Gender Issues and Challenges of Fisherwomen to Become an Entrepreneur in Kerala

Abstract

In fishermen family in Kerala, the male fishermen are actively involved with fishing activities. But due to the uncertainties prevailing in the fishing sector there is no guaranteed income of them. The responsibility of household management-food, childcare, children's education, family health, sanitation, financial management and the responsibility of getting and repaying debts will be mostly on the women's shoulders. Fisherwomen from fishermen community, who try to enter an industry facing various problems, after mechanization the intensification of multi-day fishing, the household responsibility of fisher women has increased to a greater extent. The women fisher folk of the fishing sector in the real force behind the fisher folk to cater the domestic needs. The geographical focus of the study is Kerala. The study is an attempt to document the issues and difficulties that are addressed by fisherwomen in the context of entrepreneurship. This conceptual study aims to describe the problems faced by the women entrepreneurs in the fishermen community and describe the role of education for the empowerment of them.

Keywords: Fishermen Community, Fisherwomen, Entrepreneurship, Education