The importance of fish for the food security of the urban poor : a case study of the impact of the monsoon fishing ban on households' food security and their adaptive capacity in Chennai, India

(1)

(2)

1

THE IMPORTANCE OF FISH FOR

THE FOOD SECURITY OF THE

URBAN POOR

A case study of the impact of the monsoon fishing ban on households’

food security and their adaptive capacity in Chennai, India.

Kara Manneh

University of Amsterdam

Bachelor Thesis Human Geography and International Development

Kara Manneh (10770321) karamanneh@gmail.com

Supervisor: Dhr. dr. J.M. Bavinck Second reviewer: Dhr. dr. D.L. Arnold June 19th₂₀₁₇

(3)

2

Objectives

This study, which entails the impact of the monsoon fishing ban on the food security of the urban poor, has been conducted by means of the following objectives;



Addressing the significance of fish as a major protein source for the

food security of the urban poor in Chennai,



Analysing the effects of the implemented monsoon fishing ban on the

food security of the urban poor in Chennai and…



Examining what the local adaptive strategies are as a respond to the

effects caused by the monsoon fishing ban.

Based on these objectives, this study tries to provide a better understanding of the significance of fish to food insecurity issues from a households’ perspective.

(4)

3

Acknowledgements

I would like to gratefully thank Jagatheeswar for being my translator, guidance and friend

in this field research. Without him, I would not be able to successfully complete this

research. He gave me the opportunity to experience the ‘real India’, with its lovely people

and delicious south Indian meals. The support during the fieldwork and the friendship is

something I will always remember and appreciate.

I would also like to thank my supervisor, dr. Maarten Bavinck, who has always been

supportive to me while I was in India before the start of the research, over the phone

during the research and also during helpful conversations upon return in the Netherlands.

Besides, he provided me of relevant literature, which was valuable for this thesis.

Furthermore, he introduced me to the project Fish4Food from which I learned a lot. Here

I would like to thank dr. Amalendu Jyotishi who has been an important part in completing

the survey and who clarified the survey plus the principles of doing fieldwork research to

me. I am grateful to be involved in the Fish4Food project and hopefully the results can be

a contribution to the project.

I would also like to express my thanks to Madame Dhanalakshmir who supported me in

finding a temporary residence and a research location, which gave me the opportunity to

careless conduct this research.

Finally, I would like to thank my family and friends who have supported me ever since the

start of this research.

(5)

4

List of Abbreviations

FAO Food and Agricultural Organization

GDP Gross Domestic Product

HLPE High Level Panel of Experts

LIFDC Low Income Food Deficit Countries LMIC Low and Medium Income Countries NSSO National Sample Survey Organisation

OBC Other Backward Classes

SC Scheduled Castes

ST Scheduled Tribes

WHES World Hunger Education Service

WFP World Food Programme

(6)

5

List of Figures and Tables

List of Figures

Figure 1 The four dimensions of food security p. 9

Figure 2 Location of the housing types p. 16

Figure 3 Map of India, Tamil Nadu, Chennai p. 18

Figure 4 Slum area of Anna Nagar p. 22

Figure 5 Distribution of gender among the research population p. 24 Figure 6 Distribution of age among the research population p. 24 Figure 7 Distribution of religion among the research population p. 24 Figure 8 Distribution of castes among the research population p. 24 Figure 9 Distribution of education levels among the research population p. 24

Figure 10 A local kitchen in the slum of Anna Nagar p. 25

Figure 11 A mobile fish vendor in the streets of Anna Nagar p. 29

Figure 12 The local water tap in Anna Nagar p. 33

List of Tables

Table 1 Calorie intake of the urban population in different states p. 20

Table 2 Income categories per household p. 23

Table 3 Expenditure on fish of the total food expenditure per week p. 26 per household

Table 4 Quantity of fish consumed per week per household p. 26

Table 5 Preference of fish per household p. 27

Table 6 Status of the availability of cheap fish p. 28

Table 7 Status of the price of cheap fish p. 30

Table 8 The frequency of cheap fish consumed per household p. 30 Table 9 The choice of buying fish at the local market or from the p. 32

mobile vendor per household

Table 10 Status of the quality of cheap fish p. 32

Table 11 Status of the stability of consuming fish p. 34

(8)

7

1. Introduction

Around the globe, food and nutrition insecurity still remains a great threat to an abundance of vulnerable and poor households (Athreya et al., 2015). At the moment, 795 million people suffer from undernourishment, of which 780 million live in developing countries (WFP, 2017). Because of the world’s population growth and increasing urbanization rates, the demand of fish and seafood, as an important food product, has increased (HLPE, 2014). Fish is acknowledged as a major nutrient and animal protein source that is of high importance for nutritionally vulnerable and poor households. Due to fact that fish consists of rich and unique nutritional ingredients, fish is essential for the health of billions of people, especially in developing nations (Béné, 2015). In particular, poor and vulnerable people can benefit from the unique nutrients in fish, which has positive effects on health and cognitive development (HLPE, 2014). Yet, limited attention has been given to fish as a key concept of bringing down food insecurity issues (Allison et al., 2013) and (HLPE, 2014). This report will try to enlarge the importance of fish for food insecurity issues and in this way try to contribute to fill in the gaps in the academic field.

Worldwide, South Asia has the most chronically undernourished people than any other region in the world. In South Asia, more than 280 million people have a shortage of food, which is a great difference compared to Eastern and South Eastern Asia, which respectively have 145 and 60 million undernourished people (WHES, 2016). By far, the greatest contribution of food insecure people in South Asia is a result of changes of food and nutrition insecurity in India (Athreya et al., 2015). Moreover, “India is home to a quarter of all undernourished people worldwide” (WFP, 2017).

India is one of the biggest fish producers in the world (FAO, 2013). The dependence of over 14 million people on fish related activities shows the importance of fish in the country. Besides, fish is recognized as an important sector for the food production since it provides food and nutritional security to millions of people.

Since the late 1990’s, the government of India introduced an annual closed fishing season, to sustain the safeguarding of fisheries (Bavinck, et al., 2008). This so called ‘monsoon ban’ causes a temporary reduction of the available amount of cheap fish in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, where the research is conducted. This ban on fishing poses new challenges to households’ food and nutrition security. This thesis focusses in particular on the urban poor, which are considered as the most vulnerable population of the city (Sujatha & Janardhanam, 2010).

The key issue in this study is to what extent the food security of the urban is being affected as a result of the implemented monsoon fishing ban. The research is conducted in one of the poor neighbourhoods/slum areas of Saidapet, called Anna Nagar. The main question of this research is as follows:

“How does the monsoon ban on fishing affect the food security of the urban poor in Anna Nagar, West Saidapet?”

