DFM Kerala scoping exploratory study
Metadata
abstract
Dried fish has long been an important source of protein in Kerala, especially for fishing communities during lean season. It has also had a niche market among fish eaters residing away from the sea coast. Dried fish has been traditionally produced by fishing communities, when the excess catch is dried by the women of the households and stored for use later or marketed during times when fresh catches were unavailable for sale. This report communicates the findings of scoping field research carried out from 27th January to 1st February 2020 in Ernakulam district of Kerala and in Aroor, Alappuzha district (Aroor borders Ernakulam district). Due to COVID-19 pandemic related restrictions from about mid- March in the state, the follow up information was mostly gathered by communicating with stakeholders over several phone calls. The sites visited included a range of dried fish production units and sellers with respect to scale, technology and innovation are concerned. They included traditional dried fish producers and production yards (small scale, home based and large scale), traditional producers willing to look for better drying technologies, innovative dried fish producers and dried fish traders selling in traditional and modern conditions. There are a number of organizational variations, which also are “gendered” in terms of how women and men are involved therein. Interactions were carried out with several traders across the markets to get an idea of the different modes of operation different traders employ. A couple of enterprises using modern driers for drying fish as well as several sites where fish is dried using traditional sun-based methods.
series
title
Report of the Scoping Study on Dried Fish Value Chain in Kerala, India
short title
date
2020
author(s)
Nikita Gopal and Holly M Hapke
contributor(s)
P Shruti and Jiswin Joseph
