A View from the Beach: Understanding the Status and Needs of Fisherfolk in the Meemu, Vaavu and Faafu Atolls of the Republic of Maldives-BOBP/WP/76

This paper summarizes and analyzes the information collected from fisherfolk communities in the Meemu, Vaavu and Faafu Atolls of the Maldives, by the staff of the Extension and Projects Section of the Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture (MOFA), Republic of Maldives. The information was gathered as part of an internal exercise of the Extension and Projects Section to help it get acquainted with these atolls, which were the selected target area of a BOBP-sponsored subproject to assist MOFA to de velop a fisheries extension service, to build rapport with the fisherfolk and to get a working understanding of their socio-economic status, the dynamics of their communities and their needs and concerns. The document is intended for the day-to-day use of the extension staff in generating objectives, prioritizing actions and in guiding and facilitating their work, It is not a benchmark study representative of the situation prevailing in the country as a whole. The information was collected in a series of participatory rapid appraisals and community focus group discussions undertaken by Aminath Zaheera, Aminath Latheefa, Abdulla Jaufar, Adam Maniku and Shereen Nahida of the Extension and Projects Section and Ahmed Naseer of the Woridview International Foundation, an NGO, under the direction of N T Hasen Didi, Director, Extension and Projects Section, during the latter half of 1989, and analyzed by them with support from the BOBP.