Blue Revolution versus Fishers Livelihood: Review of the Deep Sea Fishing Policy Embracing Multinationals in Indian Waters

The article is a critical inference linking fishers and fishery resources with respect to the recent suggestions on the Deep Sea Fishing Policy of the government of India. As a sustainable policy option in the fishing sector, the paper tries to illumine that any policy recommendation should be fishers-centric and fishery-resource-centric. Though the livelihood implications in the fishing sector is not a novel issue but the proposal of the Meenakumari Commission Report, which recommends for a moratorium to the 200-500 meters area inter alia opening up of the sea beyond 500 meters to the multinationals for exploiting the resource potential will have its own ramification in the coastal fishery, firstly in the form of livelihood threats and later in the form of resource depletion and concomitant issues. The report tries to address the poor fishermen by categorising the fish economy into a layering process and thereby juxtaposing this to agriculture and industry based on its scales of operation is indeed helpful for focusing on livelihood, poverty reduction and welfare measures. But the issue is that the other recommendations attract immediate attention as the clout of the multinationals and the capitalist entrepreneurs is too strong compared to the weak lobbying power of the poor fishers. Any policy recommendation devoid of the fisher’s livelihood concerns will have far reaching impacts in the coastal areas of India in the days to come. Keywords: Blue revolution, livelihood security, Meenakumari Report, sustainable development, Deep Sea Fishing Polic

Marine Product Exports of Kerala in the ASEAN India Free Trade Area: Possibilities and Challenges

In the backdrop of issues encountered by the marine product exports from Kerala in the traditional strongholds of the European Union and the United States, there is a need to target newer markets. The ASEAN India Trade in Goods Agreement (TIGA) though proposes to liberalize trade between India and the ASEAN member nations, fails to deliver greater market access for our marine products in the markets of the ASEAN nations. This can be attributed to factors such as the lower prevailing MFN base rate in the ASEAN nations, tariff reduction commitments reciprocated by them being lesser than India’s offers, inclusion of our prominent items of export in the restrictive lists of most of the ASEAN nations etc. Export forecast suggests that this is a market to be reckoned, which in turn stipulates the need to secure greater concessions and preferential treatment for our marine product exports in the ASEAN nations to capitalize on the gains that have been made. Keywords: food safety standards, marine products export, tariff, preferential treatment, seasonalit

Standard of Living and Community Perception in the Community Based Ecotourism (CBET) Sites of Kerala: An Inter Zone Analysis

This study is an attempt to situate the quality of life and standard of living of local communities in ecotourism destinations inter alia their perception on forest conservation and the satisfaction level of the local community. 650 EDC/VSS members from Kerala demarcated into three zones constitute the data source. Four variables have been considered for evaluating the quality of life of the stakeholders of ecotourism sites, which is then funneled to the income-education spectrum for hypothesizing into the SLI framework. Zone-wise analysis of the community members working in tourism sector shows that the community members have benefited totally from tourism development in the region as they have got both employments as well as secured livelihood options. Most of the quality of life-indicators of the community in the eco-tourist centres show a promising position. The community perception does not show any negative impact on environment as well as on their local culture. Keywords: Kerala, Community Based Ecotourism, Community Perception, Community Participation, Standard of Living, Local Communitie

From Market Concentration to Market Diversification: WTO and the Marine Products Exports from Kerala- Using ARIMA Method

Marine product export does something pivotal in the fish export economy of Kerala. The post WTO period has witnessed a strengthening of food safety and quality standards applied on food products in the developed countries. In the case of the primary importers, like the EU, the US and Japan, market actions will have far reaching reverberations and implications for the marine product exports from developing nations. The article focuses on Kerala’s marine product exports that had been targeting the markets of the EU, the US and Japan, and the concomitant shift in markets owing to the stringent stipulations under the WTO regime. Despite the overwhelming importance of the EU in the marine product exports of the state, the pronounced influence of irregular components on the quantity and value of marine product exports to the EU in the post WTO period raises concern. However,  the tendencies of market diversification validated by the forecast generated for the emerging markets of the SEA, the MEA and others, to an extent, allay the pressures on the marine product export sector of the state which had hitherto relied heavily on the markets of the EU, the US and Japan. Keywords: marine products, WTO, market concentration, ARIMA, market diversificatio

Fishery Commodity Chain Trap vis-à-vis Global Quality Standards: An Analysis of the Kerala Marine Fishery

The article examines the commodity chain trap of marine fishery in Kerala, at both material and value terms, and its ramifications in the globalised fishery chains. The marketing chains both material and value, are very complex in nature since they involve many types of markets and large number of intermediaries and participants. The article also scrutinizes the sensitivity of consumers’ and country’s responses in terms of dietary and hygienic standards relating to seafood trade. In addition, it discusses the devastating effect about the recent stipulations like the US Bio-Terrorism Act and Shrimp anti-dumping duty on the Kerala fishery products. Keywords: commodity chain trap, marketing chain, marine fishery, quality assurance standards, sea food trade, material chain, price spread, value chain, bio-terrorism, shrimp anti-dumping

