DIVERSIFIED LIVELIHOODS AMONG SMALL SCALE FISHERS: A PRINCIPAL COMPONENT ANALYSIS

In the phase of dwindling marine fisheries resources, fishers tend to practice diversified livelihood portfolios which are mostly intertwined with the available ecological niches which shape these livelihood landscapes. Often diversified livelihoods form an integral component of the household economies of small scale fisher communities. The following study examines the contribution of these diversified livelihoods to the main occupation ie marine fishing, among fishers drawn from a representative sample of traditional fishing villages of Andhra Pradesh State, India. The results of the investigation revealed that, among the diversified livelihoods enlisted, non-fishery related enterprise namely cashew picking in leased out plantations fetched a 312 percent increase in annual income over and above the annual income from marine capture fisheries.

Data was collected by administration of structured interview schedules, participant observation focus group methods andanalyzed using Principal Component Analysis followed by Equamax rotation. Out of the 23 socio-personal/ socio-economic/socio-psychological variables studied, 8 underlying factors which governed diversified livelihoods wereextracted, whichcumulatively captured 67.23% of the total variation in the practice of diversified livelihoods by the marine fishers. Equamax rotation yielded 8 distinct factors governing practice of diversified livelihoods among marine fishers which were labelled as Entrepreneurial characteristics, Achievement motivation characteristics, Economic characteristics, Exposure characteristics, Personal characteristics, Family characteristics, Confidence building characteristics and Development characteristics.