The livelihood security implies the sustainable assurance of the means of livelihood for the people. Development of livelihood security index could be one of the most important social indicators for assessing the quality of life, coupled with meeting the basic needs of human-beings. The study was conducted in the Indian state of Jharkhand which is one of the early adopters of cage culture in India. Data were collected through field survey in Tenughat, Patratu, Tilaiya and Chandil reservoirs of the state in 2018. Among the respondents, 32 were ordinary reservoir fishers and 68 were fishers involved in cage fish farming. The indices were developed following Binkadakatti (2013). However, the methodology was substantially modified to suit the capture fishers particularly in cage culture in reservoirs.
Reservoir area, owned agricultural land and possession livestock were taken into consideration for natural capital. Physical capital connotes the basic infrastructure facilities like type of house, source of energy for cooking, household asset, fishery crafts and gears possessed by the fishers.
Household asset possession refers to the different household materials possessed. Financial capital denotes the capital bases or financial resources like cash/annual income, expenditure, credit/loans and savings of the fishers. Good health facilities and level of education were considered for human capital. Social capital incorporates the extent of organizational participation, and sources of information. Finally the Livelihood Security Index (LSI) was calculated as a ratio between score obtained and maximum score possible. The study reveals that, the Livelihood Security of the fishers was found to be 42.06 and 36.63 per cent for cage and ordinary fishers, respectively. Human capital and social capital performed moderately well among all the capitals. In general, the indices are better in case of cage fishers. Among the components of the Livelihood Security, natural capital of both kind of fishers was found to be low (30-31%). This is mainly because the land holdings and livestock possession were poor among the fishers. The Financial capital of the fishers was found to be highest (75 and 63%) among the various components of the Livelihood Security. This is because better performance in loan/credit, annual income and presence of off-fishery or non-fishery income. Most of the ordinary fishers (63%) belonged to lower Livelihood Security category followed by medium (30%). Whereas, their counterpart of cage fishers belong to medium to high Livelihood Security categories.
These findings show the importance of cage culture in enhancing the livelihood of the fishers. Cage farming has contributed to both social capital formation and financial empowerment. They have also accumulated some durable assets due to improvement in household income. However, there is much scope for further improvement of the indices.