How Livelihood Capitals Influence Occupational Diversification among Rural Households: Evidence from Small-scale Fisher Households in Alappuzha District, Kerala

Aswathy, N and Anuja, A R and Jeeva, Charles J and Raju, S S and Swathi Lekshmi, P S and Shinoj, P and Vipinkumar, V P and Ananth, P N and Narayanakumar, R and Jayasankar, J (2026) How Livelihood Capitals Influence Occupational Diversification among Rural Households: Evidence from Small-scale Fisher Households in Alappuzha District, Kerala. Economic Affairs, 71 (1). pp. 1-6. ISSN 2321-712X

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Abstract

Small-scale marine fishers in the Alappuzha district of Kerala are increasingly affected by the consistent decline in fish landings, climate change impacts, sea erosion, and rising fishing costs, all of which pose serious threats to their livelihoods. The traditional fishers in the district primarily operate motorised fishing units, and the landings of these fishing units showed a drastic decline from 50,254 t to 13,789 t during 2015 to 2024. In this backdrop, the livelihood capital assets and occupational strategies of small-scale fishing households in the motorised fishing sector in Alappuzha district of Kerala were examined. A multinomial logistic regression was used to analyse how the livelihood capitals impact the fisher household’s ability to choose diversified livelihood strategies. The respondent households included both craft owners and fishing crew in the motorised fishing sector. The annual fishery income varied from ` 79,942/- for the households of fishing crew to ` 3,38,560/- for the craft owners. The analysis indicated that human, financial and physical capitals play a vital role in shaping the occupational diversification among small-scale fisher households. Family size and education index showed a significant influence on households to engage in salaried jobs. Ownership of crafts and higher dependency reduced the chances of fishing households to engage in diversified occupations in the informal sector, as well as salaried jobs. The findings of the study suggest targeted policy interventions to enhance the institutional credit access, strengthening the skill base through appropriate education and specialised training to enhance the well-being of marine fisher households.

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