US$5 Million Grant Approved for Livelihoods of Tsunami-Affected Poor in India

MANILA, PHILIPPINES - ADB has approved a US$5 million grant to help fishing communities and others affected by the December 2004 tsunami in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, India, to restore and diversify their livelihood.

The grant project, from the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction, financed by the Government of Japan, will pilot new ways to generate income in the fishing communities in selected districts that have less risk, are more productive, and are less vulnerable to natural disasters.

It will set up a fully serviced fishing village complex that will help about 1,000 people and will serve as a model for replication in other districts. The fishing village will support a range of fishing-related activities, such as fish curing, vending, marketing and trading, and even ice production supply.

The village will also nurture fish processing and marketing through special outlets, as well as new low-energy fish processing techniques and coastal market infrastructure for hygienic fish marketing. In addition, cooperative retail outlets will be established.

To diversify livelihood activities for about 5,000 people, the project will restore 1,000 acres of small farmlands, establish small-scale milk dairies with market links, develop organic vegetable farms, establish agro-processing cooperatives, and provide training to improve production process of traditional products.

Environment friendly fish-breeding activities, such as inland aquaculture farms for breeding high value fish and cage farming in the backwaters, will also be supported to provide long-term jobs for about 1,000 people and increase fish production.

“To accelerate economic recovery in the affected areas, there is a need to restore, initiate, and facilitate the development and implementation of sustainable livelihood activities,” says A. K. Jorgensen, an ADB Principal Urban Specialist. “It is especially important to expand livelihood development to fishing and non-fishing areas, which are dependent on the coastal economy.”

Fishing is the dominant industry along the coast, so its destruction by the tsunami adversely affected all communities in the area. Many people had fisheries-related jobs or businesses that suffered, while the whole local economy experienced a serious slump. Affected persons were not typically offered any compensation since their losses – jobs and livelihoods – were not physical assets such as boats and nets.

The Government, nongovernmental organizations, and beneficiaries will contribute $700,000 equivalent toward the project’s total cost of $5.7 million. The Disaster Management and Mitigation Department in Tamil Nadu and the Department of Disaster Management in Kerala are the executing agencies of the project, which will be carried out over three years.

JFPR was set up in 2000 with an initial contribution of ¥10 billion (about $90 million), followed by additional contributions of $155 million and a commitment of $50 million.

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