture development in February, 2003 (Proclamation
No 315/2003). Following the Federal Proclamation, the SNNPRS also issued its respective
fisheries development proclamation with similar objective in August, 2004 (Proclamation No.
78/ 2004). Though the proclamation is one step in the endeavor of the fishery resource
management, it is not yet supported by specific rules and regulations. As a result, it is not
possible to put in place the regional fishery resource management, development and control
proclamation.
From the discussions from fishery development experts at zonal and Woreda level it is evident that
there are even pre-conditions to prepare specific fishery rules and regulations. Some of these are
conducting stock analysis for economically important fish species, and determining the number of
fishing gears for each fish species. Moreover, inventory of the current fishing communities and the
fishing gears employed should be done. All these are not currently done on Lake Chamo, except
the preliminary stock and gear estimate done by LFDP in 1990s (LFDP: 1994: 8).
By having seen the resource trend, prior to the Federal and Regional Fisheries Development
and Utilization Proclamation, the local government of the then Semen Omo Administration
attempted to have its own fishery resource management mechanism in 1998. The local
government bodies have made efforts to license the fishermen, either working in cooperative or
individually, decided the number of fishing nets that each fisherman could have and the
standard fishing nets to be used on the lake. When some body was found doing against these
rules and regulations, the local government bodies brought the case to court. Unfortunately, the
charge was not considered and the so-called “illegal” fishermen were sent free due to absence
of fishery proclamation and supportive rules and regulation. Rules and regulations made at
63
local government levels (Zonal or Woreda) do not have acceptance before the law as it is the
mandate and Authority of Regional and Federal states. Thus, the efforts of the local
government to manage the fishery resource failed and they abandoned giving the license. Since
then the local government is limited to “protecting” inappropriate gears and methods simply by
group patrolling once or twice a year.
Currently, in a scenario where there is no supportive rules and regulations to the proclamation,
it is not possible to protect or limit the number of fishermen, the number of fishing gears, the
new entrants, inappropriate fishing gears and methods. Thus, inappropriate fishing methods
like chase and trap, spear fishing, shallow belt fishing, fishing at the mouth of rivers where
some fish species like Lebeo and Barbus use it as spawning ground is common in Lake Chamo
and responsible for fish resource depletion in addition to over fishing in context of inadequate
policy.
The chase and trap method of fishing is unethical method where fishermen after laying their
net hit the water with stick and force the fish to be trapped. The method continues until the
fishermen get sufficient catches. By so doing the method disturbs the ecology and increase the
frequency of using fishing net to catch fish which in turn has caused resource depletion.
Similarly, spear fishing, fishing in shallow belts and river mouths usually targets females
which came to those places for spawning. Moreover, currently to compensate the resource
depletion, fishermen have begun to use a new fishing net called lead-base net targeting Tilapia.
This net has a lead base or other heavy material like gravels to touch the ground in shallow belt
of the lake. Using this net the fishermen drug everything entered in the net. They named it as
“Jimela Cherash” literarily means non-selective fishing method.
Regarding Organizational Capacity of the Woreda and Zonal fisheries development section in
ARDD to put the proclamation in to practice, the experts at local level complain about the
narrow structure which only invite one personnel each at Woreda and zonal level. Moreover,
according to these experts relatively low attention is given in terms of budget and research to
the section.
64
These all imply that there is a clear policy and institutional gap with regard to fishery resource
management in Lake Chamo. The fishery resource depletion is aggravated by lack of
appropriate policies and institution to put he proclamation in to effect. However, most
fishermen of the survey respondents (79%) reported that they prefer co-management where
Communities and State together take responsibility of fishery resource management. The
greater number of the survey respondents agree on application of different fishery resource
management tools. Among the fishery management tool options presented, only community
alone control and leasing for an Investor or a Fisheries Co-operative are opposed by majority
of the survey respondents (Table 6.6.)
Table6.6: Fishermen Perception towards the Application of Fishery Management Tools
on Lake Chamo
Fishery management tools Yes No
Quota allocation 77(90.6%) 8(9.4%)
Area and seasonal closure 76(89.4) 9(10.6%)
Mesh size control 85(100%) 0(0%)
Limiting the fishing effort 82(96.5%) 3(3.5%)
Taxation based on fishing effort 79(92.9%) 6(7.1%)
Licensing 84(98.8%) 1(1.2%)
Control of inappropriate fishing gear traders 80(94.1%) 5(5.9%)
Community alone control 10(11.8%) 75(88.2%)
Leasing for Investor/Co-operative 6(7.1%) 79(92.9%)
Source: Own survey result, 2006
Because of the absence of fishery rules and regulation the fishermen who depended on the
resource are affected. Moreover, those people who are engaged in fish related activities like
fish gutting, fish filleting and transporting by human labor and those people who are engaged
in fish food preparation are affected. Similarly, those people who live in low income and use
fish meat as cheap source of protein are all affected.
65
Box 6.1: Use of Inappropriate Gears and Weak Protection
I am a member of Arbaminch Fishers Cooperative Association since its foundation in
1976. At that time we were very few. The fish stock condition was very good. We
caught fish from the two lakes. By now the fish stock is depleted and we are in
problem. We have informed the case to the local government bodies many times to
protect the illegal fishermen and inappropriate gears used for fishing. The government
did nothing to reverse the situation. Actually, every body is responsible for the
depletion be it a member of cooperative or not, because we all prepare and use the
fishing nets which are below the recommended mesh size. First, Labeo fish has been
depleted from the lake. Its number was more than Tilapia. The government did nothing.
By now let alone the unorganized fishermen, those organized since 1976 like me do not
know where to go. I have more than 30 years experience in fishing. However, I do not
have assets to recover from the current problem I faced. My immediate problem is the
depletion of the resource and unable to catch sufficient fish. It seems hopeless to expect
the fish stock to replenish under the present condition, unless all the fishermen leave
the lake for a certain period of time.
Source: A participant in a Focus Group 3, (2006)
Member of AFCA
6.2.3. Environmental Degradation
Various natural and human activities have caused directly or indirectly environmental damage
on the lake biodiversity in general, and fishery resource in particular.
Among human activities lakeside farming and overgrazing, diversion of rivers for irrigation,
upstream deforestation are the majors; where as erratic rainfall, high evapotranspiration due to
climatic variations are among the natural phenomena related with the water volume and the
fishery resource of Lake Chamo.
From the various discussions and field observation it was found that the shore of the lake
which is the most important place for spawning of some fish species like Tilapia, is not well
protected. Rather, it is threatened by human activities like farming, overgrazing and
deforestation. Due to over increasing rural population and resultant reduction of farm land size,
the local farmers and even some fishermen are using the nearby wetland resource of Lake
Chamo. The nearby wetland is converted into farming of banana for commercial purposes, and
66
maize and other crops of subsistence. They use the land for settlement; clear the natural forest
for construction and for fuel. These all have adverse effect on fishery resource base of Lake
Chamo.
Moreover, small streams like Kulfo, and Sile that flow to Lake Chamo are diverted to irrigate
banana, maize, and cotton, etc. This situation has caused the reduction of the water balance of
the lake. It disturbed the life cycle of some species of fish like Labeo and Barbus by destroying
the ecosystem. This is because these species of fish migrate upstream during breeding period
and uses the river mouth as spawning ground. As these streams are used for irrigation, their
flow towards the lake is limited which indirectly caused resource depletion.
The other environmental damage seen on Lake Chamo in relation to fishery resource is the fast
reduction of the overall water volume. All of the survey respondents and key informants agreed
that they have observed significant decline of the water level of Lake Chamo. They associated
the causes to consumptive use of the inflowing rivers and the reduction of rainfall over time.
The investigation result from Seleshi (2001) on water resource of Lake Abaya and Chamo is in
line with their response. According to the same author, the water volume of Lake Chamo
couldn't be regenerated to levels in 1960s and 1970s.He argues that the decrease in rainfall and
runoff increase in evapotranspiration associated with climatic change, high rate of siltation, and
consumptive use of water have been responsible for significant decline of the water balance of
Lake Chamo (Seleshi, 2001: 156).
Finally, population pressures combined with rural poverty have caused clearing of upstream
forest and natural vegetation cover of the Chamo Basin for farming, for purposes of fuel and
constriction materials. The situation has exposed the basin for high rate of soil erosion and
resultant sediment deposition in the lake. This in turn has reduced the water carrying capacity
of the lake whereby creating disabling condition for fishery resource base.
Generally, the fundamental cause of all the degradation discussed above is in one way or the
other associated with failure of the environmental policy and institution, which are meant to
protect the environment. The government enacted the first comprehensive environmental
67
policy in April 1997. In the policy document, water resource is one component, and thus the
important policy provisions in relation to fishery resource are:
� Integrate upstream forest and wet land protection and rehabilitation activities in to the
conservation, development and management of water resources.
� Protection of the interface between water bodies and land such as lake shores, river
banks, and wet lands (FDRE, 1997: 11).
In spite of the policy provisions, so far little efforts have been done to reverse the ever-
increasing environmental degradation in the basin. Similarly, Eshete Dejen in his part
conducting a research on Lake Tana Biodiversity potentials and threats informed that the lake
ecosystem and the water resources as a whole are in danger due to deforestation, erosion,
sedimentation, water level reduction, erratic rainfall, flooding of the wet lands, competing use
of water resources, increased pollution and pressure of the growing population. Regarding
fishery resource and biodiversity loss the writer recommended that there is an urgent need for
fisheries regulations restricting fishing near river mouths and upstream on spawning ground
during the breading period to prevent extinction of unique large Barbus (Eshete, 2004: 26).
6.3. Resource Access and Livelihoods
As discussed earlier access to common pool resource contributes much to livelihoods of the
rural poor, including fishermen. On the contrary, unequal resource access can have adverse
effect on the well-being of those who don't have equal access right. Neil et al. conducting a
research on socio- economic condition of inland fisheries have come up with the result that
ownership and access right have high effect on well-being of the fishermen. According to their
research, relatively rich fishermen are those who have ownership and access right (Neil et al.
cited in Been et al, 2000: 5). Similarly, inequitable use of resource is a constraint and fishing
communities became vulnerable in Ghana (DFID, 2001: 32-25). The condition in my study
area also supports this. Fishermen in the study area don't have equal access right to the fishery
resource in spite of its importance to their livelihoods. Of the total respondents, 40% replied
that they have resource access problem. Those who have full access right are those who are
member of Fishers’ Co-operative Association. Unless and otherwise, a fisherman is considered
as "illegal" and is not given permanent fishing and camping site.
68
To have full access right to be a member of Fishers Co-operative is taken as a pre-condition. In
other words, being a member of Fishers’ Co-operative is equated as license to fishing.
Cognizant of the importance of being a member of fishers co-operative, among the
unorganized fishermen, 84% respondents replied that they have made efforts to be a member of
the existing fishers’ co-operative association or setup new one. However, their request is not
given due attention by local government bodies like Woreda Co-operative Desk, Woreda
ARDD and the pre- existing Fishers’ Cooperative Associations.
Though the co-operative proclamation of Ethiopia and principles of co-operative says
membership is open and on volunteer bases to all, (Proclamation number 147/91) the request of
unorganized fishermen is not addressed. The pre-existing fishers’ co-operative associations
have their own bylaws which are prepared based on the Co-operative proclamation and
principles of co-operative. However, they are not usually willing to take new members with the
expectation that the new comer is going to share the scare resource. Moreover, they want them
to serve as their ‘assistant’ fishermen for long times. Fishermen who served as ‘assistant’
fishermen for more than ten years in Arbaminch Fishers Co-operative Association (AFCA) are
complaining of not being a member. The other reason especially the AFCA not willing to allow
new membership is because of its ownership of fixed assets like office, hotel, cars, motorized boat,
etc that it built in its thirty years of history. Similarly, the Woreda Co-operative Desk reports the
resource depletion as factor for not allowing new fishing co-operative to be set.
Thus, those who are not a member of fishers co-operative are not given permanent fishing sites
and are forced to conduct fishing either as ‘assistant’ to those who are members or as
‘contrabandist’ as they sometimes call themselves (see Table 6.7).