The purpose of this study is to present different effects of the monsoon ban on people’s daily life and to understand the difficulties that vulnerable households experience. To elaborate on this issue more specifically, the study will focus on different themes to give a fair overview of the situation and living conditions of the urban poor in Anna Nagar. Therefore, at first, the food pattern of the urban poor will be presented, which will show the households’ daily food habits and the significance of fish in their diets. This will give a deeper and better understanding of the cultural habits and consumption patterns. Secondly, the centre of this study aims to address the impact of the monsoon ban on households’ food security according to the four pillars of food

(9)

8 security, which will be explained later on. Thirdly, the alternatives of the households will be taken into account to understand the adaptive capacity of the urban poor.

In the next chapter, a theoretical framework that examines relevant concepts will be discussed, with the aim to make the results of this study more understandable on an academic level. In chapter 3, every choice and decision that has been made in this research will be clarified. In this methodology, the analysis of the data will be presented and reasoned. Chapter 4 examines the local context of the urban poor in Chennai, with the aim to give a better understanding of the purpose of this study. The fieldwork results, including an answer to each of the three sub questions, will be addressed in chapter 5. Chapter 6 deals with an analysis of the theoretical concepts linked to the results collected from the field. The concluding chapter will give a comprehensive answer to the main question of this study.

(10)

9

2. Theoretical Framework

2.1 Defining food and nutrition security

First of all, because food security is a central theme in this research, it is necessary to know in what way food security can be interpreted. Therefore, the Food Agricultural Organization (FAO) (1996) has given a theoretical definition of what food security contains and how it can be measured.

Originally, the term food security is described as when a country has access to enough food to meet its energy requirements. But in this situation one can ask itself: “When do people have “enough” food?” Is it enough for people to provide themselves in their daily energy needs or is it just enough to satisfy the hunger? In its briefest description, food security means that “enough food is available whether at the global, national, community, or household level” (Pinstrup-Anderson, 2009).

The current definition is established by the World Food Summit (WFS) (1996), and it implies “food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for a healthy and active life“. From this definition the WFS declared and confirmed in 2002 that food security consists out of four dimensions.

- Food availability - Food accessibility - Food utilization - Stability

The framework in figure 1 contains physical dimensions (the first three) and a temporal dimension. The physical concepts show that if food is available, it does not directly guarantee access to food. This also applies for accessibility; access to food does not completely guarantee utilization. All three components could be affected by the lack of stability due to conflicts, climate change or other factors. In this study, the monsoon ban is considered as the lack of stability. Therefore, the effect of the monsoon fishing ban on the three components of food security will be examined.

Figure 1: The four dimensions of food security/nutritional status. Source: Author (2017) modified after FAO (1996).

(11)

10 Availability

The World Food Programme (WFP) (2009) defines food availability as the “physical presence of food in the area through all forms of domestic production, commercial imports and food aid” (p. 23). The availability of food is determined by production, trade, stocks and transfers.

Food availability can be measured on all levels: national, regional and local. In this research the food availability will be examined on a local level since this research is focussed on households. Accessibility

Accessibility is defined by the WFP (2009) as “A household’s ability to acquire adequate amounts of food, through one or a combination of own home production and stocks, purchases, barter, gifts, borrowing and food aid” (p. 23). It is necessary to observe that food can be available but not accessible to certain households, which results in not being able to acquire a sufficient amount of nutritional rich food. Food access consists of 3 elements that are defined by the WFS (1996) as “physical, economic and social access”. The physical element can be described as: the production of food occurs in one part of an area but due to bad transport or infrastructure facilities, it is not able to be transported to the other side of the country. The economic viewpoint means that people need a certain level of income to afford sufficient food. Social access signifies that even when food is physical and economical accessible, people can be prevented just because they are a member of a certain social group (Riely et al. 1999). It must be made clear that food availability does not automatically guarantee food accessibility, if households are not able to acquire a sufficient quantity or diversity of food (WFP, 2009).

Utilization

According to the WFP (2009), food utilization refers to a “households’ use of the food to which they have access, and individuals’ ability to absorb and metabolize the nutrients – the conversion efficiency of the body” (p. 23). Besides the availability and accessibility of food, people have to be assured of safe and nutrient food that meets their dietary needs (Napoli, 2011). Food should provide enough energy so that people can meet their physical activities. It is important for the consumers to know what kind of food to select and how to prepare food. Utilization of food is also related to safe drinking water and adequate sanitary facilities in order to prevent the spread of diseases. Food may be available or accessible, but people might not benefit if they not receive adequate nutrients or safe drinking water, which absorbs food in the body.

Stability

The WFS says that food ‘at all times’ must be stable in order to achieve food availability, accessibility and utilization. Stability is, as mentioned earlier, a temporal component in food security, which means that a situation in a certain period of time can affect the three other components (Napoli, 2011).

According to Swaminathan (2001), food security has made a change during the last 50 years. Food security was considered important in terms of food production. It was assumed that a sufficient food production would lead to a sufficient availability in the food markets and in the households. It became clear later on that even if the availability and access are satisfactory, food security is dependent on more factors. It is essential for the absorption of food in the body to have, for example, clean drinking water and environmental hygiene. Swaminathan is determined that factors such as climate, hygiene, education and health are important side effects, which have an important influence on food security. And “even if physical and economic access to food is assured, ecological factors will determine the long-term sustainability of food security systems” (2001: p. 948).

(12)

11 Food security is often measured at a household level to measure the welfare of the family. A household is considered food secure if it has the ability to acquire adequate food for all its members (Pinstrup-Anderson, 2009). Pinstrup- Anderson corresponds with Swaminathan (2001) on the point that food security is dependent on more factors. He describes that other factors, as access to clean water and good sanitation are vital conditions that need to be achieved to reach a nutritious secure life.

2.2 The importance of fish to food and nutrition security

Fishery undeniably contributes to nutrition and food security (Béné, 2015). Fish is acknowledged as a large nutrient-rich product, which is for many poor vulnerable people an important product. Fish consists of unique fatty acids, vitamins D and B and different kind of minerals that are important for the human body. These components, which are often not found in other nutrients in people’s diets, have healthy effects on the body and on a child’s cognitive development (HLPE, 2014) Because of this source of healthy nutrients, it is an indispensable product for many people in Low Income and Food Deficit Countries (LIFDC’s) (Béné, 2016). However, the contribution of fish to food and nutrition security in households is determined by the availability, accessibility and cultural and personal preferences (Beveridge et al., 2013).

Fish provides for more than 4.5 billion people globally at least 15% of their protein intake. The fast majority of the people that is directly dependent on fish as a major source of animal protein live in LIFDC’s (Kawarazuka & Béné, 2011). The combination of world population growth, rapid urbanization rates, increased levels of development and living standards, causes an increasing demand of fish and seafood (HLPE, 2014).

