Project Detail

Promoting fish drying using efficient biomass fired dryers.

The proposed project was undertaken with a view to promote fish drying using efficient biomass fish dryers. This project brought forward two approaches of drying fish. The first approach was of sun drying the fish, and the other one was electric drying of fish. The sun drying of fish was done either on floors or on beaches, which involved low investment and no additional energy input. The disadvantage with this method was the intermittent nature of solar energy throughout the day and different times of the year. It also led to contamination of the food material by dirt or insects, causing spoilage and losses etc. The net result was low hygiene and contamination of fish, and the only alternative was to have electric drying, which was a high investment technology and used only in industries. Thus, the project aimed at providing biomass-fired dryers for drying various products such as vegetables, fruits, herbs, spices and fish. The main thrust behind this project was to introduce fish

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Project Snapshot

Grantee:

Technology Informatics Design Endeavour

Country:

India

Area Of Work:

Climate Change Mitigation

Operational Phase:

Phase 2

Grant Amount:

US$ 25,053.00

Co-Financing Cash:

US$ 2,325.00

Co-Financing in-Kind:

Project Number:

SGP/GEF/IND/OP2/02/KAR05

Start Date:

2/2003

End Date:

7/2004

Status:

Satisfactorily Completed

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Project Characteristics and Results

Promoting Public Awareness of Global Environment

? Women empowerment to manage and use an environment friendly asset, for its own upliftment, was achieved to a large extent. ? Biomass fired dryers replaced electric dryers: The project initiative to shift towards the use of renewable source of energy was attained.

Capacity - Building Component

Capacity building was one of the major components of project implementation. Women members of SHGs were trained in usage of dryer, production of value added products, packing, storage, enterprise management and profit sharing.

Significant Participation of Indigenous Peoples

Fisherwomen identified as project partners they participated in all the training programs and meetings very actively Others engaged in drying operations (who could pay for the use of dryer) they played a significant role in Promoting fish drying using efficient biomass fired dryers for better livelihoods

Policy Impact

The Government has an indirect impact as the report has been prepared on the status of fish drying operations in Kerala and a training manual on fish drying for fisherwomen was prepared. Ernakulam, Trichur and Kozhikode were identified as potential districts for demonstration and replication of the fish drying operations. A marketing network involving the local agents had been established to market the dried fish products. These enterprises are now running profitably through the women SHG members.

Replication of project activities

The probability of replicability of this project was indeed very high. Communities engaged in coconut and arecanut drying had commercially exploited this technology. Biomass dried fish fetched a higher price compared to conventionally dried fish, keeping in mind the hygiene and quality conditions. The quantity of dried fish that this project produced was small, and innovative strategies were evolved for marketing the same at attractive prices. The extent of replicability highly depended on correct estimation of the market and price of dried fish.

Emphasis on Sustainable Livelihoods

The project was sustainable in the sense that, it introduced a new, hygienic and environment friendly process of drying fish, and it being qualitatively superior, commanded a higher price and increased the profitability of the operations. Another advantage of this project was that, it highly reduced the processing costs. Biomass based dryers even offered scope for the fisherwomen to generate income by drying agricultural produce like coconut, jackfruit, herbs and so on.

Notable Community Participation

The women members of the community had actively involved themselves in the project through the SHGs created by the state government under the Kutumbashree programme.

Gender Focus

This project had been implemented through the women SHGs with a strong focus on the empowerment of women, by training them in processing of marine produce and managing rural enterprise.

Project Results

? A report on the status of fish drying operations in Kerala and a training manual on fish drying for fisherwomen was prepared. Ernakulam, Trichur and Kozhikode were identified as potential districts for demonstration and replication of the fish drying operations.
? Four sites were identified to initiate fish drying enterprise. The local NGOs and government departments were contacted.
? Self Help Groups were formed amongst the fisher women and savings and credit were initiated. The SHGs were federated into Dryer management committees and four drying sites were established.
? Extensive capacity building training and exposure visits were conducted for the SHG members on operation and maintenance of the units.
? A marketing network involving the local agents had been established to market the dried fish products. These enterprises are now running profitably through the women SHG members.

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