Table 6.7: Access Options of Fishermen in Lake Chamo
Access options No (percent) Access condition
Member of fishers co-operative 48 (56.5%) Full and secured
Assistant to co-operative member 3 (3.5%) Limited
Non- member of co-operatives or (FACA) 34 (40%) Limited
69
From the Table 6.7, it is clear that 43% of the survey respondents do not have full and secured
resource access right. The livelihoods of fishermen of Lake Chamo clearly depict the resource
access status.
Fishermen work as assistant to those who are member of fishing co-operative due to different
reasons. To have resource access is one among others. Those fishermen who work as assistant
for long years complained that they are labor abused, they are mistreated and the money they
worked is not given properly and above all they associated their current ill-being as free access
denial and working as assistant being abused for long times. The case of Terefe Girma is a
good example.
Terefe Girma is a young fisherman. He is 25 years old. He has a wife and one child. He has 8
years experience in fishing. Fishing is the only source of his family’s livelihoods. He worked
as ‘assistant’ to fishermen who are member of co-operative. He told that he worked as assistant
because of different reasons. Some of his reasons were to have resource access, relative
security of life and property, and expectation to be a member of the existing co-operative
association. His other reasons were that if he is in case drown in the lake while fishing, the co-
operative members would search his dead body because they have motor boat and provide to
his family. His other reason was his lack of sufficient money to purchase fishing nets and other
necessary materials. He told that when a kg of fish meat is 20 birr, only 5 birr is given to him
by the master fisherman who is usually not engaged in fishing. They collect what we caught
and report as if it is their catch. A master fisherman can have 8-10 ‘assistants’. Terefe says if
his catch is 40 Kg for a month period only 10 kg belongs to him. The rest 3/4 belongs to the
master fisherman who is a member of fishers co-operative. If he complains no one will listen
his voice and even the master fisherman can remove his assistants from any access to the
resource. He said it is such a long time labor abuse that is responsible for his current ill-being.
The case of Terefe clearly shows how unequal resource access could lead to difference of
livelihoods.
The other groups of fishermen are those who conduct fishing as ‘contrabandist’. These people
do not have formally given camping and fishing sites and they conduct fishing wherever they
70
could have access. Most of those who were included in my study had their camping sites in
Kulfo Ayne, Wodeb, Mahal Desete, etc. These are areas considered as within park boundary.
For long time the park administration was not in a position to convince them or forcefully
displace from these sites. As a result they stayed there for more than 15 years. However, very
recently in 2005 African Parks took over the administration of Nech Sar National Park from
the Government of Ethiopia and in 2006 forcefully displaced the fishermen in co-operation
with local government bodies. The fishermen complained of their displacement because they
stayed there fore long time and the area is fertile fishing ground. A displaced fisherman
expressed inequality of resource access as problem to his household food security.
The main problem of my family is access denial to the resource. Even if the fish stock is
depleted, one can get by his chance laying his net especially when there is rainfall and
wind. If I had full access right, I would get even catfish to purchase maize to my children.
If resource is a constraint, why others who are co-operative members leave the fishery
resource as the government forced us to leave. Those who are member to co-operative
associations don't have the same problem like me. Even if catches are reduced, because
of their full and secured access right, they could get some money to buy maize.
Dereje Dana
Case 5, (2006)
These show the existence of resource access inequality in Lake Chamo and the relative well-
being difference among the fishing communities associated with resource access difference.
6.4. Conflict over Resource and Livelihoods
Conflict over scarce resource of Lake Chamo is a day-to-day phenomenon. The major
conflicting bodies are individual fishermen themselves, fishermen and farmers, fishermen and
park administration, organized and un organized fishermen, and full time fishermen and part
time fishermen, etc.
The major causes of conflict as expressed by respondents from different sources are attempt of
fishing in protected areas, looting of one's fishing nets, competition over fishing ground.
71
According to Hillman (1993), though Nechisar National Park was proposed including some
parts of Lake Abaya and Chamo in 1996 and have demarcated boundary since 1974, it is not
yet gazetted (Bezabeh, 2004: 22 and 108). Accordingly, 30-km2 area of Lake Chamo was said
to be proposed and demarcated with in the park boundary. The magnitude of conflict is high
especially between unorganized fishermen attempting to intrude and maintain access in the
proposed park boundary.
"I went for fishing in what they call protected area to day. A scout of the park
caught me and beat me hard. To day I will go again and even tomorrow. I want to
die there. If I want to feed my families and live, I have to conduct fishing until the
government gives me alternative livelihood options."
Focus Group Two (2006)
Figure 6. 3: Focus Group Discussion Two (2006)
From the above response it is clear that there is intense and deep-rooted conflict over resource
among different stakeholders of Lake Chamo.
72
Understanding the magnitude and the overall effects of the resource dependence of the poor
whose livelihoods is mainly based on the park resource and their potential threats to the park,
the African Parks have designed a strategy to mitigate conflicts through its community
development fund program. Regarding the fishermen who were dislocated from park boundary,
African parks in co-operation with local government bodies have done some efforts to
rehabilitate by integrating them to Chamo fishers co-operative association. In these programs,
68 fishermen were involved. It coasted African parks not less than 75,000 Birr. However,
according to various sources the number of fishermen who were displaced from the water body
of the park boundary was much higher than those involved in the program and they seem to be
one of the potential threats.
As a study in Ghana shows that fishing communities have tried and unilaterally declared their
own fishing territories and try to exclude others (DFID, 2001: 22). Similarly, in my study area
farmers who/ whose household member/ conduct fishing in PAs adjacent to the lake like
Gantta Kanchama, Shelemela, Wezeka, Ellgo, etc. usually do not let those fishermen who do
not have permanent fishing and camping sites to camp and conduct fishing on their holding
claming that the lake and the resource adjacent to their PAs belong to them. They consider it as
communal property of the members of the PAs only. A person, who is not a member of that
particular PA, is not allowed of access. Any attempt ends up in intense conflict. Look the story
of Abebe below:
I was a soldier. When I returned from war front, the government gave me 4000.00 Birr
to rehabilitate myself. I rented a corrugated iron sheet house. I had very good
household properties. Now I am dislocated from my fishing ground considering it as
park boundary, now we are living by selling the household properties. I had ten
armchairs in my home before. I sold five of them. Now I rented a hut to live in with my
wife and one child. We sent one of my young children to my mother. Last time I went to
Wazeka to conduct fishing there. They didn't allow me to fish on their site. I returned
back as I am not the member of that particular community.
Abebe Ayssa
Case 10, (2006)
Similarly, on the eastern side of the lake there are Guji Oromo, who are mainly pastoralists,
who also claim ownership of the resource in their jurisdiction.
73
The other conflict type is the one, which is seen among organized and unorganized fishermen.
As already mentioned organized fishermen have secured fishing ground and camping sites,
while the unorganized conduct fishing here and there and end up in conflict with others who
have access right.
There is also conflict some times over fishing ground between different fishing co-operatives
and even fishing co-operatives and park administration. A good example is the conflict
between Arbaminch Fishers Co-operative Association (AFCA) and Chamo Fishers
Cooperative Association (CFCA) over a newly allocated camping and fishing site given to
CFCA. AFCA have very long shoreline and wide fishing ground. They have seven camping
sites starting from Teshale Camp up to Mitimita camp with a total shore length of nearly 15
kms. CFCA members were first conducting fishing on Segene Metenfesha. However, African
park scouts and local police force without ultimatum burned their Camps, considering it as
within proposed park boundary. Then, after four months delay, when CFCA were given a new
camping and fishing ground with a length of 700 m. distance for a member of about 34
individuals, the AFCA opposed and attempted to include the new site and expand its fishing
territory. However, after discussion with local government bodies, CFCA is able to maintain
the holding of 700m-shore length fishing ground for about 34 members.
The institution usually take part in resource conflict mitigation are formal governmental
institutions. However, the fairness of these institutions to all parties seems to be in question in
some cases. Among the survey respondents 39% replied that the conflict resolution doesn't take
in to account the need and right of every party and usually tend to maintain the right and
interest of organized fishermen and park administration. The story of Gebere is a good
example.
Gebere Gaga is a full time unorganized fisherman who is a breadwinner to his household with
six members. He is 38 years old. He has 20 years of experience in fishing. He had fishing
license given to him to have access in 1998. He says when they conducted fishing with his
colleague their fishing nets were taken by park administration or by agricultural development
departments. When they brought the case to local administration, they responded that they
74
were 'illegals'. When they again requested them to be legal, no body listened to their case.
When Gebere and his colleagues asked their properties to be given back, the local government
bodies told them that it had been burnt.
He says, with what he saved he has bought nets and whom he calls 'his enemies', the Park and
Agricultural Development Department collect his fishing properties from the water body i.e.
the park. This is how his family ended up in poverty.
These all show that the unequal resource access among the different communities in the study
area is a root cause for conflict. This implies that there is a need for proper resource
management where equity and access to resource is maintained and where conflicts mitigation
takes into account the needs and rights of all parties.
6.5. Low Level of Choice Diversification
Literature shows that there are two competing schools of thoughts on the importance and need
of diversification. The proponents of the negative effects of diversification like Lipton (1997),
McIntire et al. (1992), and Berry (1989) as cited in Degefa (2005) argue that diversification
weakness specialization, it forces shift of labor from one sector to the other, and diverts
resources specially from agriculture to other non-agricultural sectors and by so doing reduces
the performance of the agricultural sectors (Degefa, 2005: 34).
On the contrary, scholars like Shipton (1990), Bryceson (1996, 2002), Dercon and Krishnan
(1996), Reardon (1997), Ellis (1998), Barretti et al. (2001) as cited in Degefa (2005) argue on
the importance and need of livelihood diversification to alleviate rural poverty and food
insecurity (Degefa, 2005:234). However, empirical research conducted by Bryceson (1996) on
Sub-Saharan Africa as cited in Degefa(2005), Yared (2002) on North Shewa, Ethiopia, and
Degefa (2005)on Erenssa and Garbi communities have shown the need and importance of
diversification for household survival and secured livelihood.
According to available literature, there are different reasons that force households to engage in
livelihood diversification. Generally, scholars classified these reasons into two. According to
75
Davies (1996) they are named as survival and choice diversification. Hart (1994) on his part
grouped into survival and accumulation, where as Bigsten(1996) labled it in to push and pull as
cited in Ellis (2000: 55).
Choice, or accumulation diversification according to Ellis (2005) are carried out voluntarily by
households for proactive reasons (Ellis, 2005:55)
However, choice diversification for the reason of accumulation or well-being was not common
among the different members of the fishing communities of Lake Chamo. There were different
constraints behind the low level of choice diversification of the fishing communities.
According to Hussein et al., (1988) researches conducted in different less developed contries
reveal that limited availability of education and skill training, lack of enough time to peruse
diversification strategies, exclusion of certain groups from CPRs for the use of diversification,
and unavailability of credit are the major constraints taken to choice diversification (Hussein
et.al.,1998: 20). Among these constraints, in Lake Chamo fishing communities’ lack of
education and skill training, unequal resource access right and exclusion, and deprivation of the
right to be organized as a co-operative member are among the major constraining factors for
most fishermen not to accumulate asset and carry out choice diversification prior to the fishery
resource stress.
Of the survey respondents, 80% are in the primary level and below this level of education, and
hence do not have skill training which would enable them to conduct choice diversification. A
fisherman puts his lack of skill other than fishing as a constraint for diversification as: “I wish
if I were broken when I first went to the Lake for fishing. I wouldn't be in such a problem, if I
knew some other skill other than fishing.” Focus Group (2006)
On the other hand, in the fishing communities of Lake Chamo, another important factor behind
the choice diversification is the saving behavior of the household (which will be discussed in
detail later). Those households with good saving behavior and put their saving on productive
assets are able to survive even without being engaged in survival diversification. A case in
76
point is Addisu Asha, a 60 years old fisherman, who has 35 years fishing experience on Lake
Chamo. His short story goes as follows:
Understanding the importance of saving, I save money in my co-operative association.
From the money I saved, I took 15,000 Birr and built my house in 1980. At that time I
had few children. I escaped while life was good. At that time, there was sufficient stock
in the fishery. A person could catch 1.0 to 1.5 tones in a month period using hook and
line. Now, it is not possible to catch using gillnet. We are conducting fishing because
we don't have any place to go. These days, if a fisherman gets 100 birr monthly income,
it is good. I have built service rooms in my compound during good days with what I
saved. I live better life with the income I get from these rooms after paying tax to the
government. Thanks God.
