Unmasking the silent role fisherwomen play in the small-scale fisheries local value chain in India

This paper seeks to ‘unmask’ and make known the roles played and activities performed by fisherwomen in the small-scale fisheries local value chain across the East and West Coast of India. The paper has made use of a gendered value chain approach to locate fisherwomen working in the ‘productive’ and ‘reproductive sector’. It also seeks to highlight the barrier and challenges fisherwomen incur, which act as hindrances while performing those activities. Further, the supportive role provided by the formation of SHGs, Federations, Cooper-atives and the advocacy from Networks capture the changes brought about in the lives of these fisherwomen. Finally, Policies and Schemes, conceptualized, rolled out and imple-mented at the international, national and state-level have been assessed to understand their gender neutrality and inclusiveness of these fisherwomen and their needs. The study is based entirely on secondary literature and has made use of numerous vid-eos and documentaries to bring these aspects to light. Finally, the paper concludes by highlighting the gaps in policies and schemes that are geared towards economic growth while excluding these fisherwomen and their needs. Thus, providing recommendations for implementation of more gender-sensitive, gender-inclusive and gender transformative policies and schemes.