[pupyississido]

Fishing communities learn to handle business themselves


On good days, Kanya Mong-hia and Sunai Haloie see their husbands returning from sea with their boats full of fish. But when the east wind blows, the fishermen come home empty-handed.

At the community fish dock in Klong Dukang, crabs are sold at a higher price than in the marketplace. Merchants pay a villager only Bt150 a kilogram for fish, but they pay Bt165 when buying from the community dock.
Last year, Kanya and Sunai received a dividend of Bt4,800 from the Klong Dukang community's fish dock in Satun province's Thung Wa district. The amount is small compared with the Bt10,000 their families earned on good days from fishing, but it gave them the satisfaction of being part of a way to help the community economy grow.

Each day, the women go to the dock and help weigh the catch the villagers get from the sea. In the evenings, merchants come and buy. The money is divided into two parts: 30 per cent goes to the women's group for their daily work and 70 per cent goes to the community fish-dock fund.

Sunai, who has five children, said the income from the fish dock helped feed her family on unlucky days.

The fund is used to generate more business and for the dock and for the community's interest. It will also be used to pay dividends to members.

"Last year, they paid for medical treatment for 12 villagers who were hospitalised," said Wachira Thipthong of the Save the Andaman Network (SAN). Wachira helps the community run its business.

The community fish dock started in May 2005 after the village was hit by the December 2004 tsunami - 20 houses and a few fishing boats were damaged.

SAN and the Siam Cement Group (SCG) visited the village and used the Tsunami Relief Fund to help the villagers rebuild their life. While SCG provided financial aid to build the community shipyard to repair boats and fishery equipment, SAN worked with villagers to find a sustainable model for the community to stand on its own feet in the future.

Kanya and Sunai have had better opportunities than many neighbours after their boats and equipment were repaired. Their families are not in debt to private fish docks.

"If so, we could not be a member of the community fish dock, because families in debt must sell all they catch from the sea to their debtors," Kanya said.

Only Kanya, Sunai and seven other families of Baan Ravi Tai are members of the Klong Dukang community fish dock. Other families still have to sell fish at lower prices to their debtors.

The community fish dock is a good start that proves the villagers can run their own business, Wachira said.

For example, merchants pay a villager only Bt150 a kilogram for fish, but they agreed to pay Bt165 when buying from the community fish dock.

"It's a middle price they [merchants] agree on when dealing with the community," Wachira said.

The community is looking for more markets, Wachira said.

They are also working with a team of researchers at Prince of Songkhla University on a project.

Subhatra Bhumiprabhas

The Nation, Satun

[Yswxomvy]

Good concept! To make it sustainable, I think the people have to be given basic training on micro enterprise management ( like basic accounting and marketing) applicable to grassroot levels. Value reorientation will also come in handy since they are now thinking quite differently from before. There are some development-oriented organizations which can help them. I hope the Prince of Songkla University is somehow extending assistance to them.

[Arkadiyas]

Thung Wa is just a short drive from my family's village in Trang. In the whole area they are trying similar programs. In our village, there is a woman's group, as well to sort the fish/sea life ....but they haven't yet organized it as tightly as in Thung Wa.