Gender Roles and Livelihood Analysis of Women in Dry Fish Processing: A Study in Coastal Odisha

This study was undertaken to document the socioeconomic and livelihood profile, gender roles in fish curing, trade and marketing and perceived needs of women in dry fish processing in coastal Odisha. Majority of the respondents were middle-aged and had more than 10 years of experience in dry fish production and handling, with high social participation through self help groups (SHGs) and moderate decision making power in family and their trade. Majority of them (72.41%) were illiterates. Annually, they spend about 225-250 days in dry fish production process of low to medium valued fishes. Dry fish production was the primary occupation and secondary occupations include wage earnings in shrimp exporting units, ice production units, net mending, poultry, prawn peeling, farming, etc. Non-availability of good quality raw materials, lack of alternative drying methods during rainy season, lack of proper infrastructural facilities for drying, contamination with sand, microbes, attack of insects, birds and animals, non-availability of proper storage facilities, inadequate institutional credit facilities, exploitation by middlemen and inadequate transportation facilities were the major constraints perceived by the respondents. Most of them were not aware of the improved practices including packaging and quality assessment.