Fisheries sector strengthening program

While India has made remarkable progress in reducing absolute poverty in recent years, including by allocating significant resources to social protection programs, the COVID-19 epidemic has delayed the course of poverty reduction. India’s fisheries sector plays an important role in the country’s socio-economic development. About 12 million people, from the marginally weaker section of the population, work directly in the production part of the sector, and an additional 13 million in the associated activities of the sector.

In 2015-16, the Indian government launched the “Blue Revolution”, a program designed to ensure sustainable development and better management of the fisheries sector, followed by a new flagship program in 2021, the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY), aimed at promoting sustainable growth in the fisheries sector.

The proposed Fisheries Recovery project will be implemented under the sub scheme of Pradhan Mantri Matsya Kisan Samridhi Sah Yojna over a period of next 4 years, to address the weaknesses and fragmentation developed during the Covid 19 pandemic. The project aims in laying the foundation for medium- to long-term institutional changes in support of sector transformation towards resilience and sustainability.

Moreover, this project is the first focusing on the fisheries in India for AFD. This project would be a direct response to the Indo-French commitment made by Indian Prime Minister Modi and President Macron on 22 August 2019, materialized by the publication on 20 February 2022 of an India-France roadmap on the blue economy and ocean governance. This new relationship with the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying would offer many prospects in this sector (management of fisheries resources, eco-fishing port for example).
 

The project is supporting the recovery of the fisheries sector for micro and small businesses through increased access to credit and insurance systems, improved value chains and improved safety of fishery and aquaculture products. This is a national project, thus it is covering several states.

The project will consist of four components:

• Component 1: Facilitating access to credit and reducing risks
• Component 2: Improving the efficiency of value chains
• Component 3: Adoption and expansion of quality systems
• Component 4: Project Management and Coordination

This project has three expected outcomes: (i) increased access to credit for micro and small enterprises in the fisheries sector and broad adherence to insurance systems, (ii) improved efficiency of fisheries value chains, and (iii) better availability of quality fish. These interventions will ultimately improve the resilience of micro-enterprises to future shocks, create and preserve jobs, especially for women; they will promote more sustainable business growth for certain value chains; and strengthen institutions to better rebuild after the COVID-19 crisis.

The main beneficiaries of the project are vulnerable micro and small businesses, especially those run by women. Including, (i) 540 000 people including 150 000 women will be assisted in accessing financing, (ii) 100 000 people working in shrimp farming will be supported to purchase insurance products and better manage the risks associated with their operations; (iii) 148 000 people will be supported in the relaunch of production and marketing; and, (iv) 80 000 people providing quality fish products will be supported by the project. Indirect benefits in the form of knowledge, improved fish safety and traceability standards, and a strengthened operating environment will benefit the entire sector, which employs approximately 25 million fishery workers.