Women on Wings social enterprise partner since May 2023
Jaljeevika aims to elevate the socio-economic status of fishing communities and specifically women farmers whose livelihoods depend on productive water bodies. And in doing so, it inherently contributes to food and nutritional security in rural India.
This social enterprise, headquartered in Pune in the Indian state of Maharashtra, specifically promotes women as farmers in the fisheries sector across India. Jaljeevika is convinced that by increasing the participation of women in aquaculture, this will not only enhance the family income, but also a woman’s decision making in her family and leadership in the community.
Jaljeevika’s brood banks, community-based hatcheries and the utilization of small and seasonal tanks as seed nursery units in small water bodies and small reservoirs offer immense scope for livelihood generation – as a gainful enterprise, as a quality nutrition supplement and as a viable business for women and men fish vendors in the local markets. What’s more, this offers immense potential to improve the livelihoods of socially excluded communities.
Jaljeevika works on addressing several bottlenecks to make fishery-related livelihood activities profitable. For instance, fish farmers used to trade the fish to local vendors but due to lack of technical support, specialized knowledge centers, or investment linkages, these local vendors are unable to provide long term value to small scale fish farmers.