Status and Challenges of Provenance in Sri-Lankan Small Scale Tuna Industry

 This study intended to explore the present status of provenance of export-oriented tuna value chain, to identify the challenges for provenance of small-scale tuna fish industry and to identify the potentials for a decentralized provenance mechanism. Mixed method approach was utilized by gathering quantitative data from Ceylon tuna exporting companies and qualitative data had been gathered through focus group discussions with downstream, midstream, and upstream actors. Major gap in the existing system is that there is no real time data uploading and authentication by upstream and midstream actors. The exporter dominates the traceability and authentication process lowering the credibility and increasing chances of IUU fishing, financial frauds, mislabeling, increased food miles, lower worker welfare, and quality and safety verification issues. Challenges such as lower technological literacy, unaffordability of technological instruments, unawareness of the importance of responsible fisheries, low competency and the income orientation of small-scale fishermen limited the decentralized provenance mechanism. Potentials for decentralized provenance included the demand for traceable, authenticated, and ethically sourced product from high end markets, sustainability certification, and Fisheries Improvement Projects. These certifications will make decentralized authenticated provenance mechanism a mandatory requirement.  </p

Contribution of Woodlands for Rural Livelihoods: A Study in Agro-ecological Zones IM2b (Belihuloya) and DL1a (Kaltota)

Woodlands support rural livelihoods by providing means of income generation for the rural inhabited close to these woodlands. The objective of the study was to identify the contribution of woodlands for rural livelihoods and thereby to generate an initiative to conserve woodlands by the village community themselves. Data were gathered using an initial transaction walk, a series of focus group discussions with elder farmers of the area, and digital storytelling technique. Story telling activity allowed participants to express their views on the subject freely while the session was recorded by the researcher. A structured questionnaire was used to verity the qualitative data gathered. 10 individuals from each Agro-ecological zone was selected for data collection. Natural woodlands and forest plantations contributed significantly in managing the household economy (by selling timber for construction work, firewood for tea factories, selling underutilized fruits/wild bee honey, Apis dorsata honey, sand mining, eco-tourism), established family food and nutrition security (natural fruits/vegetables/green leaves/yams etc. and sources of wild collected meat), and provides a source of medicinal herbs used in indigenous medicine, promotes psychological wellbeing (providing playground for kids/youngsters to play, bonding among women while collecting firewood), supports crop cultivation (source of timber for making agricultural tools and equipment, i.e hoe, mammoty, sickle, etc.) and supports in carrying out other household chores (firewood for cooking, making tooth brushes and tooth picks, making kitchen utensils; wooden spoons, motor and pestle, landscaping with wild ornamental plants). Wood species identified from each woodland for timber purposes were recorded and classified under the categories of super luxury class, luxury class, special upper class, special class, class 1, class 2, class 3 and class 3 lower grade. The challenge of maintaining food and nutrition security during the pandemic was made easy by the woodlands. A single woodland renders multiple functions owing to the high crop richness and diversity. Keywords: Crop diversity, Rural livelihoods, Timber, Woodland

Invisible Labor in coastal fisheries gender perspectives from small scale fishers in Mullaitheevu district

women play a significant role in small-scale fisheries worldwide.Similalry,with the resettlement of families in Northen Province  of Sri lanka,and an icreeased level of unemployment,most of the vulnerable groups have shifted themselves to coastals fishing,portraying snall-scale fisheries as a crucial livelihood meeans in Mullaiteevu.Hence this study intended to identify the role of gender in small-scale fisheries in Mullaiteevu with a particular concern for women in the value chain.Primary data for the analysis wa  gathered through a survey using a simple random sampling technique.   In the survey,200 small-scale fisheries in the main fishing grounds of Mullaitivu North,Nayaru,and Kollilai were interviewed with a structured questionnaire.Further qualitative data were recorded through informal discussions with selected respindents.According to the results,the value chain had distinctive gendered roles for men and women.Men specifically engaged with marine harvesting and fishing stage that demanded more physical strength.The part of women mainly focused on posharvest stages(sorting,gutting,cleaning,repairing nets),preharvest stages(net making),and a few of the women-headed households engaged in normed masculine fish harvesting.Though the role of women in the value chain contributes toward increased economic gains and reducing the post-harvest losses,their contribution is under-evaluated.Women received less pay for the same work and had littel decision-making power.gendered market forces were also revealed with poor market access and poor bargaining power among fisherwomen.This issue is also affected by cultural procsriptions,religion,and caste.Womr=en play a vital role in the value chain amidst the unpaid household chores of caring for the children and families.Hence the women's respresentation in invisible,yet their role remains uncountable.</p