Between fish and food security exist many pathways. Fish can have a direct or an indirect effect on food security. In addition to the importance of direct food security, the contribution of fish to indirect food security plays a major role, also in developing countries. The role of fish and aquaculture activities are a source of income and livelihoods (HLPE, 2014). Fish is an important trade product, which presently accounts for 10% of the total agriculture export products. It is estimated that more than 120 million people directly depend on fish related activities. A vast majority of these fish related activities occur in Low and Medium Income Countries (LMIC’S). Small scale fisheries are a meaningful contribution to the poor population, compared to large scale fisheries. They offer affordable fish that is accessible to the poor, which contributes to sustainable living environments. Small scale fisheries are a key to the poor population.

This is because large scale fisheries often produce cheap mass and easy transportable fish. They also contribute to food security and nutrition of the poor. Also on indirect food security because of employment in the large scale fishery sector (HLPE, 2014).

Limited attention has been given to fish as a key element in food security. Fish turns out to be an important source to direct and indirect food security for a large part of the poor population (HLPE, 2014). Allison et al. (2013) mentions that fish is strikingly missing from strategies to reduce the lack of nutrients, “precisely where it could potentially have the largest impact” (p.45).

(13)

12

2.3 Vulnerability and adaptive capacity

Low income groups are considered to be an easily hit group due to changes in their environment. It is stated that the poorest and most vulnerable groups of people are mostly effected by the climate related issues of the 21st_{century. Such changes are likely to affect people in developing}

nations where natural resource dependency is of vital importance (Thomas & Twyman, 2005). Measuring vulnerability is of great importance to find out the magnitude of the change and what impact it could have on people’s livelihoods. Since the concept vulnerability can be perceived from different disciplines, the concept can be defined in several ways. In this thesis, vulnerability is closely linked to the definition used by Blaikie et al. (1994); “the ability or inability of individuals and social groupings to respond to, in the sense of cope with, recover from or adapt to, any external stress placed on their livelihoods and well-being” (Kelly & Adger, 2000: p. 328).

Changes that impact people’s living environment could easily end up in stress, which mostly hits vulnerable groups of people (Adger, 2006). These groups are at risk the most to become affected by external issues and its human impact. As a result, the variations in earnings and livelihood impacts are more risky and can easily pull economic marginalized groups down in comparison to the economically more stable groups, who have the opportunity to fall back on institutional networks and different capital assets in times of stress.

If people’s daily living patterns or livelihoods are seriously damaged, people are faced with shocks. Vulnerability to livelihoods as a result of shocks occurs when people do not have enough capital or wealth to remain resilient (Adger, 2006).

The issue related to facing external changes is the exposure to risks, which is a crucial point. Food insecurity issues are one of the major concerns that arise because of vulnerability. It means that many vulnerable households can be driven into deprivation and hunger, and experiencing hard times to recover (Agrawal, 2009). This has been occurring since the boundary between adequate subsistence and malnutrition or even starvation is very thin for many low income households. It is, however, questionable to what extent people are able to absorb these shocks. This is connected with people’s capacity to adapt to external changes. Adger (2006) has defined adaptive capacity as; “the ability of a system to evolve in order to accommodate environmental hazards or policy change and to expand the range of variability with which it can cope.” (p. 270). A high state of vulnerability and a low state of adaptive capacity in the developing world is linked to a range of factors, which includes a high dependency on natural resources (World Bank, 2000), a limited ability to adapt institutionally and financially (Beg et al., 2002), low income and high poverty rates, and a lack of safety nets (Desanker et al., 2001; IPCC, 2001). However, poor and vulnerable households find their own, often small scale, alternatives to adapt to certain changes.

According to Agrawal (2009) in the report of the World Bank, five classifications of adaptation strategies are presented. The effectiveness of the practices are dependent on the social and institutional contexts in which they are conducted.

The basic adaptation strategies can be linked to the following five risk management categories: - mobility

- storage - diversification - communal pooling - market exchange

Mobility is perhaps one of the most common strategies and natural reactions to environmental issues. The strategy is described as distributing risks across space to trade the recent area for a better, safer one. Whether mobility is a suitable adaptation strategy depends on the situation and

(14)

13 status of the social groups at issue.

Storage strategies can be regarded as a reduction of risks across time. When households are able to store their supplies, it would help to reduce food and water scarcities. In times of difficulty, storage technologies would have a major impact on the improvement of vulnerable households and livelihoods.

Diversification is a highly varied adaptive strategy that is defined as the distribution of risks through people’s assets and people’s resources. It can occur in for example people’s consumption strategies and employment opportunities.

Common pooling is an adaptation strategy whereby assets, ownership or wealth can become collective. Income, wealth, labour and resources are shared to alleviate people’s circumstances. Joint action can ensure a safer and more stable living environment compared to households who stand alone. Because the benefits of certain actions are shared, communal pooling is an effective way to ensure safe living environments for social groups.

Market exchange is described as the most diverse adaptation practice. Access to markets and exchanges are relevant for almost every household. Market and exchanges are an important mechanism of which derives specialization, welfare and trade, which offer a significant contribution to adapt to certain environmental risks. Almost all human groups are related to market and exchange mechanisms and therefore this strategy requires significant attention.

(15)

14

3. Methodology

The purpose of this study is to find out how the monsoon fishing ban impacts households’ food security and how people cope with these effects on the basis of their adaptive capacity. In this chapter, the applied methodology will be discussed. The first section describes the research question, followed by the research design, research methods, data collection and lastly, the limitations of the study.

3.1 The research question and sub questions

As revealed in the introduction, the main research question is as followed:

“How does the monsoon ban on fishing affect the food security of the urban poor in Anna Nagar, West Saidapet?”

To answer the question, some key aspects are expressed. To declare the concept food security, it is of great importance to understand the local context in which people are situated. This is reinforced by focussing on the food pattern of the urban poor, which includes the first sub-question. The second question aims to understand the concept food security in the local context, by interpreting the impact of the monsoon ban on each of the four pillars. The third sub-question is focussed on the alternatives of consuming fish, performed by the urban poor of Anna Nagar. The sub-questions are as follows:

1. What does fish mean for the food pattern of the urban poor in Chennai?

2. What effect does the monsoon ban have on each of the four pillars of food security? 3. How do the urban poor adapt to the changes caused by the monsoon ban?

