Abstract
Mussel farming has gained popularity along the southwest coast of India with more than 3,000 women becoming owners of mussel farms. Vasanth Kripa and Vazhoor Gopalan Surendranathan show how training alone was not sufficient to motivate villagers to adopt a new technology; instead visual observations of the success of the technology are essential for removing the ‘risk aversion’ attitude. Support from the government prompted women to form self-help groups. This led to group farming, which helped women overcome social inhibitions and prove their competence.
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References
Frangoudes, Katia and Joan O'Doherty (2005) ‘Legal Recognition of Women's Contribution in Fisheries and Aquaculture in the European Union’, World Fish Center, paper presented at Global Symposium on Gender and Fisheries. pp. 139–148.
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Acknowledgements
We are thankful to the Director CMFRI for the support and to the women SHGs and other coastal villagers in the mussel farming and marketing network who have very patiently spared their time to share theirexperience. The encouragement from Dr Meryl Williams and the efforts by Dr Choo Poh Sze and Dr Barbara Nowak to improve the manuscript is also gratefully acknowledged.
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Argues that training alone is not sufficient to motivate villagers to adopt new fishing technologies
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Kripa, V., Surendranathan, V. Social Impact and Women Empowerment through Mussel Farming in Kerala, India. Development 51, 199–204 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1057/dev.2008.5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/dev.2008.5