Addisu Asha,
Case (2006)
Figure 6.4: Case Study One (2006)
From the discussion it is clear that in a context of household livelihood stress either choice
diversification (carried out prior expecting risk or for the purpose of accumulation) or survival
diversification is important to household survival. Otherwise, if a household is not able to
engage in either case due to different constraining factors his/her household is vulnerable to
another option usually distress migration. This is another livelihood strategy taken by
77
considerable number of fishermen in the study area some of who are even members of fishers
co-operative. A case in point is Kaltha Kara (see page-98).
Those who do not have alternative income source, relatives, and with large family size are
vulnerable to distress migration like Kaltha Kara.
6.6. Lack of Adequate Government Support
According to DFID study in Ghana, fishing communities are exposed to poverty due to poor
government support, remote location, poor services, low literacy and innumeracy and weak
organizational capacity (DFID, 2001: 23-25). Similarly, in my study area government support
in terms of resource planning, service provision, protecting security of life and property,
listening the voice of the poor fishermen, and providing alternative employment opportunity
seem to be weak and have exposed the fishing communities around Lake Chamo to poverty.
6.6.1. Adequate Policy and Livelihoods
FAO (2002) argues that over access by a certain group or individuals reduce power of
middlemen, sustainable exploitation and alternative employment opportunities are important
and widely supported to poverty reduction in small-scale Fishery (FAO, 2002: 5). Most of
these are problems seen within the fishing communities around Lake Chamo. Hence, it implies
the need for adequate policy, supportive directives, and capable institutions for overall
development of fisheries.
Fishery development policy regarding small-scale fisheries sub-sector need to deal with
conservation, economic and social equity objectives. However, in many countries, policy makers
are not aware of the importance of inland fish production for food supply and income generation.
As a result, most inland fish producer suffer from the absence or inadequacy of policies and
institutional support (FAO, 2006: 6). Similarly, fishing communities in the study area are affected
due to inadequate policy as discussed earlier in relation to resource management.
There are many statements in the Federal Government's Rural Development Policies,
Strategies and Instruments (RDPSI) referring to the agricultural sector as the backbone and
engine to the national economy. However, one of the sub sectors of agriculture i.e. fishing is
78
not mentioned at all in the policy document (RDPSI, 2001).Though the potential for fishery
sector to reduce food insecurity is mentioned in the Federal Food Security Strategy (FSS)
paper, the assignment to develop the sector is given to Regional States to be considered in their
respective regional food security strategy programs (FDRE, 2002: 12). The role of the federal
government seems to be by passed. This shows that there is weak linkage between the Macro
and Meso level policies and strategies regarding fisheries sub-sector. DFID (2001) argues that
sustainable poverty reduction in fisheries can not be achieved through work of either micro,
meso, or macro level alone, but all the three levels need to be addressed, and in particular the
linkage among different levels be strengthened (DFID: 200: 1).
As indicated earlier, though the federal government and some regional states like SNNPR,
came up with their respective fisheries development and utilization proclamation since 2003
and 2004, all of them are not yet supported by detailed directive so as to put the proclamation
in to effect. In such an inadequate policy environment it is not possible to determine users
group, maintain equity in resource use, conduct continues monitoring and surveillance, provide
credit and technical support to the poorest of the poor fishermen.
6.6.2. Technical Backup and Service Provision
The technical backup and provision of different services to a given sector of an economy is in
most cases a reflection of the policy and strategies designed to the improvement of the sector
and the capacity level of various institutions to put the polices and strategies in to effect.
As poverty is multi-dimensional by its nature, reducing poverty in fishing communities requires
policy supported technical backup and service provision to the poor fishermen. Regarding technical
back up in terms of training, extension services, etc. in the study site the respondents revealed that
it is very poor. It is found from the survey respondents that only 14% have taken any sort of
training either from government bodies or from their co-operative associations. The majority (86%)
of the survey respondents replied that they haven't taken any form of training or technical
assistance.
Similarly, when the survey respondents were asked to compare the overall technical backup and
extension services provided to the sub-sector with other sub-sectors like crop production and
79
livestock, 99% responded that the technical backup and service provision to crop production and
livestock sub-sectors is by much better than the fishery sub-sector. The view of a key informant
supports this idea. A key informant who is head one of the fishers’ cooperative association puts it
as follows:
The EPRDF’s overall development policy gives focus to Agriculture. The focus, however,
is mainly to crop production and livestock sub-sectors. Pertinent professionals and their
bosses usually run to those sub- sectors to give support in our area. Regarding the fishery
sub-sector adequate technical support and backup is not provided usually. However,
there are a lot to be done on this lake. What they usually request us is report of the
monthly catch, nothing more than that.
Key Informant (2006)
The response of unorganized fishermen is even bitter than those organized regarding
government technical backup and service provision.
Government supports are given to those who are co-operative members. Members of co-
operative are given fishing nets, net making thread, etc on credit bases. However, we are
not known by the government. It is we who are really doing the fishing work as
‘assistant’ to the master fishermen who are member of co-operative.
Biruk Worku
Focus group- 1 (2006)
Figure 6.5: Focus Group Discussion One (2006)
80
Biruk’s narrative suggests that unorganized fishermen are all-in-all out of any technical and
material support of the government as compared to the co-operative members. In fishing
communities of Lake Chamo, being member of fishers co-operative is a pre- requisite to have
any government technical and material support if any. In the same way a 38 years old Gebere
Gaga, one of the non-members of co-operative fisherman puts his worst case as follows: "As
unorganized fisherman, I got nothing from the government except polio vaccination to my
children."
The senior fishery expert of Gamo Gofa Zone Agricultural Development Desk shares the Voice of
the poor fishermen. He tried to compare the technical backup and assistance of the fishery sub-
sector with others as follows:
For peasants the government has been trying to assign three technical assistants who have
knowledge in livestock rearing, natural resource management, and crop production at each
PA level. If we compare the number of people who are engaged or base their livelihoods
from Lake Chamo with any other kebele population of the whole Woreda of Arbaminch
Zuria, it is by much higher. If we look in terms of economic and social importance still it is
in a better position than other kebeles, perhaps those kebeles that produce fruits (banana).
In spite of all these, the fishermen are not seen equally as other farmers in terms of
assigning technicians.
Key informant (2006)
Moreover, in the shore of Lake Chamo, basic services, which would enhance fishery
development, are not available. Fishermen of Lake Chamo did not have well prepared fish
landing sites and small-scale fish processing, gutting, filleting shops, and workshop of making
local boat.
Along the shore of Lake Chamo, fish gutting and filleting is done simply on the ground
because of absence of processing shops, which has reduced the quality of fish meat and income
fishermen could get. It pollutes the lake as the fishermen do the activity near the lake water and
the waste products enter the water of the lake.
Moreover, basic health and water services are not available for fishermen in their lakeshore.
Most of the fishermen complained of diseases like Jardia, and malaria, which have caused the
breadwinners of the household to be out of work for some days of the month. This has in turn
its effect on household income.
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Finally, fish-transporting service is very poor. Only AFCA is able to transport its members'
Catch from landing sites up to marketing center, which is Arbaminch town, easily using both
motorized boat and car of its own. Recently, AFCA even complains about the high overhead
cost incurred to transport fish where catches are too low.
Co-operative members of Chamo, and other un-organized fishermen have a problem in
transporting their catches. They use usually human labor to transport fish catches from landing
sites up to all-weather roads or even to market centers. Of all the survey respondents, the great
majority (68.2%) use human labor as means of transporting their catches from landing sites up
to market center or main transport line where they can get car service.
6.6.3. Property and Life Insecurity of Fishermen
Poverty is a complex phenomena and insecurity of property and life is one of the indicators of
ill being. All sources, including survey respondents, case studies and focus group discussions
have revealed that the fishing nets and even life of the fishermen is in secured as they conduct
fishing in remote location. The causes of insecurity is mainly internal that arise from the
various fishing communities themselves. As already discussed, the fishing communities around
Chamo are different groups and have unequal resource access, government support, and
economic status. Thus, the inequalities become source of conflict and such conflicts go some
times to an extent that they threaten the life of fishermen.
Conflicts regarding looting of fishing nets are common among the unorganized fishermen.
There are no as such informal institutions within this section of the fishing communities to
maintain security of property and life. The fishermen under co-operative association also
complain of their fishing nets usually being stolen by other fishermen. Such conflicts some
times end up in killing of one by the other.
The other source of conflict and threat to the life security of fishermen is from the nearby
peasants and pastoralists due to resource claims. Such conflicts sometimes cost life. One of my
case studies, Dessalegn Wolka puts his experience as follows:
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There are no services of public security. Last time three fishermen were shot in
their camping sites by local pastoralists at night. They were alive till 10.00 in the
morning. Due to lack of transport and communication it was not possible to rescue
them. The government police force usually does not go soon to study the case. After
a lot of delays, they go when their per-diem and boat service is ready.
Dessalegn Wolka
Case 7(2006)
This shows how the fishing communities’ life is insecure due to remote location where the
government is not in a position to provide security service like other services to the
communities.
6.7. Lack of Voice
According to Farrington et al. (1992) lack of participation in decisions affecting one's life in a
community and lack of sense of voice is among the indicators of poverty (Farrington, et al. 1992:
2). In the same way, fishing communities of Lake Chamo have demands which they usually raise
to be answered by government bodies. However, their demands are taken for granted by the
government bodies and the poor fishers become voiceless, which in turn affect their livelihoods.
Of all the survey respondents, the great majority (88%) has presented their claims either alone or in
group to local government bodies in different times. Most fishermen replied that local government
bodies do not usually consider most of their claims and demands. However, as the fishing
communities of Lake Chamo are varied, their demands also vary accordingly.
Fishermen under different co-operatives claim the government bodies to protect the "illegal"
fishermen from the resource, request farmland, and manage the resource from depletion,
request credit, and request machine guns for self-defense. However, the unorganized fishermen
usually demand to be ‘legal’ and to be organized as fishers co-operative and have secured
resource access right.
The above response suggests that the poorest of the poor fishermen first claim/demand/
resource access where as those who have that secured access try to protect that right and
require additional income sources like farm land. The experience of a non-member co-
operatives fisherman describes the situation more:
83
What the government is doing is not centering the poor; rather it is biased towards the
better off. While the resource is a public property, they throw us away without any
negotiation, as we are poor and weak. The Kores and the Gujis are in the middle of the
park. The government made shelter, health post centers, and schools to kores before
they leave the park. However, we are thrown on street."
Focus Group 2 (2006)
This is a voice of non-member of co-operative fisherman who was conducting fishing for long
years in the ‘protected’ area within the proposed park boundary. As mentioned before, to protect
the proposed park boundary the African parks administrators in co-operation with the local police
force without any negotiation and discussion put fire on camping sites of these fishermen and took
all the fishing nets of these fishermen.
From the above discussion it is clear that lack of voice, participation in matters affecting their
livelihood is one of the factors, which have exacerbated the poor well-being of fishing
communities.
6.8. Lack of Alternative Employment Opportunities
Studies by FAO (2006) indicate that limited alternative employment opportunities as constraint
to the small-scale fisheries to contribute to food security and alleviate poverty.
Similarly, a study conducted by DFID (2001) in Ghana has shown that over reliance on one
type of asset and lack of options are among the major constraints of livelihood of small-scale
fishermen. In my study community too, lack of alternative employment opportunities for the
fishermen, for rural-urban migrants and the urban unemployed has caused overdependence on
ever depleting fishery resource of Chamo. As it is found from various sources, Chamo fishery
resource is a common pool weakly regulated resource in which option less people are engaged
as last resort. Even if the income obtained from fishing these days decreased significantly due
to resource constraint, 86% of respondent fishermen replied that they wouldn't abandon
fishing. This is one of the indicators of lack of other alternative employment options in
Arbaminch town and the nearby rural PAs. Gebere Gaga, one of my case study household head
puts the limited employment opportunities in the town as follows:
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I am as you are observing my house, my children, and me. Is there any factory in the
town? Is there any employment opportunity in the town? It is not even available for
those who are educated. The government rather than ordering to create job, it would
have been better if it had created job opportunities.
