IJEMR September 2017 - Vol 7 Issue 09 - Online - ISSN 22492585 Print - ISSN 2249-8672

Role of Microfinance in Odisha Marine Fisheries

*Dr.Sunil Kumar Pradhan
**Jeenata Patnaik

*Asst Professor, Dept. of Business Administration, Berhampur University

**Research Scholar, Dept. of Business Administration, Berhampur University

Abstract
Microfinance organization and self help groups have created an economic revolution in
Odisha to mobilize marine fisheries sector. The study makes an attempt on the impact
assessment Microfinanace institutions on the indebtedness among marine mechanized,
motorized and traditional fisheries sectors. The study was carried out in four coastal districts
of Odisha state. Situational analysis was done through PLA in the selected locations and the
sample respondents were selected from mechanized, motorized and traditional sectors. Data
were collected through personal interview from members of 12 selected MFIs and non
members in these sectors comprising a total of 600 respondents. The results showed that the
level of indebtedness of members of MFIs was less compared to the non members. Even if the
indebtedness was more in certain cases, the repayment capacity was found to be significantly
improved in MFIs. There is an extreme necessity for strengthening the MFI ventures in the
traditional and tertiary fisheries sectors in the state. A comparative assessment of the sources
of credit, purposes of credit and utilization pattern of loans in the state also was undertaken
to draw valid conclusions. It was also found that the MFIs ranked better in most of the major
attributes in the perception of stakeholders compared to banks and non-institutional credit
sources. Success cases of MFIs on entrepreneurial capacity building, those significantly
played the role in the debt redemption and poverty alleviation was documented as a practical
manual for mobilizing MFIs in any key areas on a sustainable basis.
Keywords: Microfinance, indebtedness, credit, self help
Introduction
It is quite notable that the level of indebtedness in the marine fisheries sector throughout the
Indian coastal belt. NSSO (2003), Ministry of Finance (2007) and CED (2008) brought out the
reports of indebtedness level in the Indian agricultural sector. The Micro Finance Institutions
(MFI) and Self Help Groups (SHG) in marine fisheries sector play a crucial role in reducing the
level of indebtedness among marine fisheries. Economical credit is essential for development
of Indian marine fisheries sector. Though fisheries sector plays a major role in earning foreign
exchange, the fisher folk are still in the lower strata of the society because of indebtedness
and are in the clutches of non institutional credit agencies. In Odisha maximum level of
indebtedness compared to other coastal states of the country. In Odisha, there are 1,14,238
fisher families in 813 marine fishing villages with a population of 6,05,514 and out of which
56,279 households are below poverty line. The maximum numbers of fisher families are in
Balasore district (47,162) followed by Jagatsinghpur district (17,508). The total numbers of
landing centres are 73, of which 20 are in Ganjam district. About 77% are traditional
fishermen families. The average number of families per village was 141, with 745 persons per
village. Women form 47% of the population with 893 females per 1000 females With regard to
the education; it was observed that, 53% of fisher folk are literate with different levels of
education. There are 1,62,411 active fishermen of which 99,972 are fulltime fishermen,
35,609 part-time and the rest engaged in fish seed collection. Hindus constitute 97% of the
fishermen families, with a minority being Muslims (2%) and Christians (1%). In Odisha, 76%
of the fishermen live in kacha houses and the remaining 24% are pucca houses. There are 810
primary schools, 255 secondary schools, 49 colleges, 31 technical institutions and among the
fishing villages 64% are electrified. There are 10,826 crafts in the sector of which 2,248 are