3.2 Research Design

For this research, a case study design is conducted, which entails a detailed and intensive analysis of a single case (Bryman, 2012). The field research intensively examines the effects on households’ food security, by looking at people’s food patterns, consumption behaviour and adaptive capacity. Hence, a case study design with basic elements of ethnographic research was carried out in a neighbourhood in Saidapet. A crucial point that must be addressed, is that Saidapet is not the unit of analysis; rather it is the sample that is the unit of analysis (Bryman, 2012: p.68). The sample and the focus is on poor and vulnerable households in a neighbourhood in Saidapet, which will be discussed later on. The neighbourhood provides a background of the findings rather than the focus of interest. However, the selected neighbourhood had to comply with a requirement, which was having a relative large number of poor households.

3.3 Research methods

This study combines quantitative and qualitative strategies, which makes it a mixed methods research. This approach is conducted because, in this specific case, the combined strategies provide a better understanding of the problem than each of it alone. Mixed methods research have increasingly become popular because of the fact that the derived qualitative and quantitative data is mutually illuminating (Bryman, 2012).

The quantitative data was derived from the conduction of surveys, participant observations and the mapping of the neighbourhood in question.

The surveys were focussed on the basic information of the respondents (age, gender, income, caste etc.) and the food and fish consumption of the urban poor. Predominantly, the surveys were performed with the aim to gain more knowledge about the households living conditions and the

(16)

15 food consumption patterns.

The participant observations were a highly important and meaningful contribution to this research. It contained watching and listening to people’s conversations, observing behaviour and interactions, asking questions and writing down impressions and making field notes for an extended period of time (Bryman, 2012). I got involved in people’s daily living conditions, cultural habits and local environment. This received in- depth information, helped me to get a better understanding of the local context and people’s behaviour, which in my opinion, could not be gathered in a different way.

The geographical mapping of the research area Anna Nagar is an interesting addition to the research since it provides a clear vision of the research area.

The qualitative data was obtained by the conduction of semi structured interviews. A crucial point of the semi structured interview method is that the questioning creates space for the people to add their own input into the research. Besides, the flexibility in the conduct of the interviews is highly preferred (Bryman, 2012).

3.4 Data collection

The data for this study is acquired during three periods of time. The analysis of academic literature is largely acquired during the period before the departure to Chennai. During a fieldwork period of one month, the empirical data was collected. Upon return in Amsterdam, the collected information was elaborated.

3.4.1 Literature review

The purpose of this study is to combine the fieldworks results and relevant literature that can assist the findings. Hence, relevant literature about food security, fisheries, urban poor, local implementations, and adaptive capacity is being used for this study. The literature reviews were mostly based on academic writings, books, reports, and government studies, for which mainly academic search engines such as Uva Catalogus Plus and Google scholar have been used.

3.4.2 Field work data

The research is conducted with the help of a Tamil translator. Before the start of the research, it was essential to translate the interviews and especially the surveys, in case the respondents wanted to read the questions themselves. The survey was based on the basis of the four pillars of food security and includes information about households’ fish consumption. Information about fish prices, the quantity and quality of the consumption, and the security of people’s fish consumption has been gathered, in order to give a detailed and comprehensive view on the effects on people’s food security. In this study, it is important to notice that the results are gathered during the monsoon ban and that the status of households’ fish consumption is in comparison with the regular period. Hereby, the regular period is defined as the rest of the year were all fishers in Tamil Nadu are authorised to fish. The semi structured interviews also provided information regarding the four pillars of food security, but in this method, respondents’ personal experiences and opinions about these topics were targeted.

In this fieldwork, a total 50 respondents have participated. Out of this number, 30 respondents have contributed to the food security household survey, 14 respondents to the semi structured interviews, and 6 fish sellers (market + mobile vendors) to the semi structured interviews out of a fish vendors’ perspective, which focused on the market mechanisms and fish stability during the monsoon ban. Since the research is focussed on households’ food security and their experiences, most of the results are obtained by the 44 fish consumers. However, the 6 fish vendors were a valuable contribution to the research by presenting the issue from a different perspective. As stated earlier, the research area is selected based on the relatively large number of poor households. Due to observations in the research area during the first days, households were

(17)

16 selected by different non probability samples. First, the households were sampled by using the stratified sampling method. This means, ‘stratifying the population by a criterion, … and selecting either a simple random sample or a systematic sample from each of the resulting strata” (Bryman, 2012: 192). Hereafter, households were structurally sampled. Every fifth house was asked to participate in a survey/interview. Since not every household was willing or able to answer the questions, the method changed to convenience and even snowball sampling. This method turned out to be working very well, since the respondents were spread among the whole research area. It was obvious that there was a clear division in the housing types where the people were living in. The research area is, by using the stratified sampling method, divided in slum dwellings versus other low income households who lived in governmental/private houses. There are 22 respondents sampled from the slum area, and 22 respondents that are sampled from the governmental/private area, which is directly located next to each other (figure 2). It must be made clear, that some households living in the governmental houses were previously living in the slum dwellings. Due to slum clearance and relocation, these residents were recently put in the governmental houses. Besides, since a reasonable number of people in the governmental houses actually had lower incomes than certain households living in the slum, this became an extra reason to include both housing types in this research.

More specific information about the research population is presented in chapter 4: The local context.

Figure 2: The location of the housing types in the research area in Anna Nagar, West Saidapet. Source: Author (2017) modified after Google Earth (2017)

3.5 Ethics

When conducting the research, it is significant to take the ethical principles into account. For this research all the four main areas of ethical principles set up by Diener and Crandall (1978) are taken into consideration. These are as follows; harm to participants, lack of informed consent, invasion of privacy and deception (Diener and Crandall, 1978). During the surveys, interviews and participant observations, the focus was laid on not bringing any harm to the participants, such as stress or a loss of self- esteem. Attention is being paid to completely inform the respondent about

(18)

17 the research and its purpose. Because the households were totally informed, deception was blocked. It had been made clear to the households that I came from the University of Amsterdam and that they were not going to be financially compensated. Since I was involved in people’s daily practises, I also paid attention to not harming people’s privacy. Therefore, the majority of the interviews were taken in front of people’s houses.

3.6 Limitations

Addressing the experienced limitations is really important, and may not be underestimated. Firstly, a longer duration of the fieldwork should have resulted in more respondents, which would have increased the validity of the research. Besides, the research could have been more deepened so other topics, such as the impact of the extension of the ban from 45 to 60 days or the significance of safe drinking water and sanitary facilities for food security, could have been addressed. Doing the research together with a translator was more difficult than expected. Since information from the respondents reached me indirectly, I missed how certain things were said, which made it difficult to completely understand the storyline. Besides, it was sometimes difficult to read peoples facial expressions when you do not hear directly what a respondent is saying.

Answers of some households could have been misleading since I have noticed that some people expected financial support. The households might overreact and worsen their living conditions to receive money. Some even bagged for money, which sometimes resulted in an interruption of the interview.

