This investigation has been carried out in the four regions of Uttar Pradesh to assess the empowerment status of the fish farmers after the intervention of Fish Farmer Development Agencies. From these four regions, one district each was selected and a total of 159 farmers were covered in this study. A novel tool (Empowerment Index) that measures Knowledge, Skill, Social and Economic dimensions of empowerment has been developed and utilized. The assessment of empowerment status has indicated that three-fourths of beneficiaries scored above average as regards their empowerment status with an average score of 0.53 on a scale of 0 to 1, indicating that farmers benefitted moderately in terms of their knowledge, skill, social life and economic wellbeing with FFDA's support. The t-test has indicated that the level of economic empowerment was higher in Lucknow and Aligarh districts than in Faizabad and Jhansi districts, while knowledge, skill and social empowerment levels were similar across all districts. The paired t-test has testified that fish productivity (60%), profitability (41%) and culture area (72%) improved significantly after FFDAs’ intervention. Different test statistics have revealed that farmers having longer contact with FFDA have higher level of empowerment status.
Farmers empowerment, fish farmers, Fish Farmer Development Agency, Uttar Pradesh
