The Contribution of Small Scale Fisheries for Rural Livelihoods: the Experiences of Fish for All Ethiopia

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In many  developing countries, small-scale inland fisheries are   important  to  the  livelihoods  of  the  poor,  contributing  to  both income and  food security. It is characterized by complex unregulated open  access fisheries, multi-species, multi-gear exploitation systems, and  large  numbers of fishers  operating  on  it.  The  nature of poverty and its dynamics within a particular small-scale fishery is important to intervene development projects for understanding and  implementing development projects on  fisheries. In Ethiopia, small scale fisheries have  been experienced  everywhere around rivers,  dams/reservoirs and  lakes where  the  activity is mostly of traditional type.  These all complexities on  small scale fisheries derives Fish For  All  (FFA) to support the  fisheries resource for  nutritional  and  livelihood improvements to the community. The present study focuses on Lake Beseka and  Fincha reservoir fishers where  the catch  is used both for home  consumption and income generation. Assessments were conducted on the status of small scale fisheries development activity on  these user groups. The  result indicated that  the  average annual fish production level reached 6 and  32 tons for Fincha and  Beseka, respectively. Fish consumption differs significantly (P<0.05)  between the  two  user  groups. Fincha  fishers'  group  used majority  of  their product  (57%)  for home  than  the  Beseka beneficiaries (6.7%)  and hence the  annual percapita fish consumption was 32 kg which is by far greater than  the Ethiopian average (<1 kg). Apart from home  use, the beneficiaries marketed their fish to the local community and  other market    places.   The   proportion   of   fish   distributed   to   the   local community  and  to  the  central  market   was 80:20  for  Beseka and 38:62  for Fincha. The  two user groups generate an  average income of more than 700 thousand birr annually. The beneficiaries have improved their livelihoods and are  contributing their part in the supply of quality protein.