However, some households acted, in my opinion, the other way around. I noticed that some respondents were really proud and did not want to admit that fish was sometimes not affordable. When the question “Is fish always affordable for your household?” was asked, some households answered ‘yes’ but actually consumed a very little amount of fish. When furtherly asked what the reason behind the low fish consumption was, there answer was that fish was too expensive. Moreover, the fact was, that some people were not willing or simply did not have time to answer the questions. This led to the transition of the sample method whereby systematic sampling was changed to convenience and sometimes snowball sampling.

(19)

18

4. The Local Context

4.1 Profile of Chennai

The Chennai metropolitan area is spread out over an area of about 1200 square kilometres (Sujatha & Janardhanam, 2010). The central city of Chennai covers about 174 sq. km. The city is located on the eastern coast of India and is bordering the Bay of Bengal (Figure 3). Chennai is the capital city of the state Tamil Nadu and is the fourth largest city of the country. The unique geographical location on the shore has attributed to growth of the city. Besides, it has an easily accessible hinterland and good connected interstate railways. The city has a remarkably large harbour which contributes to the production and transportation of fish.

4.2 Urban poverty in Chennai

Globally, urbanization rates are increasing in a rapid speed. It is estimated that the world population will increase from 6.7 billion in 2007 to 9.2 billion in 2050 (Matuschke, 2009). A large part of this growth will occur in the urban areas of low income countries, which creates a major challenge for food insecurity issues. The pressure on food stocks will be intensified since a growing number of inhabitants is making use of it. Cities become overpopulated, leading to a situation where people are forced to live in the least comfortable areas of the city in so called slums. This case also applies for Chennai. The city’s population has increased tremendously, which is reflected in the worsening living conditions of the urban poor. The city has an estimated population of approximately 10 million people, of which 20 percent is living in slum areas. Slums in Chennai have increased by 50 percent in a single decade, according the Philip (2016). The high urbanization rates and the growing slum areas are underlying, but highly relevant factors for food insecurity issues.

There are many different, however, unofficial definitions of slum areas. A definition set up by the Census of India (2011) runs as follows: ‘A compact area of at least 300 population or about 60-70 households of poorly built congested tenements, in unhygienic environment usually with

Figure 3: Map of India, Tamil Nadu and the capital Chennai highlighted. Source: Pinterest (2017)

(20)

19 inadequate infrastructure and lacking in proper sanitary and drinking water facilities’. Currently, in Chennai there are 1131 slums, of which 389 are located in central Chennai. This research is conducted in one of these slums.

Chennai’s urban population is expected to increase intensively by 2030. Currently, an already large part of the urban habitants are living in slums (Sujatha & Janardhanam, 2010), which are seen as the most vulnerable and deprived areas of the city. The urban poor lack the most basic services such as sanitary facilities, drinking water supply, housing facilities and proper education levels. In addition, food insecurity issues are playing an important role in people’s daily lives due to overpopulation. Since the number of people in the cities is increasing, the pressure on the already overused facilities is starting to enlarge.

The main goal of Tamil Nadu’s government is to make Chennai a ‘city without slums’. The first steps are conducted through trying to create better living conditions for the urban poor living in the slums. Besides, the government has rehabilitated people living on the river banks and other poor environments.

According (Deaton & Drèze, 2009), the economy of India has grown rapidly and is now one of the fastest growing economies worldwide. The real GDP per head has grown with 3.95% a year during the period 1980-2005. Between 2000 and 2005 this percentage was 5.4% a year. The real per capita consumption has also grown rapidly, after 20 years of an increasing percentage, during the period of 2000-2005 it has reached a growth of 3.9% per year. The article describes that yet, the per capita calorie intake is declining, equally with the intake of other nutrients. As a matter of fact, India is known as a country with a concerning level of food insecurity since undernutrition is still a major problem.

Table 1 shows the calorie intake of the different states in India. The percentage of the urban population in the Indian states who consumes less than 1890 kcal a day in 1999-2000 and 2004-2005 is presented. For whole India, the percentage of the population consuming less than 1890 kcal a day has slightly increased from 16.2 to 16.7 percent. In 1999-2000, Tamil Nadu had the highest percentage of urban people consuming less than 1890 kcal a day. In 2004-2005 the percentage has slightly declined until 21.3 percent, while the average percentage of whole India has increased. At this last measure (2004-2005), Tamil Nadu ranks third in the list of states with the highest percentage of the urban population consuming last than 1890 kcal a day. It is remarkably that the more urbanized states (Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Kerala) have the highest food insecurity levels according to NSSO (2001&2007).

(21)

20 Table 1: Percentage of the urban population consuming less than 1890 kcal a day.

Source: NSSO (2001) & NSSO (2007)

4.3 The 45 day fishing ban

Indian fisheries contribute to a certain extent to the national income, nutritional security, employment opportunities and export of the country (Shyam, 2007). It plays an important role in the socio economic development of India. It provides as well direct as indirect employment for over seven million people, which contributes to more than 4.3% of the agricultural GDP of the country.

The decline of the fish stock is mainly attributed to overexploitation (Shyam, 2007), but is also caused by changes in the natural environment, the intrusion of foreign fishing vessels and industrial pollution (Bavinck et al., 2008).

Tamil Nadu has a long history of conflicts between different types of fisher folks (Bavinck, 2003). Since there was a new harbour based trawling technology, the trawl fisher started fishing in the same inshore waters as the artisanal fishers. Conflicts started when the trawl fishers and the larger population artisanal fishers targeted the same fish species. The competition for fish rose, which is clearly dominated by the trawl fishers who use motorized vessels to catch the fish. Another reason for the existence of the conflict is the damage trawl fishers made to the artisanal fishers gear, which resulted in financial losses. The government of Tamil Nadu responded to the conflict with The Tamil Nadu Marine Fishing Regulation Act, which was not focussed on the conservation of marine ecology, but on the prevention of conflicts between the trawl fishers and the traditional fishermen.