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mechanised, 3,922 motorised and the rest are non- motorized. Trawlers (58%), gill netters
(35%), liners (5%) and bagnetters (2%) are the main crafts in the mechanized sector.
Review Literatures
Khan (2005) in a case study undertaken on fisheries sector indebtedness in Baluchisthan
and Sindh of Pakistan, observed an empirical link between poverty and indebtedness and the
mean debt to income ratio in low income group of fisherfolk was 3:4.
Yunus (1999), the pioneer of microfinance projects in Bangladesh reported that, the
microfinance system enabled thousands of people by offering credit to poor people, some fear
it could lead to over-indebtedness, but microfinance has benefited the wider economy.
Sathiadas (2009) has conducted micro level socio economic studies on indebtedness in
selected fishing villages in different maritime states in India.
Jayaraman (2005) undertook the performance analysis of fisherwomen Self Help Groups in
Tamil Nadu and reported that, women SHGs played a substantial role in alleviating poverty
and indebtedness in fisheries sector. In this context, the Microfinance institutions /Self Help
Groups of fisherfolk do have a pivotal role in reducing the indebtedness in the marine fisheries
sector.
Tripathi and Sharma (2007) conducted impact assessment of SHG-Bank Linkage Programme
on Financial Behaviour of Rural Poor in Raebareli District in Uttar Pradesh to address the
issue of sustainable development of the rural poor through SHG-Bank linkage using
participatory approach and found SHGs played a significant role in economic empowerment
and there is a great need to mobilize SHGs through participatory approaches and strategies.
Dynamics of micro-credit in womens SHGs in marine fisheries sector of Malabar area of
Kerala was studied and a strategy for mobilisation of an effective Self Help Group.
Vasantha and Manohar (2008) in a study on microfinance proved that microfinance
programmes are presently being promoted as an important strategy for concurrently
addressing both poverty alleviation and womens empowerment and micro financial firms
must maintain efficiency levels to increase their scale of operations which surely will bring
down the cost of financing and ultimately, the benefits will be transferred to the poor people in
terms of improving the standard of living and reasonable cost of borrowing.
Mammoo (2004) in a study on income, indebtedness and savings among fisherfolk of
Udayapur and Gopalpur of Odisha under BOBP Programme, reported that fishing
communities are familiar with two distinct credit sources: the traditional / informal and the
institutional/ formal. Traditional sources include moneylenders, middlemen, fish traders, boat
owners, shopkeepers and pawn brokers. Institutional sources are mainly banks and
cooperatives. Nevertheless, an exact assessment on the indebtedness level among marine
fisherfolk has not been attempted so far. In this context, this study is an attempt to assess the
extent of indebtedness among marine fisherfolk in mechanized, motorized and traditional
sectors as well as to assess the impact of microfinance on rural indebtedness in marine
fisheries sector.
Methods and Materials
The study was undertaken in four coastal districts of Odisha state namely Ganjam, Puri,
Jagatsinghpur and Balasore. The selected locations were Aryapalli and Gopalpur of Ganjam
district, Astrang and Konark of Puri district, Jagatsinghpur and Paradeep of Jagatsinghpur
district and Balasore and Chandipur of Balasore district of Odisha state. Data were collected
from members of microfinance institutions (MFIs) identified in these locations. Three MFIs
selected from each of the four districts comprising a total of 12 MFIs were covered. Any
mobilized group venture with a productive economic activity initiated by thrift deposits and
sustained by an appropriate micro-enterprise either independently or by the intervention of an
external agency is considered an MFI. This included SHGs which finished the gestation period
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of 36 months with an economic activity initiated through thrift deposits and sustained by an
appropriate micro- enterprise promoted by micro-finance either independently or by the
intervention of an external agency like NGOs, private micro financial firms, banks etc. Data
were gathered from both MFI and non MFI members Study was made through personal
interview of the fisherfolk to assess extent of coastal rural indebtedness, supply of credit and
empowerment and other parameters.
The study area and the sampling distribution are presented in Fig.1 and Table 1.
Table 1. Sampling distribution in Odisha (N = 600)

Marine fisheries Total Non MFI members MFI members

sector
Mechanised 320 210 110
Motorised 220 160 70
Traditional 60 30 20
Total 600 400 200

Fig:-1

Table 2:- Level of indebtedness and repayment in Odisha

Sector Indebtedness in Lakhs % of repayment

Non member MFI Non Member MFI
Mechanised 2.15 1.74 26.0 28.0
Motorised 1.83 1.43 29.0 31.0
Traditional 0.73 0.26 16.5 26.0
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The average figures of family particulars of the selected respondents are presented in Fig. 2. In
Odisha, 77% of fisherfolk families were traditional. The average number of families per village
was 141, with 745 persons per village. Women form 47% of the population with 893 females
per 1000 females.

Fig:- 2 Average figures of family particulars

The expenditure pattern of respondents from all the selected districts of Odisha is shown in
Fig.3. It was seen that 52 % of expenditure of the family was spent for the food items followed
by 9% for clothing. The details of savings and indebtedness of respondents in Odisha are
presented in Table 3. The indebtedness in Odisha is 89% and was highest compared to other
states.
Table :- 3 Savings and indebtedness of respondents