Gebere Gaga
Case- 3(2006)
6.9. Poor Saving
As discussed earlier, the SLA places the current events in their dynamic context rather than
looking at a 'snapshot' of a situation at a single moment in time. The current ill-being/well-
being situation of a household is in most cases the outcome of the past (Swift et al., 2001: 91).
In the same way, the present livelihood situation of the fishing communities of Lake Chamo is
to some extent the reflection of how they were using their income and how their saving
condition was in what they call good days. All of the survey respondents, key informants, and
focus group members revealed that their livelihood was generally better some four/five years
before than the present condition.
As shown before, of the survey respondents nearly half (49.4%) were getting a monthly
income above 1000 Birr in the year 2002. This amount of income is by any standard an income
of middle class in and around Arbaminch in that year. However, most fishermen agree that
their saving trend was not good in those good days. Some fishermen even if they got handful
money from fishing, when fishery resource was good, they spent extravagantly. There was a
common saying among the fishermen during those days. "Ye wuha genzeb be wuha yalqal"
literally mean money which is obtained from water is spent on water. This shows how some of
them spent their income in unproductive activates like alcohol.
One of my key informants who had close relation for more than 15 years with fishermen
beautifully put the condition as follows:
Some years before, if you saw a person whose face was shining, who was enjoying
extravagantly in the town wearing his modern clothes, without doubt he was a
fisherman. Currently, however, if you see a disappointed person in the town most
probably he is a fisherman.
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The experience of Tadesse Assefa is another example of poor saving behavior:
My wife got sick last time and I took her to local clinic. The doctor examined her
and found that the case is typhoid and malaria. He ordered me to buy the
medicines. However, I paid 38 birr for the medicine of malaria and returned
home without buying the medicine for typhoid as I didn't have any more. If I had
had experience of saving, I wouldn't have been exposed at all to such problems.
No one of my colleagues has ever risen about the importance of saving.
Tadesse Assefa
Case- 4 (2006)
Similarly a key informant who has a day-to-day relation with the fishermen has put his
observation as follows:
Currently, about twenty fishermen of our cooperative members have left the association
and migrated to other areas in search of alternative income source. Those who didn't
save and put in to some productive assets like construction of service houses to rent, etc
are the first victims of the resource depletion. Those who saved something back to bad
days are still struggling with fishing.
Key informant (2006)
On the other hand, the experience of Addisu Asha is the other side of the story. Addisu has
long years of good saving trend. He told how he managed to escape from the current problem
associated with resource depletion by his saving behavior during good days (see page -76).
Concerning the current saving condition, the great majority (73%) of the survey respondents do not
save for the reason that their income is not covering the household food demand (see Table 6.8).
Table 6.8: The current Saving Condition
Current saving condition Fishing communities
Yes No
AFCA 6 (23%) 6(77%)
CFCA 3(30%) 7(70%)
SFCA 5(41.6%) 7(58%)
FOCA 9(24%) 28(76%)
Total 23(27%) 62(73%)
Source: Own survey result (2006)
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As illustrated in Table 6.8, among the fishing communities, relatively the rural fishing communities
most of who have access to agricultural land are in better position in saving than others.
Generally, from the case stories and discussions it is clear that the personal assets, which are
treated as different category by IFAD team, like peoples internal motives to accumulate or
avert risk through saving is one of the explaining factor of the present well-being or ill-being.
6.10. Natural Shocks
Fishermen are vulnerable to natural disasters like storm, and other risks related to working on water
bodies like lake or sea which may lead the families of fishermen to poverty (FAO, 2003: 4; DFID,
2001: 23). Fishermen in Lake Chamo also face a lot of dangers related to their occupation. The
most difficult danger is the one caused by wild animals in the lake. In the lake the number of
crocodiles and hippopotamus are very high and usually cause damage to fishing net and life of the
fishermen. A story of a young fisherman Tadesse Assefa depicts the challenges of work on Lake
Chamo clearly. He narrates:
I am very weak now, because twice crocodile attacked me. A lot of blood flew out of my
body in both cases. The first was on a daytime at around 2.00 P.M. The crocodile bit my
leg and broke my one leg. My friends rescued me and put me on Wogello (local boat) and
after transporting for five hours they brought me to camping sites.
A lot of blood was flowing out of my body. I spent the night in the camping site without any
further treatment. Two of my friends were beside me. In the morning my friends were
unable to carry me alone up to the main road which is 45.00 minutes travel on foot. When
other fishermen were asked to help me in carrying, they replied that they wanted first look
whether there was catch in their nets. After all they performed their duties and ate their
lunch they begun transporting me at 1.00 p.m. and they brought me to Arbaminch Hospital
at 2.00 p.m. i.e. after 24.00 hours of the danger and finally my life was rescued"
Tadesse Assefa
Case- 4 (2006)
The foregoing discussions have shown that the stress on the fishery resource, policy and
institutional failures and environmental degradation due to poor wetland management in Lake
Chamo Basin are among the major challenges of the fishing communities. Moreover, conflicts over
resource due to inequitable resource access, low level of choice diversification, lack of adequate
government support, weak voice, and little alternative employment opportunities and poor saving
trend and natural disasters associated with working on water bodies exposed majority of the
fishermen of Lake Chamo to poverty at household level
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CHAPTER SEVEN: HOUSEHOLD COPING AND ADAPTIVE
STRATEGIES IN THE CONTEXT OF FOOD AND
LIVELIHOOD INSECURITY
As it has been discussed in the previous chapters, the livelihoods of fishermen of Lake Chamo
is challenged due to adverse trends in their fishery resource base, unequal resource access,
conflicts and associated shocks, weak government support, limited choice diversification, poor
saving trend of the fishermen, and natural shocks. Combination of constraints has exposed
most of the fishing communities to food and livelihood insecurity.
The fishermen of Lake Chamo have undertaken various forms of coping and adaptive
strategies to the challenges they are exposed. This chapter mainly discusses the coping and
adaptive strategies undertaken at household level.
7.1. Household Food Insecurity and Coping Strategies
Scholars like Chambers (1988), Maxwell and Smith (1992) Davies (1993), Frankenberger and
Coyle (1993) as cited in Maxwell (1996) have shown that food security is one of the elements
of livelihood security (Maxwell, 1996: 293). Similarly, Tesfaye argues that ensuring food
security at household level is the primary goal of livelihood strategies to rural households
(Tesfaye, 2003: 47). The thinking of food security has evolved through time since
1960s.According to Maxwell (2001) the major paradigm shifts are:
• From Global and national to the household and the individual
• From food first perspective to livelihood perspective
• From objective indicators to subjective perceptions
(Maxwell, 2001: 17-20)
Accordingly, various scholars have defined food security in different ways. Recently (2001) the
World Food Summit refined its 1996 definition as follows. “Food security is a situation that exists when
all people at all times have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food
that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.”(FAO, 2001:
www.fao.org/docrep.htm)
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It is on the basis of these premises that I will try to look the food insecurity/security situations
and coping and adaptive strategies of the fishing communities of Lake Chamo.
As mentioned earlier, the evolution of food security thinking has also brought change in ways or
approaches of measuring food security/ insecurity. The general tendency is from quantitative
measurement to qualitative, from objective measurement to subjective perception. Food
security/insecurity is measured using economic measurements, i.e. by comparing the production or
purchase with consumption, and nutrition measurement (assessing the food security situation of a
household by undertaking 24 hour recalls of food consumption for individual members of a
household) and anthropometrics measurement*, etc. (Maxwell, 1996: 292).
Food insecurity/security could also be assessed on the basis of coping strategies that are undertaken
by a household as response to temporal or chronic food insecurity (Maxwell, 1996: 293). Various
authors have revealed that the coping strategies like short time dietary change, reducing or
rationing consumption, altering household composition, altering intrahousehold distribution of
food, depletion of stores, increased use of credit for consumption purposes, increased reliance on
wild foods, short term labor migration, short-term alterations in crop and livestock production
patterns, pledging, mortgaging and sales of assets, and distress migration are taken as direct
indicators of food insecurity (Maxwell, 1996: 293). Dreze and Sen (1989) on their part argue that
though coping strategies are indications of food insecurity, the distinction between "coping" and
"failure to cope" is important to note (Maxwell, 1996: 249).
Different authors like Watts (1983, 1988) Corbett (1988) and Swift (1989) as cited in Ellis (2000)
argue that households tend to follow a sequenced response when faced with a collapse in their
regular source of consumption. According to the same authors, typical coping strategies may take a
sequence: pursue of new source of income, drawing on reciprocal obligation, temporary migration,
selective sale of moveable assets like goat, cattle, or farm implements and finally the sale or
abandonment of fixed asses such as land, houses, grain stores, and so on (Ellis, 200:44).Dessalegn
(1987) on his part conducted a research on peasant response in famine condition in Wollo, north
east Ethiopia and came up with slightly different sequencing of peasant strategies. The author
grouped peasant survival strategies in to four namely austerity and reduced consumption,
temporary migration, divestment, and crises migration.
__________________
Note:*Anthropometric measurement is one way of measuring food security /insecurity by calculating age to weight and height to weight of an individual
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According to Devereux (1993), however, sequencing disposal of different kinds of assets
during a crisis varies across households. So there is no generalized indicator based on asset
types (Ellis, 2000: 44). Similarly, Yared (1991:145) and Degefa (2005:330) have reveled that
there is variation among households in the coping and adaptive strategies which they undertake
during seasonal food shortages.
Table 7.1: Fishermen Perception of Household Income Sufficiency to Cover Food Demand H.H. Income Sufficiency to Food Demands
Fishing Communities Sufficient Not Sufficient Total
AFCA 5 (19%) 21 (81%) 26 (31%)
CFCA 1 (10%) 9 (90%) 10 (12%)
SFCA 10 (83%) 2 (17%) 12 (14%)
FOCA 3 (8%) 34 (92%) 37 (43%)
Total 19 (22.4%) 66 (77.6%) 85 (100%)
Source: Own survey result (2006)
The survey result in the study area reveals that the great majority (77.6%) of the respondents
replied that the income they get from fishing has currently declined significantly and does not
cover the household food demand. The disaggregated result at community level shows that
92% FOCA, 90% CFCA, 81% AFCA and 17% SFCA are food insecure according to their own
perception. It is clear from Table7.1 members of SFCA fishing community are relatively in a
better position in terms of household food security among the various communities. The main
reason perhaps could be their access to farmland as most of the SFCA members are rural
dwellers and have land holdings of different size.
Food in secured households are undertaking different coping strategies. The major coping
strategies of the fishing communities are dietary change i.e. eat food which are less preferable,
reducing or rationing consumption, use of credit for food consumption, mortgaging or sale of non-
durable goods including livestock, household equipments and fishing nets, etc (see Table 7.2.).
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Table 7.2: Coping Strategies of HHs to Food Insecurity by Community (Multiple
Responses were Possible)
Application of the Strategy by Fishing Communities
Coping strategies of HH food
insecurity AFCA CFCA SFCA FOCA Total
Dietary change 24 (92%) 10 (100%) 10 (83%)
32 (86%)
76(89.4%)
Reducing/Rationing Consumption
23 (88%) 10 (100%) 9 (75%) 34 (91%)
76 (89.4%)
Use of credit for food consumption
11(42%) 8(80%) 5(41%) 15 (40%)
39 (46%)
Mortgaging/sales of Non -durable goods
9(34.6%) 3(30%) 1 (8%) 16 (43%)
29 (34%)
Source: Own survey result (2006)
As illustrated in Table 7.2, among the communities under study about 89.4% of the survey
respondents have been forced to change their diet. The same amount of respondents also replied
that they have reduced or rationed food consumption at household level. From Table 7.1, it is clear
that from 22.4% of the households who replied that their monthly income is sufficient to cover
food demand, 11.5% households undertake coping strategies like dietary change and reduce or
ration food consumption at household level (see Table 7.2).Hence, these households are also
considered as food insecure because they undertook one or other form of coping strategies.
Regarding the undertaking of the above two coping strategies of food insecurity, there is not much
difference among the various fishing communities.
Use of credit for food consumption is another strategy practiced by fishermen of Lake Chamo as
response to household food insecurity. From the total survey respondents about 39(45.5%)
households replied that they have taken credit and used it for food consumption as strategy to
overcome household food insecurity. At community level, 42% AFCA, 80% CFCA, 41% SFCA
and 40% FOCA have used credit for food consumption.