Since the late 1990’s, the government of India introduced a time zoning for the safeguarding of fisheries. As India is a great producer of fish in the world, the fish stock needs to be remained on a stable level. To enhance the sustainability of the fisheries, the government implemented a closed fishing season to facilitate the breeding of fish and conservation of the fish stock in the marine ecology (Bavinck et al., 2008). The closed fishing season occurs for a minimum of 45 days and it is locally also known as the monsoon ban or the trawl ban. Since this year, Tamil Nadu has decided to implement an extension of the monsoon ban to 60 days, whereby the ban is taking place from the 15th_{of April till the 15}th_{of June. Different states along the shoreline of India introduced the}

Percentage of the urban population consuming less than 1890 Kcal a day

1999-2000 2004-2005 1 Andhra Pradesh 17.6 17.4 2 Assam 14.7 6.6 3 Bihar 14.0 9.3 4 Gujarat 16.4 15.2 5 Harya na 13.9 16.3 6 Karanataka 19.0 16.3 7 Kerala 19.8 21.8 8 Madhya Pradesh 17.2 16.0 9 Maharashtra 18.4 24.4 10 Orissa 6.2 12.5 11 Punjab 11.7 9.6 12 Rajasthan 7.4 15.7 13 Tamil Nadu 22.5 21.3 14 Uttar Pradesh 16.7 10.6 15 West Bengal 14.2 15.6 All India 16.2 16.7

(22)

21 closed fishing season. In particular trawl fishers with their mechanical boats do not have any permission to fish, which makes it the category that is affected the most. Mechanical boats are large vessels that are powered by engines. These vessels are regularly used for large scale trawl fishing. It is estimated that on a length of 1000 km shoreline, there approximately are thirteen major centres for mechanical boats, suitable for more than 6000 vessels (Bavinck et al., 2005). The exact number of fishermen is not available, but since the average crew on a mechanical boat consists out of six people, it is obvious that around 40,000 fishermen are affected by the ban in some way. Their income declines, which often forces them to find alternative sources of income. The majority of the fisher folks of Tamil Nadu is involved in small scale fishing. These fishers are still allowed to fulfil their practices and can even benefit from the position due to higher prices for the catches. Since the mechanized boats are not allowed, the small vessels control the market forces. The Indian government successfully implemented the monsoon ban in several states of India, resulting in a substantial increase in the fish production. However, the ban has got some serious consequences for the socioeconomic position of many fishers and consumers.

4.4 Geography of Anna Nagar, West Saidapet

The area that has been surveyed for this research is the Anna Nagar neighbourhood located in West Saidapet, Chennai. The southern half of the Anna Nagar Area has been involved in the research. Therefore, only this section will be discussed in detail. The name of the street where the research was conducted is “Salavaiyaalar Street” meaning, the “washermen street”. The place was located at the bank of the Adyar river. Since this area is placed on the banks of the waterway, the previous men staying here were involved in the business of washing clothes, and hence the name salavaiyaalar (meaning the washermen) has evolved.

It was remarkable that the small neighbourhood Anna Nagar West, Saidapet, consists of different kind of houses.

There are Governmental houses, private houses and slums. The Governmental houses were built by the government under the Slum Clearance project. These houses were built and offered to the local people living in that area for a specified period of time.

The private houses are owned by financially wealthier people, and mostly the owners of those private houses live elsewhere, and these houses are given for rent. The private houses are bigger, with their own bore-wells. Hence, they do not depend entirely on the metro water for their source of water, but if they want, they can avail water from the metro as well. The metro water is the water supplied by the government to the people. The water from the ground is collected, stored, purified and supplied to the people, all through the year by the government. Governmental houses in the area do not have their own bore-wells and hence depend on the government metro water for their source of water. The metro water is stored in huge tanks, placed in certain places of the area, and the water from the tank is in turn distributed to the people.

The slum houses are located on the bank of the river at the backsides of the neighbourhood (figure 4). The houses are made of every possible available material such as wood, stones and big cloths. During the observations, it was remarkable that people in the slums live more outside their houses. The women wash and cook outside while the children are playing in the neighbourhood. Young boys were hanging on the side of the extremely polluted river. As in many places in India, garbage facilities are often not available. This also applies to the situation in the slums. People

(23)

22 throw their garbage on the edge or in the already extremely polluted river, while children playing between it.

4.5 Characteristics of the research population

In the area where the survey is taken are approximately living 12,000 people. As described in the methodology, the research population consists of 50 respondents, of which 44 consumers. Since this research is focussed on people who buy, prepare and cook fish, most of the respondents are females (figure 5). However there is also a number of men involved because they claimed to be fish consumers as well, since they bought and cooked the fish for their households too. The ages of the respondents varied between 18 and 70 and is presented in figure 6. Because the surveys were focussed on people who were in charge of the household, the most common age group is between 26-50 years old. The biggest part of the people who have been surveyed are Hindu’s, followed by Muslims, and a few Christians. In figure 7, the distribution of respondents are categorised based on religion. There are many small Hindu temples and two churches located in the neighbourhood. Most of the people who have been surveyed, claimed that they were born and raised in Tamil Nadu. A large part of the population of Anna Nagar belongs to the scheduled castes (SC’s) and scheduled tribes (ST’s), see figure 8. A few participants that have been surveyed confirmed that they were from other backward classes (OBC’s). These are historically indigenous disadvantaged groups who are considered as people of lower income groups. In the Constitution of India (2015), these castes are described as “socially and educationally backward classes”. The income of the people that have been surveyed varied from 4,000 until 30,000 Rupees a month. The most common incomes were between 5,000 and 15,000 R., of which a few were below and above these limits. The distribution of the incomes is shown in table 2. The lowest incomes (the two lowest categories) where mostly found in the slum area.

(24)

23 Table 2: Income categories per household. Source: Author (2017)

Income categories per household (N=44)

Income N Percentages 0 – 5,000 R. €(0 - €69.26) 4 9.1% 5,001 – 10,000 R. (€69,27 -€138,51) 21 47.7% 10,001 – 15,000 R. (€138,53-€207,77) 14 31.8% 15,001 + R. (€207,78+) 5 11,4% Total 44 100%

The average household consists out of five people. Most of the households have around two or three children and in many cases, the grandmother/father also takes part in the household. In most households, only the men were fully occupied and the women stayed at home working as housewives. In some cases, it was necessary for the household to have two incomes. If the women had an occupation, it was mostly a job as a housekeeper in a hotel or they were active as a mobile fish vendors. The men who have been surveyed were often working in the informal sector or casual labour (day to day work).

The level of education among the researched population is considerably low in the area. As figure 9 shows, a quarter of the respondents have not followed any formal education. Besides, only a moderate number of six respondents have achieved post- secondary education. During the observations and small talks, a remarkable point was that nowadays many children were going to elementary schools. There is a government school in the neighbourhood available that offers free education, free uniforms and free food during the school day for all its students. This is an important driving force for many parents to send their children to at least primary education.

