SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS OF THE LITERATURE REVIEW PREPARED AS BACKGROUND TO THE MEETING

25. Graeme MacFadyen presented the findings of a literature review that he had prepared jointly with Emily Corcoran.^[2] The reviewed covered eight main topics:

• the applied methodology and findings of studies to analyse poverty in fishing communities;

• a synthesis of the findings of lessons-learned studies on applying the SLA to fisheries and rural development;

• a synthesis of reviews of using the SLA in Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers;

• the “commons” nature of fisheries: cause or remedy of poverty?

• the special characteristics of small-scale fishers’ vulnerability and coping mechanisms;

• the impact of technological change on efficiency, equity and poverty;

• the role of fishworkers’ organizations: a voice for the poor?

• the critical factors for artisanal/small-scale fishers to get out of poverty.

26. It is clear from the 300 or so references reviewed, that there are very few studies which examine the impacts of different issues on poverty in an empirical way, and which actually define and measure poverty. Furthermore, those that do, generally only measure changes in income. Much of the older literature refers to income [poverty], and not the broader concept of poverty as proposed in the SLA. As is now realized, poor people have many criteria of well-being and deprivation. Bangladesh, India and the Philippines are the countries that have been the focus of most work, along with a considerable body of literature on West Africa. There remains a rather theoretical focus of much of the work surrounding sustainable livelihoods.

27. The whole concept of poverty has been broadened in recent years. Recognising that it is multidimensional, dynamic and very complex radically affects how it is measured, what approaches are used to tackle it, and its determinants etc. A key realization is that simple sectoral approaches are unlikely to be successful. The broader concept of poverty means that it is very difficult and time-consuming to measure, define and understand the causes of poverty, but efforts to do so are essential if interventions and policy initiatives are to be successful. Poverty is not a homogeneous phenomenon, but varies between individuals, households and communities, over time, as well as according to people’s definition of what poverty is. While poverty traps in fishing communities certainly exist, there is often rapid movement in and out of poverty within communities, as well as people becoming more or less poor. There is usually great differentiation of wealth within any particular group.

28. The study of poverty is very old and poverty alleviation has of course been realized in many contexts long before the SL approach was designed. Nevertheless, the overwhelming impression from the SL literature (perhaps understandably) is that SL approaches are an improvement on conventional sectoral efforts, facilitate the incorporation of inherent complexities, and are applicable in all sectors and with different groups of people in different countries, cultures and at different levels. However, the fact that the SLA is such a new approach to our understanding of poverty means that most of lessons learned are more to do with design and implementation of approaches and interventions, rather than with the results of such programmes in terms of factors to help people out of poverty, key determinants of poverty etc. An important outcome of the SL process is the stimulation of continual critical analysis, challenging ideas and practices that develop the debate. PRSPs have so far made little explicit reference to livelihoods in small-scale fisheries. While the SLA is thought to offer great potential to contribute to improving the relevance of PRSPs, there is some concern over the extent to which SL principles are currently incorporated in PRSPs.

29. Vulnerability seems to be at least as important as poverty, and while related, is distinct from poverty. Policy must focus on preventing people from falling into poverty as much as helping them to get out of it. Vulnerability appears to be increasing in small-scale fisheries, and lacks a well-developed theory and accepted indicators and methods of measurement. There do not appear to be many obvious generalizable findings in the literature about vulnerability and coping mechanisms.

30. While in the earlier fisheries economics literature, common property was often equated with open access, there prevails now a much better understanding of the need to clearly distinguish between different governance regimes including open access, unregulated common property (i.e. de facto open access), weakly to strongly regulated common property and private property regimes. The influence of a particular governance regime on poverty has received little specific attention in the fisheries literature, and what is available in the general literature on that topic relates to the possible trade-offs between efficiency and equity (see above paragraphs 22 to 24). Furthermore, it is important to consider the role of the State itself from which different governance structures are derived or endorsed. For example, what will be the State’s policy with regard to matters of resource usage and wealth distribution, and how will a weak State implement the CCRF.

31. Technology has been shown to have had significant equity and poverty implications, both in terms of small-scale fishers loosing out to industrial vessels, but also within the small-scale fisheries sector through increasing debt to middlemen etc. and increased vulnerability. For technology to assist with poverty reduction (whether it be aquaculture, marketing or production technology), it must be “appropriate” and not “top-down”; this has too often failed to be the case. Some simple technology can have great benefits to the poor e.g. use of VHF radios for surveillance, safety etc. The poor are often not early adopters of technology due to their marginal circumstances and attitudes to risk, so programmes incorporating the use of technology must specifically assist the poor to ensure that the benefits do not accrue to the better off.

32. There are few empirical studies on the impacts of political fisher’s organizations on poverty and the poor, even through they have certainly affected policy changes in a number of countries. Studies on economic organizations such as cooperatives, show that they are often of limited benefit, except where such organizations are locally based with a strong identification by fishers with the aims and motivations of the organizations concerned, good leadership and appropriate facilities.

33. The literature includes a huge range of factors that various authors view as being particularly important in getting small-scale fishers out of poverty. Few are backed up by hard empirical study, and those that are, focus almost exclusively on income poverty. It is not possible to prioritize between the various factors claimed as important for reducing poverty in small-scale fisheries, but control over access, reduced power of middlemen, sustainable exploitation, protection from industrial vessels, and alternative employment opportunities are perhaps the most widely supported.

34. A few research requirements and gaps thought to be of particular importance are:

• Research is urgently needed into the type and prevalence of poverty in fishing communities, and its main determinants. What is the relationship between assets, and how can changes in poverty be best assessed using the SLA? In addition, how does poverty in small-scale fisheries actually equate to poverty in other sectors?

• How can cross-sectoral responses be improved (e.g. health and fisheries)? And what are the means by which barriers (for example breaching sectoral limitations) to the adoption of the SLA at institutional level can be removed?

• Vulnerability, such a key factor in livelihoods, is very little understood in the fisheries sector. In addition, little is known as to how the vulnerability of fishers compares to those in other sectors, and between countries/regions, what are the main determinants and coping mechanisms, how has vulnerability changed over time, what are the most effective ways of reducing it, etc.?

• Research is needed on the contribution of common property resources to livelihood strategies, a better understanding of how access is negotiated and eroded (through power relations), and who depends most on them?

• A better understanding is required of the impacts of technology on the poor in more than just income terms. Which forms of technology are most pro-poor, and what are the attitudes of the poor to technology?

• If fisher organizations are to be supported through programme interventions, a much better understanding is required about the actual impacts of such organizations on the poor, on which types of organizations are likely to have the greatest benefit, and on which groups are excluded from particular organizations (i.e. are they the poorest of the poor?).

35. Although there are specificities of the fisheries sector that should of course be borne in mind in any research, given the broad scope of the SLA it should not be forgotten that the fisheries sector can learn a great deal from other fields of academic research as well as from more general models of development.