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The other coping strategy pursued by food insecure fishermen of Lake Chamo is mortgaging or
sale of household moveable assets like livestock, other household assets and fishing equipments
like fishing nets.34% of the households replied that they mortgaged or sold some kind of household
goods so as to cope household food insecurity. When looking the same coping strategy at
community level, 43% of FOCA, 34.6% of AFCA, 30% of CFCA, and 8% of SFCA members
undertook the strategy. From the survey result, it is clear that high number of fishermen outside co-
operative sold some kind of their moveable household asset and thus, it is possible to say that the
level of food insecurity is relatively high among unorganized fishermen and relatively less sever
within SFCA members (see Table 4.2).
7.2. Social Capital and Food Security
The social capital in the form of reciprocity is one of the most important capitals that enable
households to supplement food demands and overall household security especially during
times of crisis. Those households that have strong social ties within or outside their kin are able
to receive some amount of assistance in the form of goods or money. The survey result reveals
that about 42% of the total respondent households have received some kind of help from their
respective social ties (see Table. 7.3).
Table 7.3: Reception of Help/Assistance from Relatives or Friends by Community
Social Reciprocity
Fishing Communities
Practiced Not Total
AFCA 10 (38%) 16 (62%) 26 (31%)
CFCA 2 (20%) 8 (80%) 10 (12%)
SFCA 2 (17%) 10 (83%) 12 (14%)
FOCA 22 (59%) 15 (41%) 37 (43%)
Total 36 (42%) 15 (41%) 85 (100%)
Source: Own survey result (2006)
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Among the fishing communities 38% of AFCA, 20% CFCA, 17% SFCA, and 59% of FOCA have
received some sort of assistance from their respective social ties.
Results of focus group discussions and case studies also revealed that some households got
assistance from their kins and were able to cover the household food demand. Kasech Engeda, a
wife of a fisherman whose husband recently went to resettlement, narrates her family's mutual
exchange as follows:
My husband quarreled with me to sell some household assets to cover our food
demand. We have 24 pieces of corrugated iron-sheet in our home. He wanted to sell
some of these. I had opposed the idea and gave a call to my father who is living in Gofa
some 250 Kms from Arbaminch. After my call, he came to visit us last time. While he
was coming, he brought us some maize for home consumption. Moreover, Dad gave
him a piece of advice not to be desperate and worry much. If things got worse, he was
advised to send all the children and me to Gofa for two to three months where Dad
would be responsible.
Once again he complained with me to sell some of the iron- sheets or some of the chairs
that we have. I refused, and he finally went to the resettlement site.After he left us, my
children usually cried requesting what I can not provide. My father again sent us maize
for our consumption
Case 9 (2006)
The story of Kasech's household implies that social ties are important not only to cover food
deficits of the needy households, but also share ideas and to offer advice. Moreover, from the
story we can see that household members like Kasech Engeda preferred to getting starved to
selling their household asset considering their future livelihoods rather than immediate food
demand.
Some households, on the contrary, are fragile because they don't have significant social-
networks and assets to compensate for the food deficits. Gebere Gaga explains his lack of
strong social ties and assets, which put him in desperate situation.
Still my household's life is associated with nature. I don't have ox, TV, or any good
household assets to sell and recover from the food deficit. Moreover, I don't have
relative and good neighbor who could help me. I collect fuel wood from the forest
(which is strongly protected these days and no easy access) and sell to feed my
children. Even my wife doesn't know some skills like the wives of others.
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Social ties within the community or inter-community are not limited in exchange of goods or
money between households, rather institutions like Iqub and Ider are important in the
household life of the fishermen. Some households still participate in Iqub (local saving
association) and receive some amount of money either as credit or as their turn, which they use
as seed capital for petty trade to cover household food demand. Kasech describes how the
money she got from her local Iqub helped her household to begin petty trade with the main
objective to cover household food deficit.
I participate (save) in females Iqub in our locality. Last time it was my turn and they
gave me 200 Birr. I bought equipment to prepare local areke. What was left, I paid for
the treatment of my baby who usually gets sick and the rest I spent on clothing of anther
child who attends school.
Kasech Engeda, Case 9(2006)
Most households are so tenacious to the Ider (social gathering mainly for burial ceremony) and
even if there are problems to cover household food demand, they don't want and usually do not
get absent from participation in the Ider in terms of monthly payments or other obligations.
The case of Beletech describes it more clearly. Beletech, whose husband left recently to
resettlement site, is the one who is currently taking care of her household members describes how
she values the Ider as follows
Even if I am in problem to feed my children, I will not stop participating in the Ider. It is
when I decide to leave the area that I will stop participating in the Ider and get clearance.
Until then, by spinning two Birr cotton and selling it, I will pay the Ider contribution. I
don't care even to electric light, I will use the traditional light source i.e. "Kuraz", By any
means, and I should pay the Ider contribution.
Case 8 (2006)
Some social activities like coffee ceremonies have been given important place as some fishermen
take it as short time coping strategy. It enabled them skipping meal. A fisherman in one of the
focus group discussions mentioned the importance of coffee ceremonies as follows: "As you see, I
am having coffee at my neighbor’s house. I may go to bed by what I am having here at the coffee
ceremony’’ (Focus Group 2, 2006).
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Moreover, it is on such coffee ceremonies that fishermen in their locality exchange ideas, share
information, design alternative livelihood options, plan temporal and permanent group migration to
other lakes and resettlement programs.
7.3. Livelihood Insecurity and Adaptive Strategies
Rural households undertake adaptive strategies when faced with stress on their livelihood.
Daves (1993; 1996) as cited in Ellis (2000) makes a distinction between coping strategies and
adaptive strategies. According to the writer coping strategies are short-term responses of
households to unplanned crises where as adaptive strategies are responses to a long-term
adverse events, cycles, and trends (Ellis, 2000: 45). As illustrated by Degefa (2003a),a peasant
household that sells some of its livestock to buy food crops during seasonal food shortage does
a coping strategy. On the other hand, a peasant who leases out or share crops some of his land
due to labor shortage or engage in wage labor due to land shortage to get additional income is
undertaking adaptive strategy to livelihood system (Degefa, 2005:74).In my study area, too,
fishermen are undertaking different adaptive strategies to the challenges they have faced
associated mainly with the depleted fishery resource base.
7.3.1. Survival Diversification
According to Ghosh et al (1992) cited in Hussein (1998) income diversification in the context of
stress is a survival strategy (Hussein et al 1988: 15). Scoones (1998) argues in support of this view
that when other options fail to provide livelihood, necessity or survival diversification is a strategy
which aims at adapting with adversity (Scoones, 1998: 7).
Results from various sources in the study area support this view. Fishermen of Lake Chamo tend to
diversify their household income associated with the stress on their resource base and resultant
decline of income from the main source i.e. fishing. Such diversification is, practiced due to
distress reasons as necessity at household level.
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The survey result shows that in 2002 the source of income for urban based fishermen was largely
from fishing whereas for rural based fishermen it was fishing and mixed farming. However, in
2006 most households are forced to diversify their income other than fishing (see Table 7.4).
Table 7.4: Sources of fishermen household income in 2002, and 2006
% Of HHs getting some amount of Income
Se. No
HH. Incomes Source
In 2002 In 2006
1 Fishing 100 100
2 Farming 14 14
3 Petty trade 12 56.3
4 Wage labor 5 46%
Source: Own survey result (2006)
As illustrated in Table7.4 in 2006, 56.3% and 46% of households are engaged in petty trade
and wage labor at household level respectively as additional source of income as compared to
12% and 5% households in 2002. The petty trading at which households of fishermen are
engaged in are selling of home made drinks, low cost food items, and collecting and selling of
fuel wood, and grasses. Information from different case studies also supports the survey result.
The case of Dereje’s household is a good illustration. This time it is his wife who describes the
previous and the current living conditions of the household and how she is forced to be
engaged in drudgery works to supplement the household income.
Our life was better while the fishery resource was good. These days we eat when we get. Even
our children are adapting the problem. Is it not because of lack of other options that I am
coming from daily labor, carrying stone? I didn't work such things before. I was only
responsible to raise my children and manage the household with what he brought. Actually,
when I had leisure time I used to prepare local drinks like areke. These days, I don't have
money even to prepare this drink. I get only 5 Birr per day working all day leaving my 9-month
child at home.
Wife of Dereje, Case 5 (2006)
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As the above case demonstrates, during stress condition in household income, it is not only the
source of income diversified, rather the participation of household members, especially the role
of women become so important in generating additional source of income.
Similarly, Sara Mengesha a wife of Abebe, one of my case study household members puts her
role during the stress on household income and how her household attempted to adapt.
What I get from my husband for the household expenditure has been reduced since
2002. We females are now taking the responsibility of the household. Since 2003,I have
been retailing Cabage. The small income I get from this petty trade enabled me to
supplement to the household expenditure.
Beletech, 30 years old and mother of three, and a first wife of a fisherman, is a household head
who currently took the full responsibility of her family as her husband went to resettlement
area. She describes how she is forced to engage in survival diversification.
While my husband was here he supported me. Now I am alone to the family. I borrowed money
from someone to buy wheat for making of Ambasha (local bread) for sale, I haven't yet sold
wood, but I bring wood from Boshe (mountain) to use as source of fuel to make Ambasha.
However, I haven’t doen such business before. My responsibility was spinning of cotton, and
embroidery at home. Now, everday I go to Boshe to collect wood and prepare Ambasha. I
prepare and sell Ambasha twice a day, in the morning market and late afternoon market. Just
now I am going to bake. I don't have rest. By the money I get from this small business, I feed my
family, pay for electric services, and pay Ider expenses.
Case 8(2006)
In survival diversification and generation of alternative income, grown up children are also
important and take part. A fisherman in one of the focus group discussions put it as follows:
I have stayed for 25 years as full time fisherman. I don't have any other skill. I have
diabetes case. My family is in great problem due to the resource stress. My family is
now living on the labor of children. Before they go to school they bring grass and fuel
wood for selling. We live on the income we get from this.
Focus group3 (2006)
7.3.2. Distress Migration
According to Ellis (2000), migration is the leaving of one or more members of a household
from the permanent residence for varying period with the objective of making a new and
different contribution to the household welfare (Ellis, 2000: 70). The author has identified four
97
types of migration e.g. seasonal, circular, permanent, and international which are undertaken as
livelihood adaptive strategy depending on the objective reality. Moreover, the same writer
argues that the income differentials are the major 'pull' factors; while seasonality, risk, market
failure, erosion of assets, landlessness, and disasters leading to livelihood collapse as 'push'
factors (Ellis, 2000: 72).
Similarly, in my study area, some fishermen are unable to cope and are forced to undertake
distress migration mainly due to 'push' factors like depletion of fishery resource, lack of other
employment and income source, weak social networking, and poor asset base. Accordingly,
considerable number of fishermen went to Mellokoza Woreda within Gamo Gofa Zone as
permanent settlers to conduct farming leaving their other family members behind with a plan to
take them later on. The settlement program itself encourages the male household head to go
first and prepare condition to other household members. Kaltha Kaara, whom the researcher
got on his departure to the resettlement area with his colleagues, is one of them. He was a
member of AFCA, and he was a breadwinner for his ten family members. He leaves his fishers'
co-operative and goes to resettlement sites because he can not feed and educate his children
from the income he gets from fishing. He gave short account as why he chose to undertake
distress migration as follows:
I am going to resettlement area not because it is my choice rather I am forced. In the
good days I married and bore many beautiful children. I don't have any other
alternative income source. I have nothing to give to my children, and I can't educate
them. If you go and see my home, every child is crying. I don't want my children die in
front of me of starvation. I am going to resettlement area to hide my self from the
problem and try other alternative. If it is God's will, I will see my lovely family.
Kaltha Kaara
Focus Group1 (2006)
98
Figure 7.1: Fishermen Moving to Resettlement Area (2006)
As the above case demonstrates, those who don't have alternative income source, strong social
networks and who have large family size like Kaltha Kaara are vulnerable to distress migration
especially to resettlement areas.