(25)

24 7 33 4 0 10 20 30 40 18-25 26-50 50+

Age

N= 44

Figure 6: The distribution of age among the research population. Source: Author (2017)

35 9 0 10 20 30 40 Gender

Gender

Male Female 5 21 18 0 5 10 15 20 25 Other backward classes

Scheduled tribes Scheduled caste

Castes

N= 44 1 4 6 33 0 10 20 30 40 Atheist Christian Muslim Hindu

Religion

N=44 11 7 20 6 0 5 10 15 20 25 No formal education Elementary Secondary Tertiary/Post secondary

Level of education

N= 44

Figure 5: The distribution of gender among the research population. Source: Author (2017)

Figure 7: The distribution of religion among the research population. Source: Author (2017)

Figure 8: The distribution of castes among the research population. Source: Author (2017)

Figure 9: The distribution of education levels among the research population. Source: Author (2017)

(26)

25

5. Fish and food security in Saidapet: The outcomes

5.1 The importance of fish in the food pattern of the urban poor

The Indian cuisine includes extensive meals with many different ingredients. Consuming different types of food is considered very important and therefore a lot of attention is being given to preparing and consuming food. First, the daily food pattern of people in the area will be described to give a comprehensive impression about peoples eating habits. After this, the focus will be on providing some basic information about people’s fish consumption in Anna Nagar. Through this, the importance of fish for the urban poor will be addressed.

During the research it became clear that the people in Anna Nagar had many different types of meals. Since there are various sources of food available on the streets and people easily have access to the local markets, people do not experience serious food insecurity. An important addition to these facilities is the government subsidized rate hotel, named the Amma hotel, which is located at the edge of the neighbourhood. People are welcome to eat every meal of the day for a really low price so everyone will be able to afford food. Also, food insecurity issues among the urban poor will be declined. The prices vary around 2 till 10 Rupees for a meal/snack.

Home cooked meals predominantly consist out of rice, eggs, pulses and fish as main animal protein. For breakfast, local dishes such as Idly, Dhosa and Poori are mostly eaten. These products are made out of rice, flour and pulses mixed with water. To vary the meals, certain gravies and chutneys, vegetables and pickles can be added. The most common for breakfast are coconut and tomato chutney, sambar (a type of gravy made out of pulses and vegetables) and Karakalumbu (a type of spicy gravy).

Sometimes when there is extra leftover rice from the previous day, people let it soak in water overnight and add some salt to it and make a meal out of it with some chilies/pickles/onions. This rice soaked in water is called “Pazhaya Saadham”, which means “Old rice”. According the residents, it is a very common breakfast in their neighbourhood. People eat it because it is helpful to reduce stomach pains and inner body temperature.

Lunch is the most important meal of the day. The lunch comprises rice, a fish, meat or vegetable gravy and fried/steamed vegetables. South Indian meals are often really extensive and contain different sort of side dishes. Though, the size of the meal depends on how much the households are able to spend on. However, for example an egg Dhosa with a spicy gravy and some chutney is easily home cooked for not more than 15 rupees (see figure 10).

Figure 10: Eating home cooked Dhosa in the slum of Anna Nagar. Source: Author (2017)

(27)

26 The dinner often contains light meals. People will have some Dhosa or Chapathi (thin pancake made out of wheat flour) along with the gravy leftovers that was made for lunch. If there is rice leftover from lunch, people will eat that as well. A remarkable point compared to the European lifestyle, dinner in South India is not that important for people. People give their most attention to breakfast and lunch and the leftovers or easily cooked dishes are used for dinner.

Snacks are also preferred among the residents. There is a large variety of small street food available. Most common things are Samosas and Bhaji’s. These are small puff pastries with different kind of fillings. There are also different types of sweets available, which is consumed with a cup of the famous Indian Chai tea. Refreshing juices such as lemon, musk melon or sugar cane juices are also highly preferred by the locals.

Since Chennai is a coastal city, one of the main food products in the area is fish. One can assume that fish is consumed regularly and since it is a cheap but high protein product, it is of high importance for the urban poor. Because fish is considered really popular by the residents, people are willing to spend a reasonable amount on fish. The expenditure on fish, of the total food expenditure per week, according to the research population in Anna Nagar, is presented in table 3. According to the 44 respondents, 17 confirmed that their weekly expenditure on fish was more than 30%. This means that almost 40% of the respondents claimed that a third of their weekly expenditure has been spent on fish.

Table 3: Expenditure on fish of the total food expenditure per week per household. Source: Author (2017)

Expenditure on fish of the total food expenditure per week per household in categories Expenditure in % N= 44 Percentages

< 10% 8 18.2%

10.1% - 30% 19 43.2%

> 30.1% 17 38.6%

Total 44 100%

There are many different fish species available in Chennai. A distinction can be made between cheap and more expensive fish. Cheap fishes often consist of little meat and many fish bones. Since these small fishes are low in price, it is more accessible for the urban poor. Cheap fishes that are well known among the research population are Kavala (Sardines), Sankara (Red Snapper), and Navara (Threadfin Bream).

The quantity of fish consumed per household depends on how big the households are and how much people are willing and able to spend money on fish. People in the Anna Nagar area are used to eat fish frequently, despite the sometimes little quantity. In table 4, the quantity of fish consumed per week is presented. The average amount of fish consumed is around 1.5 kg a week. 22 respondents, which is half of the research population confirmed to eat less than 1.5 kg a week. In the other half, 15 respondents claimed to eat 1.6-3 kg a week and 7 respondents confirmed to eat more than 3 kg of fish a week. A few of this number ate more than 5 kg of fish a week.

Table 4: Quantity of fish consumed per week per household. Source: Author (2017)

Quantity of fish consumed per week per household in categories

Quantity in kg N= 44 Percentages

< 1.5 kg 22 50%

1.6 – 3 kg 15 34,1%

> 3kg 7 15,9%

(28)

27 Many people feel that their meal is incomplete without fish. A few respondents claimed that ‘no matter how costly the fish will become’, people will always try to eat fish. One can say that people are used to eat fish their entire lives, which makes it an important part of the food pattern. In general, people preferred fish above other animal proteins because of the taste and the nutrients of which fish consists. According to some respondents, many people prefer fish because almost every household consists of elderly people and children. Fish provides lots of nutrients and is easy to digest, which makes it easy for elderly and young children to eat.

First people were asked what the reason behind their preference of fresh fish was. 25 respondents claimed the reason was the good taste followed by 19 who claimed their reason was related to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Despite this high number of people choosing fresh fish because it was healthy, many people did not know why it was healthy or what kind of nutrients fish provides. It became clear that people preferred small fishes. As shown in table 5, 40 of the 44 respondents confirmed their households preferred small fishes over large fishes. The reasons of consuming small fishes was that small fishes were considered tastier and cheaper than large fish. Respectively 17 and 15 respondents claimed that taste and the cheap price were the main reasons for the small fish preferences.

