This report describes two pilot activities in Sri Lanka meant to explore income earning opportunities for women from fishing communities. The activities relate to coir production in Ulhitiyawa, and sewing and tailoring in Mirissa.

The report has been written up essentially as a case study of the two pilot activities, especially of the process of planning and implementation; It is not a complete record of the activities.

The report concludes that the pilot activities have, on the whole, yielded promising results. However, lack of management skills among women from fishing communities remains a major lacuna.

The report, and the pilot activities it describes, have been organized by the small-scale fisheries project of the Bay of Bengal Programme (BOBP), in cooperation with several agencies: the Sri Lanka Mahila Samiti, a voluntary organization; the Women’s Bureau of the Ministry of Plan Implementation; and the Welfare Division of the Ministry of Fisheries.

The small-scale fisheries project of the Bay of Bengal Programme began in 1979. It is funded by SIDA (Swedish International Development Authority) and executed by the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), and covers five countries bordering the Bay of Bengal - Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Its main goals are to develop, demonstrate and promote appropriate technologies and methodologies to improve the conditions of small-scale fisherfolk and to boost supplies of fish from the small-scale sector in member countries.

The project was originally conceived primarily as technological in character, But with encouragement from SIDA, the funding agency, and from the project’s advisory committee which is constituted of member-countries, family-oriented extension activities with a special emphasis on women were taken up by the project. The work described in this report was the first of such activities.

This report is a working document and has not been officially cleared by the Government concerned or the FAO.