Usually there is a debate on the effectiveness of the large-scale National Resettlement Strategy
of the Government. Though the current resettlement program is different from the past regimes
as it is based on the willingness of the settlers and it is carried out within a regional state, most
scholars put serious criticism against the resettlement program as it is usually accompanied by
environmental distraction, resource conflict, and hostility between the settlers and the host
communities. However, in my study area people who do not have other options preferred
taking it as an adoptive strategy in the scenarios of livelihood insecurity
In the study area fishermen undertook some other livelihood options like income
diversification, sale of assets, receiving social network claims, etc before they decide to
migrate to other areas. In all these coping strategies if household fails to satisfy its basic
99
necessities usually decides to migrate to other areas as last resort. A good example is the
household case of Beletech. She is one of the two wives of a fisherman named Ayssa Anja,
who has ten family members. Beletech narrates her household condition comparing with the
prior living situation of the family and the unsuccessful effort of her husband to engage in
other income source before he went to resettlement area.
How can I tell you the life we used to live before? It was very good life. My children
wore cloths bought from Boutique/shop/. Now they are wearing second-hand clothes.
We used to eat teff injera. Maize and wheat were used as supplementary. All necessary
household food items were bought once for a month. As the fishery resource got
depleted, our living also began to decline. At present we are as you see us.
Before he went to resettlement area, my husband had made some efforts to diversify his
income by selling plastic shoe to local rural markets. He couldn't be profitable in the
business. Then he sent his second wife and her three children to her father's home.
Finally, he registered to go to resettlement area and went to Mellokoza as a permanent
settler.
Beletech
Case- 8 (2006)
The case of Kassech Engida’s household is the same. She is by now head of five families. Her
husband was 'assistant' fisherman on Lake Chamo. He currently involved in the resettlement
program and went to Mellokoza Woreda as permanent settler. Kasech explains how lack of
skills other than fishing forced her husband to migrate in search of other livelihood option.
He didn't have skill other than fishing. Before he went to resettlement area, he had tried
to work as an assistant to a mason. He told me that he couldn't work because the work
required high amount of energy, which he couldn't. Then he engaged in other activity,
this time making of charcoal. Again, he couldn't succeed. After these entire attempts, he
became hopeless and registered to go to resettlement area. He told me that if things are
better in the resettlement area, he will come and take us.
Case 9 (2006)
The other form of adaptive strategy undertaken by fishermen of Lake Chamo is migration to
distant Lakes like Turkana and Zewai leaving their families back at/around Arbaminch. Ato
Sayinesu Ayele, expert in Arbaminch Fish Production and Marketing Enterprise and currently
the representative of the Enterprise describes the situation as follows:
100
Recently due to the resource depletion from the Lakes around Arbaminich area, our
total fish production and purchase has declined significantly. Due to this and other
reasons we took measures to compensate. Experts from our head office conducted a
preliminary stock analysis and other necessary study on Lake Turkana and found that
the fishery resource base is promising. Then our organization invited fishermen to
conduct fishing and supply to our enterprise from Lake Turkana. We knew that most
people who are engaged in daily labor in Arbaminch area were fishermen who
abandoned fishing due to resource depletion. We were able to get 20 fishermen and
their assistants to work on Lake Turkana. I hope these fishermen could get better
income as the production is good due to the better resource status. I know that some
fishermen also went to Lake Zewai to work as ''assistant” to those who have already
have access right and prior control.
From the explanation of the expert, it is clear that the causes of migration of fishermen in
search of other fishing ground is 'push' factor from their permanent residence associated with
the stress in fishery resource base. The migrants are male household heads who moved leaving
their families back in and around Arbaminch. The remittance sent monthly or in different
periods is the base for the household survival of these migrant fishermen.
The discussion in this chapter has shown that though the type and the degree of strategies
undertaken by households vary, most of the fishermen in the study area have taken one or the
other form of coping and adoptive strategies as response to food and livelihood insecurity they
faced.
101
CHAPTER EIGHT: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
8.1. Conclusion
The study was conducted in and around Arbaminch Town on fishing communities of Lake
Chamo. The fishing communities are found to be varied in terms of their residence place i.e.
some are urban and others are rural, and also in terms of organization i.e. some are organized
under fishers’ co-operative association while others are non-member of cooperative i.e.
operating on individual basis.
The investigation was undertaken with the main objective of learning the major livelihood
challenges of the fishing communities of Lake Chamo. For achieving the objective, mixed
approach of both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies were employed.
Conventionally, different measures have been used to analyze poverty, and related issues at
household and community level. However, it is very recently that the SLAs are being
employed to uncover the multidimensional aspect of poverty, food and livelihood insecurity. In
this research, SLAs were applied as a framework for analyzing the livelihood trends, processes,
and outcome of the fishing communities of Lake Chamo in holistic way. In SLAs, the context,
the assets, the mediating processes, and activities and strategies are the most important
component of the framework, which affect ones livelihood. Hence, these components were
used in one way or the other in the analysis of the sustainable livelihood of the fishermen.
According to Toner and Frank (2005) environmental sustainability is one of the preconditions
of sustainable livelihoods (Toner and Frank, 2005: 3). Similarly, as cited in Ellis (2000),
various scholars like Scoones (1998), Swift and Hamilton (2001), Chambers and Conway
(1992) agree that for livelihood to be sustainable it should not undermine the natural resource
base (Ellis, 2000: 7). However, the research result revealed that the sustainability of the
livelihood of fishing communities of Lake Chamo has been challenged by the stress on the
fishery resource base among others.
102
Both primary and secondary sources revealed that the number of fishermen and fishing efforts
on Lake Chamo has increased alarmingly overtime as explained by high rate of rural-urban
migration, high unemployment rate and low employment opportunity in and around
Arbaminch, which are among responsible factors for the resource depletion.
The weak resource management due to policy and institutional failures has encouraged every
body that is interested to engage in the exploitation of the fishery resource, and over exploit the
resource even applying inappropriate fishing methods and gears. As a result, it became too
difficult to limit the number of fishermen, the number of fishing gears, inappropriate fishing
gears and methods in the absence of detailed supportive rules and regulation to the Regional
and Federal Fisheries Development and Utilization Proclamation.
As discussed earlier, there are different views and schools of thoughts with regard to the
management of CPRs like fisheries resource. However, all of them agree on the need and
importance of introducing some form of property right as solution to reduce the tragedy
scenario. Considerable numbers of writers suggest state control and management where as
scholars like Demsetz (1967) argue in support of the private ownership as solution (cited in
Adhikari, 2001:1). However, the finding of this study is in line with the proponent of the third
group like Adger (2003) who advocates the co-management option as solution to sustainable
utilization of the CPRs like fisheries.
Furthermore, it is learnt that man induced environmental degradation generally associated with
poor wet-land management: like lake side farming, overgrazing, diversion of small streams,
upstream deforestation and resultant siltation have all caused adverse effect on the fishery
ecology and fishery resource of Lake Chamo. Moreover, natural phenomena such as variability
of rainfall and high evapotranspiration have brought adverse effect on the water balance of the
lake, which in turn has negative effect on the resource status.
There are various views regarding the nexus between poverty and environment in the literature.
However, the finding of this research suggests that there are multiple factors behind the fishery
resource degradation other than poverty, like population pressure, policy and institutional failures
103
and overall environmental degradation in Lake Chamo Basin. Thus, the finding is inline with the
argument of Alemu (2003)which says that complex set of variables come in to the play in the
poverty and environment degradation nexus(Alemu,2003:11)
The fishing communities of Lake Chamo vary in access to resource. The difference in access
right has caused a difference in well-being. In the study area being a member of fishers
cooperative is equated with right to have full access to the resource. This has negative
implication to non-member of cooperative both full time urban fishermen and part time rural
fishermen. The rural part time fishermen in PAs of Gantta Kanchame, Shelle Mela, Elgo,
Wozeka, and etc claim full resource access right in their respective jurisdiction along the shore.
Generally, non-members of cooperative are considered as ‘illegal’. The research has revealed
that the well being of these community members is relatively worse than the organized ones.
It is found that unequal resource access among different co-operative associations, among co-
operative members and non-member of cooperatives, looting of ones fishing net, attempt to
conduct fishing in proposed park boundary, and trying to have camping and fishing site in what
is considered as communal resource by members of farmers or pastoralists in the shores
adjacent to their respective PAs become the major cause of conflict.
Lack of education and skill training, unequal resource access right and exclusion, deprivation
of the right to be organized as a cooperative member, and poor saving behavior are among the
major constraints reported by most fishermen as disabling factor to accumulate assets and
carryout choice diversification at household level. Though the fishers’ cooperative associations
were set up with multiple purposes, except the little attempt of AFCA to engage in
diversification of income through hotel service and boat service others like SFCA, and CFCA
have not yet done any effort.
It is found that lack of policy focus to the fishery sub-sector is also reflected in poor provision
of technical backup, service provision, poor financial and research support, protecting the
public security and weak voice of the fishermen. Therefore, these are also among the major
challenging factors that have adverse effect on the livelihood of the fishermen of Lake Chamo.
104
Alternative employment opportunities for fishermen, rural-urban migrants, and urban
unemployed are found to be very little in and around Arbaminch. This forced those who don’t
have other options to be engaged in ever depleting resource base of Lake Chamo.
As a result of these, most fishermen are not in a position to recover from the livelihood stress
and shocks. Moreover, most of them are unable to maintain or enhance their assets and
capabilities. The research revealed that significant numbers of fishermen (89.4%) are unable to
cover household food demand and they are food insecure despite the attempts made to engage
in survival diversification and receive social capital in the form of transfers.
As the research revealed, considerable numbers of fishermen of Lake Chamo have undertaken
various coping and adaptive strategies to the challenges they have faced. Of all the survey
respondents, 76(89.4%) have taken coping strategies like dietary change and reducing or
rationing food consumption at household level. Of the households included in survey 39
(46%) have used credit for food consumption and 29(34%) sold or mortgaged some of their
household assets like livestock, chairs, and even fishing nets, etc, to cover household food
deficit. Furthermore, those who are unable to cope by undertaking multiple coping strategies
are forced to distressful migration towards resettlement places, and other lakes where the
fishery resource is relatively abundant.
8.2. Recommendation
Based on the conclusion made and lessons drawn to mitigate the major challenges of the fishing
communities and hence achieve sustainable livelihoods the following key remarks are
recommended.
As the major limiting factor of the fishing communities of Lake Chamo is found to be ever
depleting fishery resource base, so to reverse the tragedy all-inclusive action has to be taken:
1. The policy and institutional gap of the Federal and Regional Fisheries Development and
Utilization Proclamations should be filled by designing and enacting detailed rules and
regulation through the full participation of various fishing communities.
105
2. appropriate fishery management tools (like mesh size regulation, catch quota, closed area,
closed season, gear restriction, licensing, etc) for the particular Lake should be identified and
defined through the participation of the fishing communities.
3. So far the government alone management of the common pool fishery resource is seen to be
ineffective and thus co-management of both government and fishing communities seem to be
more important. In this regard, each party should be given a clearly defined right and
responsibility in the management and utilization of the resource.
4. Strengthening the capacity of government and community organizations that would be
responsible to put the rules and regulations into effect through training, personnel and financial
support. The government organization, particularly the fishery section should be strengthened
by professionals to collect necessary data on production, stock condition, and on the number
and variety of active fishing efforts on the Lake which should be registered, monitored, and
interpreted continuously for sustainable resource utilization.
5. Currently there is a need to restock the fishery resource of Lake Chamo through the same
species from other lakes or fishery laboratories of the country.
6. Creation of public awareness and sensitization of the rules, regulations, the proclamation, the
importance of wet land management and conservation of Bio-diversity for sustainable
livelihood.
� To put the above points in to effect it needs further research.
7. It is found that there is less policy focus and weak integration among different levels of
government to the overall development of the fishery sector. Though the contribution of the
sub-sector is low to national GDP, at regional and local level its importance is very high in
terms of supporting the livelihood of a considerable number of people, as supplying cheap
source of protein to local and national food demand, and even generating revenue to local
government. Thus, there is a need for comprehensive well cascaded macro, meso, and micro
level fisheries development strategy for promotion of sustainable fisher livelihood.
8. The fishermen in their remote working place should be provided with necessary social services
like primary health care, water service, public security, and other infrastructures like road
development towards the landing sites, preparation of landing sites, fish gutting shops, and
workshops to prepare wooden boats along the shore.