Table 5: Preference of fish per household. Source: Author (2017)

Preference of fish per household (N=44)

Size Tasty Cheap Good for

health

Total

Large fish 2 2 4

Small fish 17 15 8 40

(29)

28

5.2 Impact of the monsoon ban on food security

In this chapter, the effects of the monsoon ban on the four pillars of food security will be clarified. Firstly, the effects on the availability will be given. In this case, the availability will be defined as the availability of cheap fish on the local market of Anna Nagar, West Saidapet. There will be a reflection on to what extent the availability is affected during the monsoon ban, if applicable. Secondly, the ability of the households to acquire adequate amounts of cheap fish will be clarified. The effects on people’s access to cheap fish on a physical, economic and social level will be explained, if applicable. Thirdly, the utilization of cheap fish will come forward. There will be a focus on how the households use the food if they have access to it and how they experience the quality of cheap fish during the monsoon ban period. Lastly, the stability of the household’s fish consumption will be analysed. To what extent is the stability of the fish consumption threatened? Availability

It can be stated that the available amount of cheap fish in Anna Nagar, West Saidapet has declined since the start of the monsoon ban. The status of the availability of cheap fish on the local market is presented in table 6. According to the research population, 65.9% claimed that the availability of cheap fish in the area has declined as a result of the monsoon ban. During the period of the ban, the fish that is available at the markets is for a large part imported from other states as Kerala and Karnataka, since Chennai does not provide enough fish to satisfy the city. The demand of fish is still high, but the availability is lower compared to the regular period. In the regular period, there always used to be an abundance of fish, but since the start of the ban, people claimed that the amount of different species has declined. Some species have even disappeared. It is remarkable, however, that some people out of the slum area were not aware of the fishing ban. Despite their unawareness, they have experienced a decline in the available amount of fish.

Table 6: Status of the availability of cheap fish on the local market. Source: Author (2017)

Status of the availability of cheap fish during the monsoon ban in comparison with the regular period Availability N= 44 Percentages Increased 0 0% Remained stable 14 31.8% Decreased 29 65.9% Don’t know 1 2.3% Total 44 100%

Respondents have also noticed a decline in the number of mobile vendors since the start of the monsoon ban. Mobile vendors are mostly female fish vendors, who sell the fish at people their homes. They walk around the neighbourhood with big baskets with often only small fishes, and sell fish at the streets (figure 11). During regular periods, there are four or five mobile vendors in people’s direct surroundings. The residents claimed that during the monsoon ban, there are only two or three mobile vendors left. It has been said that many mobile vendors stay at home because the job does not generate enough money to cover the burden. The women search for other jobs or become dependent of their husbands. During fieldwork observations at the market, the market seemed to be quiet. Local fish vendors claimed that there is not as much fish as during normal periods, which explains the low number of customers.

(30)

29 As shown in table 6, many people claimed that the availability of fish has declined since the start of the ban. However, still an amount of 31.8% of the research population claimed that the availability of cheap fish on the local market has remained stable. Some people did not experience a direct decline, because when they go to the market, they always notice that fish is available. Some respondents said that the stable availability was due to the fact that fish is imported from other states. One respondent answered: “Fish is always available, also during the ban, we take whatever is available”. Some people were not aware of the ban and did not experience any change. A reason can be that some women had husbands who caught their own fish in the rivers. They did not notice a decline because their household was providing itself with fish.

Despite 65.9 % of the research population claimed that the availability of cheap fish has declined, the answer to the question ‘Does your household have enough fish?’ was mostly positive. Many people argued that despite they experienced a decline on the markets, people still ate fish on a regular base. Fish was available for the households most of the days, but to a lesser extent than they were used to. However, the fact that fish is still available on the local market, does not directly guarantee that the fish is accessible for the households. This will be clarified more deeply in the next paragraph.

Accessibility

In this paragraph the access of people’s fish consumption will be presented. The accessibility will be clarified on the basis of three categories, namely: physical, economic and social. Since the economic category is the most extended part, the paragraph will start with this topic followed by the physical and social part.

It is remarkable that the economic aspect of accessibility has intensively changed because of the ban. Due to the fact that there is a decline in the available amount and a remaining high demand of fish, the prices of fish have risen. Many people who have been interviewed, noticed a direct relation between the monsoon ban and the prices of fish. According to the surveys, 83.3 % of the

Figure 11: A mobile fish vendor in the streets of Anna Nagar. Source: Author (2017)

(31)

30 research population confirmed that the prices of cheap fish on the local market have increased because of the monsoon ban (table 7). These people claimed that the average price of cheap fish species, for example Sankara, has risen from 120 Rupees towards 200 Rupees since the start of the ban. Some fish species have been doubled in price. During some bad days, the fish price even tripled. The field observations and interviews which are being hold at the local market correspond with these results. The fish vendors confirmed that the price of fish has been increased.

Table 7: Status of the price of cheap fish on the local market. Source: Manneh (2017)

Status of the price of cheap fish during the monsoon ban in comparison with the regular period Price N= 44 Percentages Increased 39 88.6% Remained stable 4 9.1% Decreased 0 0% Don’t know 1 2.3% Total 44 100%

Most people argued that even if the prices of fish increased, they still were able to buy the fish. Some species changed 10, 20 or 30 Rupees in price per lot, which was for most people still an affordable price. A “lot” is a bag of mostly 10-15 small fishes, which is often considered cheaper than fish which is bought per kg. A lot is in between a half kg and 1 kg. Many people in the Anna Nagar area buy fish in lots. They claimed that if the price of fish doubled, or even more, the fish would not be affordable anymore. But overall, many people claimed that fish has always been affordable in their area. This is an interesting and remarkable point, since many people answered positively to the question “Is fish affordable for your household?”. One would assume that these households do not have any issues concerning purchasing fish. However, when the survey continued (see figure 8), it was clear that many of these people ate fish once a week (18.2%) and some even only once a month (18.2%). When they were asked what the reason behind this low consumption was, they often explained that fish was too costly to eat it more frequent.

Table 8: The frequency of cheap fish consumed per household. Source: Author (2017)

The frequency of cheap fish consumed per household during the monsoon ban

Frequency N =44 Percentages 3-4 times a week 18 40.9% 1-2 times a week 10 22.7% Once a week 8 18.2% Once a month 8 18.2% Total 44 100%

As presented in table 8, more than 40% of the households confirmed that they eat fish 3-4 times a week. It can be determined that a large part of people in this neighbourhood eat a lot of fish. However, these are mostly the smallest and cheapest fish species available. Many people emphasized that they were used to eating fish their entire lives. Although, it is hard to consume enough fish during difficult times such as the monsoon ban, people still want to eat fish dishes. A lot of people mentioned, that even if the prices increased, they still want to buy an equal amount of fish as in the normal pre ban times.

In an interview with a mother of a slum household, the situation of the access of people in the slums was furtherly explained. The woman, Sumathi (45) lived with her family in a house made of wooden sticks, half sealed with cloths and other available material. She was asked, whether she

The importance of fish for the food security of the urban poor : a case study of the impact of the monsoon fishing ban on households' food security and their adaptive capacity in Chennai, India