No State Frequency of respondents Total Indebtedness

( %)
Nil <0.5 L 0.5 1 >1 L
L
1 Odisha 534 50 16 0 600 89

Fig:- 3 Expenditure of respondents in Odisha

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The credit sources in Odisha are shown in Fig.4. The private money lenders were found to be
the major source of credit followed by banks. Finance plays a vital role in accelerating any
business activity/economic development, and fisheries sector is not an exception. Being the
state with maximum level of indebtedness, the economic activities of the fishing villages in
Odisha mainly depend upon the availability of credit at reasonable cost to enhance production
and income. Regarding the indebtedness in fisheries sector of Odisha, the average
indebtedness per household was observed as Rs 1.36 lakhs and the fisherfolk were virtually
absorbed by non-institutional agencies such as the money lenders and traders. Fisherfolk
were attracted to the non-institutional agencies due to simple procedures and timeliness in
availing finance mainly for meeting their immediate operational expenses. Since majority of
the money lenders in fisheries sector was middlemen cum traders, who offer credit on the
guarantee of selling of fish to them, often exploit fishermen by offering less price for produce.
Similarly the purpose for which the loans were availed in Odisha are presented in Table 4 and
purchase of craft and other fishing related equipments and repair was the main reason
followed by house construction. Loan being utilized for Non Performing Asset (NPAs) creation
other than fishing and related activities existed to a great extent as loans are being used for
non-fisheries activities like asset creation and social obligations.

Fig:- 4 Credit Sources in Odisha

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Table 4:- Purpose of credit

No Purpose Odisha %age
1 Purchase of craft 320 56.53
and other fishing
equipments
2 House construction 142 25.08
/ land purchase
3 Expenses in 6 1.06
Marriage
4 Education 4 0.70
Expenses
5 Health & social 46 8.12
security
6 Any others 48 8.51
( business)
Total 566

The comparative assessment of MFI, Institutional and non institutional credit are shown in
the Table 5. It can be seen that provision of longer loans, provision of loan grace periods, easy
repayment schedule, low interest rate, less stringent for default of payment, limited hidden
cost and concerns and need for collateral security, MFIs are much better in performance .
With these background perspective, it could be inferred that, concerted efforts on social
mobilization though SHG and Micro Finance are inevitable for the economic empowerment of
the fisher community in India and also proved in Bangladesh.

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Table: - 5 Comparative assessment of MFI, Institutional and non-institutional credit

Sl. Attributes Institutional Non Microfinance
No Institutional
Score Rank Score Rank Score Rank
1 Easy approval 40.75 III 48.30 I 44.60 II
process
2 Diverse area of 40.85 II 42.65 I 39.36 III
funding
3 Eligibility of 62.45 I 45.6 III 47.95 II
recipient
4 Maximum amount 64.75 I 56.5 II 55.85 III
of loan
5 Need for collateral 55.45 I 51.65 II 51.35 III
security
6 Provision of longer 50.85 II 40.75 III 51.45 I
loans
7 Provision of loan 42.05 II 41.9 III 42.45 I
grace periods
8 Easy repayments 47.45 II 40.25 III 50.85 I
schedule
9 Low interest rate 56.35 I 41.85 III 42.45 II
10 Stringent of 55.45 II 60.5 I 54.15 III
default of payment
11 Hidden cost 51.05 II 58.3 I 44.75 III

Findings & Suggestion

The results on the level of indebtedness across the sectors are presented in Table 2. The
average indebtedness of fisheries households in mechanised sector of non members of MFIs
was Rs 2.15 lakhs and that of members was Rs 1.74 lakhs. In motorised sector, the
indebtedness of non-members was Rs 1.83 lakhs and that of MFI members was Rs 1.43 lakhs.
But in the traditional sector MFI members indebtedness was Rs 0.73 lakhs and that of non-
members was Rs 0.26 lakhs. The results indicate that the level of indebtedness of MFI
members was lesser than the non-members in all the three sectors and the percentage of
repayment of MFI members was also much better compared to non-members. MFIs
significantly reduced the dependence of fisherfolk on private moneylender and considerably
reduced the indebtedness level and increased their repayment capacity which shows the
necessity of strengthening the MFI ventures in the traditional sector.
Conclusion
The study indicated that the level of indebtedness among the MFIs assisted fisher families was
less compared to non MFIs. Level of indebtedness in non MFIs was almost 3 times of MFIs. Per
household indebtedness in Odisha is approximately 1.36 lakhs and level of indebtedness is 89
%. The repayment capacity of MFI assisted family was found to be more even though the
indebtedness is high. Private money lenders were observed to be the major source of funding
followed by banks. Non-institutional credit agencies still hold good across the sectors. There is

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an extreme necessity for strengthening the MFIs in the traditional sector because majority of
fisherfolk in Odisha (77%) belongs to the traditional sector. Therefore, concerted efforts in this
direction to strengthen MFIs in the traditional sector are inevitable.
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Jayaraman. R. . Performance analysis of fisherwomen self help groups, Department of
Fisheries Resources & Economics, Fisheries College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu
Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Thoothukkudi, Final Report submitted to National
Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development. 63 pp.
Khan Shaheen Rafi, Ali Fahd and Tanveer Azka. Compliance with International Standards
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