9. Lack of voice of the fishermen in the study area exacerbated the poor well-being of the
fishermen. Thus, the voice of the fishermen should be heard and they should participate in
matters that affect their livelihood.
106
10. The local government bodies should promote credit and saving within fishers co-operative and
outside co-operative association through the PAs or Urban Kebeles so as to enable some
fishermen to have the culture of saving.
11. As the wetland management of Lake Chamo Basin is poor and has adverse effect on the fishery
resource, it calls urgent application of integrated wet-land management thereby protecting the
Lake side from farming, over grazing and human settlement. Moreover, there is also a need to
practice integrated upstream wetland management to reduce the siltation through reducing
deforestation, and protecting soil erosion by applying different soil erosion protection
measures.
12. Fishermen have needs and rights outside the fishing sub-sector. So, the local and regional
government bodies should plan to integrate the sub-sector with other sectors and invest on
issues of diversification and create alternative livelihood options to fishermen and to other
unemployed who would be potential fishermen.
13. At household level the necessary education and training should be given to fishermen to enable
his households to diversify and engage in other related activities.
14. At community level, especially to fishers co-operative members the pertinent government
bodies, or NGOs should create favorable condition for diversifying their income sources
through designing projects to enable them engage in other related business like poultry
development, bee hives, lake side tourism, processed fish meal and other meal marketing, etc.
15. Creation of employment opportunities in Arbaminch and Woreda towns for urban unemployed
and rural urban migrants to reduce the potential pressure to the fishery resource.
Generally, the fishing communities in the study area face specific challenges in addition to those
faced by other communities like farmers and at present this is not widely recognized in either
national or local planning. Thus, it is time to take action by the Federal, Regional and Local
governments to incorporate the fishery sub-sector, the fishery resource, and the fishermen in the
overall development endeavor of the country through policy focus, program, projects, and planning
for sustainable fishermen livelihood.
107
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Annex I
Questionnaire For household Survey of the Lake Chamo Fishing Communities
Part One, 1. Personal, Family and occupation information of the Fisherman
No
Name
Sex
Age
Ethnic
Religion
Relation to head
Martial status
Education level for age above 7 years
Permanent residence
Main occupation ____________ 1 2 3
1 Householdhead
2
3
4
5
code 1.male 2.female
1.Gamo 2.Gofa 3.Zeyse 4.Derashe 5.Amara 6.Konso 7.Basketo 8.Others
1.Orthodox 2.Protestant 3.Islam 4.Cultural 5. Others
1.wife 2.son/doughter 3.Father 4.mother 5.sister 6.brother 7.relative
1.unmarried 2.married 3.divorced 4.widowed 5.divorced 6.polygamy
1.illitrate 2.litrate 3.primary (1-8 th . grade) 4secondary(9-12 th..grade) 5.above secondary
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2. Fishing ground, Time spent on fishing and Experience of fishing for fishing operators both mobile and stationary
Usual fishing ground /shore Time spent in fishing Experience in fishing
No.
Fishing ground Name Distance
from shore Distance from Home
Hrs/day Day/month Month/year years
km Hrs km Hrs
1
2
Part Two 3.Fishing Assets/ Physical Capital/
No Type Ownership
1.Yes,2 .No
Present value Economic life
1 Boat local /Soke/
2 Boat modern
3 Gillnet
4 Hook
5 Others specify
4. Ownership of other Assets
No Item 1. Privately own 2.Rented
1 House
2 Land for housing
3 Land for farming
4 Farm tools
5 Cow
6 Ox
7 Sheep
8 Goat
9 poultry
10 Bee hive
5. Household Assets
No. Type of household asset 1.private 2.communal
3.rental 4.No
1 Pipe water supply
2 Electric service
3 Radio
4 Tape recorder
5 T.V.
6 Telephone service
7 Sofa chair
8 Refrigerator
9 Other specify
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Part Three 6: Monthly income of household by occupation in 2002 and 2006 / Financial Capital/ No. Income source of HHs 2002 2006
1 Fishing
2 Farming
3 Petty trade
4. Wage labor
7. Other sources of Income. / Financial Capital/ 1. Pension per month 3. From NGOs 2. Remittance per month 8. Whether the respondent borrows money. 1. Yes 2. No 9. If response to question No. 7 yes, what is your major source of financial credit?
1. Credit and Saving Units 2. Fishers Cooperative Association 3. Informal borrowing from relatives 4.non- Informal borrowing from non-relatives 5.Community Association
Part Four 10. Household Expenditure and Saving 10.1. Household Expenditure of Incomes No Item Percent expenditure
1 Domestic consumption goods, Food
2 Clothing
3 Drinking and leisure
4 Education and Health of family members
5 Social obligations Idir.
11. Household Investment 11.1. In fishing ________11.2.In Non-fishing activities ___________
12. Household Saving
12.1. Weekly saving Birr __________ 12.2. Monthly saving Birr _________ 12.3 Yearly saving Birr__________
13. The house in which you are living is? 1. Private 2. Your family’s 3.Relative’s 4. Rental 14. Housing condition? 1. Corrugated iron sheet 2.Grass thatched 3. Hollow Block 4.if other specify__________________________ 15. What are the major health problems of the HH.(multiple responses are possible) 1. Malaria 2.malnutrition 3.H.IV/AIDS 4.typhoid/typhus 16. What are the Major health problems of the fishing communities? 1.______ 2_________
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17. Migration in and out of the HH head.
No No. of
years staying in this area
Place of previous residence And
Employment
Reason for in migration (1)
Do you want to out migrate
Why? (2)
HH Residence Employment Occupation Income per month
Code 1.government 2.Private 3self employed
1.Yes 2.No
Reasons: 1. _____________2____________
Part Five
18. Public utilities /social services around the lake No Type 1. No Service 2 Poor
3.Satisfactory 4.Very good
1 Security
2 Landing sites
3 Transporting of fish products
4 Fish processing place
5 Boat making workshops
6 Net making work shops
7 Water supply
8 Basic health
9 Others specify
19. Some indicators of fish resource depletion.
From your experience over time No Indicators of fishery resource depletion 1 Very much decreased 2. Decreased
3.No change 4.Increased 5.Much Increased
1 Change of fish weigh and height
2 Mesh size of nets used for fishing
3 CPUE, KG /Net/ Day
4 Fish stock
5 Thickness of thread used for net making
6 Number of fishing nets
7 Number of fishermen
8 Availability of fish meat to local market
9 Water volume of the lake
10 Chang of Soke Tree
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20. Whether the HH Participate in local social services?
No. HH participation in local social services 1Yes 2.No
1 Ider
2 Iqub
3 Marriage ceremonies
4 Church/Mosque/ services
5 Coffee ceremonies
6 Others specify
21. If your answer is yes to most of the items in question No. 20, how do they contribute to your
life?________________ 22. If your replay is No to question 21, what are your reasons? 1____________2___________ 23. Whether the fishing activity and the fishermen respected by local people. 1. Yes 2.No 24. If your response to question No.23 is no, give possible reasons.____________
(Question no.25 up to31 is to Co- operative Member) 25. Are you a member of a fisherman co-operative? 1. Yes 2.No 26. If yes, what is the name of your Co-operative Association?
1. Arbaminch Fishers Co-operative Association 2. Chamo Fishers Co-operative Association 3. Sego Fishers Co-operative Association 4. If other specifay _________________________
27. When did you become a member the Co-operative?_______________________ 28. How the fisherman became a member to fishers co-operative? _________________ 29. What is the importance of being a member of fishers co-operative? _______________ 30. What advantages have you ever get by being member to the fishing co-
operate?____________ 31.What are some of the major shortcomings of your co-operative that according to your opinion
needs improvement?_______ (Question No.32 up to 35 is only to non-member of Fishers Co-operative)
32. Whether the fisherman has ever attempted to join a co-operative or setup new? Yes 2.No 33. If response to question No. 32 is no, give possible reasons? 1. Lack of awareness of the importance of being organized 2.Lack of organizing body 3. If other specify, ______________________________________ 34. If your response to question no.32 is yes, why it is not possible? 35. What have you missed for not being a member of a cooperative?______________
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Part Six (Access to Natural capital) 36. Do you have problems to access the fishery resource? 1. Yes 2. No 37. If your answer is yes to question No.36, what the problems not to access the resource?
_________ 38. So, how do you get access to the fishery resource? _________________ 39. According to your view who should have access to the fishery resource of Lake Chamo? 1. Cooperative member only
2. All organized and non- organized which conduct fishing full time 3. Seasonal and Part time Fisherman only
4. All 1, 2, and 3 above 40. What are the major problems with regard to access the fishery resource? 1____2____ 41. How is the trend of your catch per unit effort over time? 1. Increased 2. Decreased 3. No change 42. If your replay is No.2 for question no.41, what are the probable reasons?1____2___ 43. How is the stock of fish resource trend? 1. Improving 2. Depleting 3. No much change 44. If your answer is No. 1. What could be the possible reasons? 1__________2.______
45. If your response is depleting, what could be the probable reasons? 1.______2.______ 46. What are the signs, which you have observed of resource depletion?_____________ 47. Whether the resource depletion has caused negative effect on HH income and livelihoods? 1. Yes 2. No 48. Since when did this happen? Year______________ 49. If your replay is yes to question no. 47, how due you express these effects?__________ 50. Whether the HH is resilient to resource depletion? 1 .Yes 2.No 51. If your answer to question no.50 is yes, how your HH become resilient? 1. Diversifying income sources 2.Reducing consumption 3.Trying to fish long hours than before 4.Others specify__________________ 52. If your response to question No.5o is no, what are the reasons? _______________ 53. What do you think to be the solution to ameliorate the problem? ______________ 54. Who is the most responsible for the resource depletion? ____________________ 55. Who should take the initiative for proper resource utilization? (Multiple responses is possible)
1. The fishing community 2. The government 3. The people at large 4.Environmentally concerned people 5.Al
56 .What are its shortcomings /weakness /of the existing fishery resource management over Lake
Chamo? __________ 57. What do you suggest as solution? 1. State control and management 2. Co- management between the state and the fishing communities 3. Management and control by fishing communities alone. 4. Control and Management by fisher's cooperatives 5.Other specify, ________________
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58. Which of the following fishery management tools do you prefer to sustainable resource use and to your sustainable livelihood?
No Fishery management tools 1Yes 2.No
1 Allocation of Catch Quota
2 Area and season closure
3 Mash size regulation
4 Gear restriction
5 Limit on the number of boats and gears
6 Taxes based on effort or catch
7 Licensing
8 Leasing to an individual /a cooperative
9 Giving to Community alone
10 Control of Traders
59. Species of fish usually targeted
60. What is your reason for targeting selective spices of fish? _______________________ 61. What is the gill net size or mesh size you are now using? 1. for Nile perch________________2 for Tilapia __________________ 3. for Labeo___________________4. For others specify,____________ 62. Why you usually target that species?__________________ 63. How do you perform the fishing activity? 1. Alone 2. In crew 64. Where do you sale your fish catch? 1. at landing site 2. Market 3.Suppling to Hotels 4.Other specify 65. How long is the fish market from landing site? In Km ___________or.______ hours travel
distance. 66. How is the fish catch transported from landing site? 1. by Human labour 2. By car. 3. Others specify______________ 67. To which Institution or marketing body do you supply your catch usually? 1. Private merchants 2. Fishers Cooperative Association 3. Brokers 4. Fish Production and Marketing Enterprise 5. Private consumers 6. Restaurants 68. How is the fish marketing system? 1. Free market 2. Fixed price 69. Do you think that you get fair price for the fish products you supply? 1. Yes 2. No 70. If your response is no to question no. 69, what would be the probable reasons/____________
No. Type of Fish targeted 1.Yes 2.No
1 Nile perch
2 Tilapia
3 Labeo
4 Barbus
5 Cat fish
6 Bagrus
7 Other, spacifay
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Part Seven (Food security situation)
71. Number of meals taken by majority of the HHs per day? 1. Once 2.twowice 3.threetimes
4.four times 72. Type of meal usually eaten at your household level? 1. Breakfast_______________ 2.lunch _____________ 3.Dinere________________ 73. Is your household income sufficient to feed the household members? 1. Yes 2. No 74. If your response is no to question no.73, when or in which months of the year is your
income from fishing decreases seriously? 75. Coping strategies of the HH during food insecurity?
