According to the Economic Survey of India (2021), about 47 percent of rural households depend on agriculture for their livelihood.

Neelkanth Mishra, a social entrepreneur from Jharkhand noticed how small and marginal farmers were often the ones most affected by droughts, floods, and pest attacks.

He began interacting with fishing communities while working as a Program Officer with Oxfam from 2006 to 2009. He observed that inland fisheries were an excellent way for farmers to earn a steady source of livelihood.

However, he deduced that for such ventures to be successful, farmers needed to be taught to reduce their production costs.

This could be achieved by teaching them how to make fishing equipment and fish feed on their own. In addition to this, market linkages needed to be improved.

To this end, he founded the ‘Centre for Aquatic Livelihood — Jaljeevika’: a fishery-based non-profit organisation, in 2013.

The organisation introduces rural folk to inland fisheries and trains fish farmers in developing cost-effective technology while also teaching them how to manage fisheries to improve production and profitability.

“Through Jaljeevika, we have taught fish farmers how to make fishing tools and equipment with minimum investments and promoted women to take up fish farming,” he shares. He adds, “We have also taught them how to produce fish seed while helping fisherfolk to become micro-entrepreneurs through value addition and processing of fish.”

To help farmers cut costs on the fishing cages that were being deployed, Neelkanth and the team encouraged them to train fisherfolk in using locally sourced materials like bamboo, nets, and wood as cages.

To solve the problem of high mortality rates among fish seeds bought from hatcheries in other states, the team began teaching farmers how to culture their seeds by tapping into local networks. Promoting the production of fish feed by the fishermen would surely bring down costs.

To this end, they began training the farmers to make feed using rice husk, waste from processing mustard to make oil, lentils, and other agri waste.

Jaljeevika has engaged with fish farmers in Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal, and Andhra Pradesh, transforming over 3,000+ fisherfolk into microentrepreneurs.

Overall, their projects have improved the lives of over 35,000 people in the country, which include over 10,000 women organised in Self Help Groups (SHGs).