Coping strategies of Kenya’s coastal artisanal fishing households against poverty: Do these strategies produce any sustained benefit?

Thousands of Kenya’s coastal artisanal fishermen suffer from severe poverty. Their poverty is visible in the dismal social and economic conditions in which artisanal fishing households exist, as well as in the inadequate fishing gear they use. This study examined how artisanal fishing households in Mkomani, perceived the poverty they experienced, how they coped with it, and whether their agency in responding to this poverty produced any trans-formational change in their lives. Two qualitative research instruments, Focus Group Discussions and Key Informant Interviews, were used for data collection. The majority of respondents identified the lack of sufficient income (and the numerous domestic deprivations this caused), as well as the failure to receive any meaningful assistance from government as the primary manifestations of their poverty. The dependence on social networks and casual jobs were indicated as major coping strategies used in addressing poverty. While the participants’ individual agency used to tackle poverty was greatly curtailed by this very same poverty, one group of local fishermen had through their collective effort established a fishermen’s group which had produced significant transformative development in their livelihood.