76. Long term adaptation strategies of the HH? 1. Diversification 2. Seasonal migration. 3. Mortgaging and sale of assets 77. If things continue in this way, what is your hope of life in the future? 1. It will improve 2. It will be worsening 3. It will be the same as today 78. If your response to question no.77 is worsening, what things need to be
improved?__________ 79. What are the Major problems construing of your HH livelihoods? 1______2______3______ Part Eight (POLCY)
80. What things need to be done to improve your livelihood by pertinent government bodies your?
81. Have you ever got training or assistance from the government rural development department? 1. Yes 2.
82. How do you compare the extension system given to farmers and fishermen by the woreda
agricultural and rural development office? ________________ 83. Is the government a friend of the fishermen? 1. Yes 2. No 84. If your response to question number 83 is No, what are your possible reasons? Reasons:
1.__________________ 2_____________________ 85. How do you express your living situation over time in general terms? 1. Improving 2.Worsening 3. No much change
No. Coping and adaptive strategies 1.Yes 2.No
1 Short time dietary change
2 Reducing or rationing consumption
3 Use of credit for consumption
4 Mortgaging or sale of household assets
5 Searching for other income sources
6 Sale of durable assets
7 Distressful migration
8 Expecting support from relatives /friends
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Part Nine (Resource conflict)
86. Do conflicts arise among the fishing communities? 1. Yes 2. No 87. If your response is yes to question No. 86, among whom do conflicts arise? 1. Among fishing individuals 2. Among co-operative members and non member to co-
operatives 5. Between fishermen and local peasants/pastoralists 6. Others specify __________ 88. What are the usual causes of conflict? _______________ 89. How such conflicts are usually solved? 90. Which institutions play the major role in solving such conflicts?
1. Formal governmental Institutions 2. Informal Institutions within the fishing communities
91. Does conflict resolution take to account the needs and rights of every party? 1. Yes 2. No
92. If your response to question number 91 is No, what are the issues which are not taken in to account?
93. Have you ever claimed your rights to be considered by the government bodies? 1. Yes 2. No
94. If your response to question No. 93 is yes, what are some of your demands or questions? 95. Which of these demands were given due response by the pertinent government bodies? 96. Which of your questions are not yet given sufficient response? 97. If your answer to question No 93 is No, is it because your needs are fulfilled?
1. Yes 2.No 98. If your response to question No.97 is No, what are the reasons?
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Annex II
Interview Guide for Officials of Arbaminch &Chamo Fishers’
Cooperative Association
Name___________________ Age____________________ Qualification________________
Position_____________________ 1. General Profile of the Cooperative
• Year of establishment
• No. of members
• Male, Female
• Work division of members
• Office workers
• Marketing personnel
• Fishermen 2. Membership criteria of the cooperative 3. Are there new membership request? How do such issues addressed? 4. What are the major challenges of the Cooperative and its members? 5. What are the questions often rose by the cooperative to be fulfilled by government bodies? 6. How is the response of the respective government bodies? 7. How do you evaluate the income of your cooperative members over time? 8. Do the members of the Cooperative try to diversify their source of income? 9. In what kind of other activities do they participate? 10. What are the major problems you observe in the fishery resource management?
� Fish stock condition � Causes for depletion � Who is responsible? � How can the problem be mitigated? � Who do you think should have right to access the resource? � Which group is the most affected?
11. Resource conflict
• Conflicting Bodies
• Causes of conflict
• Usual Conflict resolution ways
• Suggest ways to resolve conflicts in the future 12. Rural development policies & members to fishers cooperative. How do you see the technical
support, the material support given?
• The woreda Cooperative Bureau in assisting the cooperative?
• How do you perceive the rural development polices in improving the livelihood of the fishing Cooperative members?
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Interview Guide for Experts and Respective Local Government
Body in woreda Cooperative Desk
Name __________________________ Age____________________________ Qualification______________________ Position_______________________________
1. What are your Organization’s main responsibilities? 2. Who usually takes the initiative in organizing a certain group of people in to cooperative? 3. Do the existing rules and regulations allows a new comer to be member of an existing
cooperative? 4. What is the importance of being organized as a fishers Cooperative? 5. Do requests come to your office from non-member of cooperative fishermen either to be
organized as a new fisher’s cooperative or to be member of in the existing Cooperative Association?
6. How many such requests come monthly? Yearly? 7. How many of these get responses? 8. Did you observe conflicts of resource among the Non-members to co-operative &
organized fishermen? 9. How such conflicts do usually resolve? 10. What are the weaknesses you have observed in the existing cooperative association? 11. Give your comments on the livelihood situation of the organized and un organized
fishermen.
Interview Guide for Experts and Respective Local Government Bodies in Woreda
/Zonal/ Agricultural and Rural Development Department
Name, Age, Qualification, Position, and Experience
1. What are the major responsibilities of your department? 2. Who are your direct beneficiaries or stakeholders to whom the department is setup? (Farmers, Pastoralists, Fishers) 3. Are there rules and regulation of fishery management on Lake Chamo? 4. Does the regional government promulgated its respective fisheries development and management plan? 5. What were the efforts being done by the local government and pertinent departments with
regard to the fishery resource management? 6. What are the effects of not having fisheries development and management proclamation and
respective Institutions at regional level? 7. Who are the most affected due to the absence of proclamation and respective institutions?
(Organized, Unorganized/ Non member to cooperative/ Part time fisherman, the consumers) 8. Do your organizations give some sort of fishing license or permission? 9. Are there defined criteria? 10. Who have ever taken this permission?
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11. How do you control and manage the fish resource exploitation? What are your management tools?
12. Do you think that the resource management is effective and efficient? 13. If not what are the major reasons? 14. What do you suggest to alleviate the problem? 15. Are there resource conflicts among the major resource users? 16. How the resource conflicts usually resolved? 17. Does your organization give technical and material back up to the fishermen? 18. Which fishermen are your priorities to take services if any? 19. How often do you give such services? 20. What are the claims usually rose from the fishing communities? 21. How do you compare the living situation of the non-member fishermen and that Organized?
Checklist for Case Study Fishermen
Part One
I. Demographic profile for household heads and household members
• Name, age ,family size , Place of Birth, marriage condition
• Educational background of the household head and his family members
• Labour mobility pattern
Part Two
• History of the family head, how he began fishing.
• Experience in fishing, purpose of fishing and time spent in fishing.
• Contribution of fishing to household income of the family.
• Other livelihood strategies carried by the head of the household and its members
• Species of fish usually targeted.
Overview of household Expenditure
Domestic consumption
• Food, clothing, schooling and health services , Household health situation and the common health problems,
• Saving condition of the family
• Household assets condition
• Condition of house
• Land holding size if any and type of crops grown
Part Three -Social capital
• Participation in social gathering and social expenditure
• How do you value social gatherings and social networks for household livelihood
• The social value of fishing and fishermen in society
• Public services around the Lake
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Part Four - Financial Capital
• Source of credit
• Saving condition
Part Five
What are the major challenges to the household?
• Access to fishery
• Need to be organized as fishermen co-operative
• Fishing assets
• Market
Part Six-
How is the household food security /livelihood trend
• Improving
• Getting worse
• No change What are the signs /expressions/ of improving or getting worse or no change? What are the reasons?
Part Seven-Rural Development policies and the fishermen
• Perceptions towards the rural development policies and institutions.
• Are they supportive to the fishermen
• Perception on the dependability of fishing as source of income to the household?
• What are coping mechanisms and adoptive strategies of the household?
125
Check List for Focus Group Discussion
1. Demographic profile of the focus group
• Name
• Age
• Household size of each member of the focus group 2. General educational and health status of the household members of the group.
• Do they send they children to school?
• Do their families usually get health treatment when face health problems?
• What are the major health problems of the family members? 3. Social gathering
• Participation in Inder, equb, church ceremonies
• How do they value them?
• The importance of these to their life
• Usual source of credit 4. Fishing
• Full time, part time or seasonal fishermen
• Purpose and time spent in fishing
• Contribution of fishing to livelihood of the household
• Other livelihood strategies 5. Fishing assets status 6. Non- fishing assets status
• Land holding
• House
• Durable household goods
• Livestock 7. Household Income
• Fishing
• Non- fishing
• Improving /getting worse/No much change 8. Household expenditure 9. Food and livelihood security/ insecurity situation 10. Major challenges of the focus group
o Access to fishery resource o Fishing asset o Credit o Market o Resource depletion o Weak government support
12. What are the household coping and adaptive strategies? 13. Resource conflicts and claims 14. Response of the government 15. Perception to rural development policies and institutions
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Checklist for discussion with Nech Sar National Parks
Representative
Name _______________________________ Age_________________________________ Qualification__________________________ Position______________________________
1. General profile of the Park
• It’s Area, Boundary, Major flora and Fauna
• Current status of the Park
2. Part and Area of the lake demarcated as part of the park
3. Relation of the Park Administration with
• the local government organs
• local communities
4. Conflict of resource
o Major conflicting bodies
o Cause
o History of conflict
o Magnitude of conflict
o Ways of resolving conflicts
o Future plans to resolve conflict
5. Resource management plan of the park.
• Is it participatory?
• Does it take in to account the resource dependence of the fishing communities?
6. Policy and institutional problems to protect the park boundary that is demarcated as
park boundary
7. Comment on the sustainable livelihood of the fishing communities
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Annex III
General Profile of Key Informants
No Name Qualification Position and place of work
1 Abera Kassa M.Sc. in fishery science Expert in Livestock and Fisheries Resource Development Department of Arbaminch Zuria Woreda
2 Alemayehu Gezahegn Diploma Head of the Co-operative and Input Disk of Arbaminch Zuria Woreda
3 Asmelash Siyum Diploma Expert in small- scall Business Promotion Department of Arbaminch Town Transitional Administration
4 Bimerew Tadesse B.Sc. in Marine Biology MSC in fisheries Head of the Agricultural Desk within the ARDD of the Gamo Gofa Zone.
5 Girma Timer B.Sc. Ecologist and systematic zoologist Head of Nech Sar National Park
6 Kanko Katama Diploma Head of the Livestock and Fisheries Resource Development Department in Arbaminch Zuria Woreda of ARDD
7 Mesfin Teklay M.Sc. (socio economist) Community coordinator of African Parks
8 Samuel Sata 12 grade complete Head of the Board of trust of the AFCA
9 Saynesu Ayele B.Sc. in Animal Science Head of the technical section of the Arbaminch Branch of the Fishery Production and Marketing Enterprise and Representative of the Enterprise
10 Sofoniyase Desta Diploma Representative of the Arbaminch Town Transitional Administration
11 Terefe Guche Diploma Expert in Livestock and Fisheries Resource Development Department in Arbaminch Zuria Woreda ARDD.
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Annex IV
General Profile of Case Households
Case No
Number of Household
head
Sex Age Kebele Ethnicity Family size
Educational level
Me member ship to Fishers co-
operative
Major occupation
Place of Birth
1 Addisu Asha
M 60 01 Gofa 8 Read and write
Member (AFCA)
Full time fishermen
Mellokoza
2 Sharafo Shanka
M 43 08 Gofa 6 Read and write
(AFCA) was
member and
currently leaving
Was full time
fisherman now
shifting to farming
Mellokoza
3 Gebere Gaga
M 38 01 Gamo 6 5th grade Non-member
Full time fisherman
Bonke Geresse
4 Tadesse Assefa
M 25 10 Oromo 3 8th grade Non-member
" Kemba
5 Dereje Dana
M 35 04 Gamo 7 11th grade Non-member
" Bonke Geresse
6 Firew Taye M 28 08 Amara 6 8th grade Member (CFCA)
" Arbaminch town
7 Dessalegn Wolka
M 57 12 Gamo 2 4th grade Member (AFCA)
" Bonke Geresse
8 Beletech Lo’a
F 30 08 Wolayta 10 Read and write
- House wife of a
fisherman
Shelle
9 Kassech Engida
F 26 09 Gofa 6 7th grade - " Gofa
10 Abyot M 30 01 Gamo 4 4th grade Non-member
Full time fisherman
Bonke Geresse
i
