Small Pelagic Fish Value Chain and Its Contribution to Local Food Security: A Case Study in Gandara Fishing Village in Southern Coast of Sri Lanka

The small pelagic fishery has a critical importance both in terms of economic and food security concerns for coastal communities around the world. This study aimed at investigating the domestic fish value chain along with key economic agents, their roles and functions and to assess the contribution of the value chain to the local food security. In-depth interviews were conducted with at least five agents at each node of the value chain, and they were selected through stratified purposive and snowball sampling. Six different marketing channels were identified from fishers to consumers. Fishers are the primary producers. Local wholesalers played a conclusive role as the major middlemen, commission agents and moneylenders. Regional suppliers transported fish from landing sites to the wholesalers of other regional markets. The retail market consisted of mobile fish vendors and local retailers. Ninety-eight percent of the commercial catch reached the consumer, with only 2% waste or by-usage. Seventy percent of that commercial catch directly moved to the local consumers along three marketing channels. The prominent channel was “Fisher-Retailer-Consumer” (37%). This value chain had a significant contribution to local food security in terms of availability, accessibility, utilization and stability. The consumer price was affected by the number of intermediaries involved in the chain. Less number of intermediaries along the chain will improve the local food security while ensuring an affordable price for the consumers. Local consumers prefer fresh fish which hinders the desire of value creation in domestic value chains.