Socio-Economic Aspects of Sustainable Ecotourism Development: The Case of Kerala

The paper is an attempt to shed light on the socio-economic aspects of the local communities on the development of ecotourism in Kerala. Most of the local communities in the ecotourism destinations are tribes who have been excluded from the mainstream society and are not a part of Kerala’s overall development setting. The paper also tries to situate the community perception on the sustainable livelihood of ecotourism sites of Kerala. Data for the study is obtained from a primary survey by dividing the ecotourism destinations in Kerala into three zones, 230 from south zone, 220 from central zone  and 200 from north zone  with a total sample size of 650 based on the notion of community based ecotourism initiatives of the state. The result of the study confirms that ecotourism has helped to enhance the livelihood of the marginalized community. With well-knit policies it is possible to tag ecotourism of Kerala as an important tourism destination in the global tourism map. Key Words: Perception, Livelihood, Marginalized community, Community based Ecotourism, Sustainabilit

Tourist Profiles and Characteristics vis-à-vis Market Segmentation of Ecotourism Destinations in Kerala

Kerala, a classic ecotourism destination in India, provides significant opportunities for livelihood options to thepeople who depend on the resources from the forest and those who live in difficult terrains. This article analysesthe socio-demographic, psychographic and travel behavior patterns and its sub-characteristics in the backgroundof foreign and domestic tourists. The data source for the article has been obtained from a primary survey of 350randomly chosen tourists, 175 each from domestic and foreign tourists, visiting Kerala’s ecotourists destinationsduring August-December 2010-11. Several socio-demographic, psychographic and life style factors have beenidentified based on the inference from field survey. There is considerable divergence in most of the factorsidentified in the case of domestic and international tourists. Post-trip attributes like satisfaction and intentions toreturn show that the ecotourism destinations in Kerala have significant potential that can help communities in theregion.Keywords: Tourists, Ecotourism, Socio-demographic, Psychographic, Lifestyle, Motivation, Satisfaction,Revisi

Intra-Tribal Differences in Social Progress of the Tribes in Kerala: Realities and the Need for Inclusive Actions

The tribes in Kerala are continuously encountering threats of development due to lack of ownership and control of the means of production, illiteracy, occupational immobility etc. They form the most deprived and vulnerable group, engendering indelible dark spots in the glorified development experience of the state, widely known as ‘the Kerala model’. Situate this community from the outliers level to the central tendency stage is of outmost necessity both in terms of equity and inclusive standpoints. This is because the notion of development has changed dramatically from just material attainment to human development which is about enlarging people’s choices and enables them to live long qualitatively and creatively in every walks of social life in the society. The article is linked to the theoretical framework of social exclusion and poverty as there has a culture of poverty among the tribes that influences all aspects of their life including social, economic, cultural, educational and developmental. The article is based on primary data using stratified random sampling method encompassing 300 samples collected from 5 clusters from Wayanad and 3 clusters from Palakkad. The article tries to explore development of the community based on the methodological framework proposed by Social Progress Imperative groups in a dichotomous framework of tribal and intra-tribal levels using Social Progress Index (SPI) embedding three basic areas of  ‘Basic Human Needs’, ‘wellbeing’ and  ‘Opportunity’. The empirical results obtained from the study shows that there is marked differences in the social progress levels of different tribal sub-groups of Kerala. Keywords: Tribes, Social Progress Index, poverty, social exclusion, SL

Health, Education and Employment in a Forward-Backward Dichotomy Based on Standard of Living Index for the Tribes in Kerala

The Paper unfolds the paradox that exists in the tribal community with respect to the development indicators and hence tries to cull out the difference in the standard of living of the tribes in a dichotomous framework, forward and backward. Four variables have been considered for ascertaining the standard of living and socio-economic conditions of the tribes. The data for the study is obtained from a primary survey in the three tribal predominant districts of Wayanad, Idukki and Palakkad. Wayanad was selected for studying six tribal communities (Paniya, Adiya, Kuruma, Kurichya, Urali and Kattunaika), Idukki for two communities (Malayarayan and Muthuvan) and Palakkad for one community (Irula). 500 samples from 9 prominent tribal communities of Kerala have been collected according to multistage proportionate random sample framework. The analysis highlights the disproportionate nature of socio-economic indicators within the tribes in Kerala owing to the failure of governmental schemes and assistances meant for their empowerment. The socio-economic variables, such as education, health, and livelihood have been augmented with SLI based on correlation analysis gives interesting inference for policy options as high educated tribal communities are positively correlated with high SLI and livelihood. Further, each of the SLI variable is decomposed using Correlation and Correspondence analysis for understanding the relative standing of the nine tribal sub communities in the three dimensional framework of high, medium and low SLI levels. Tribes with good education and employment (Malayarayan, Kuruma and Kurichya) have a better living standard and hence they can generally be termed as forward tribes whereas those with a low or poor education, employment and living standard indicators (Paniya, Adiya, Urali, Kattunaika, Muthuvans and Irula) are categorized as backward tribes. Keywords: tribes, health, education, livelihood, standard of living index, correspondence analysi

Dynamics of poverty and household economic development among the socially excluded groups in the bio-diversity hotspot of Wayanad, Kerala

The study tries to establish a linkage between poverty and historical factors with high prominence on material assets as well socio-cultural advantages. Once this is established, the role of institutional interventions that have a profound influence on the entry into and exit from poverty of households and individuals is analyzed. This is done to identify poverty at three different levels: individual, household and community. The spiraling dynamic propagation of poverty is embedded with a vector of inter-linked factors