Involuntary Displacement and Resettlement — Policy and ... - CEPA

qualitative data collected from focus group discussions and key informantinterviews is used to get an in-depth understanding of the issues.The findings of this paper reveal that post-tsunami interventions to providehousing, restore livelihoods and improve wellbeing have not fully achievedthe intended objectives due to reasons such as poor planning and targeting.However, due to many reasons, the targeting of beneficiaries for housinginterventions was better than the targeting for provision of livelihood assets.The paper highlights the importance of having systematic and updatedinformation on the fisheries sector which will enhance long term policymaking and targeting for development interventions. The paper points outthe need for a well planned integrated approach, consistent and specificpolicies, and changes to the existing systems in order to improvecoordination among relevant stakeholders and make developmentinterventions more efficient and effective.1 IntroductionAlthough contributing only 3% of the Gross Domestic Product, the fisheriessector provides direct employment to about 150,000 people and indirectemployment to about 100,000 persons in addition to supplyingapproximately 70% of the total animal protein requirement of the country(FBS, 2006). National fish production consists of two sectors, marine(88%) and inland fisheries (12%). Marine fisheries are further divided intotwo sub sectors, coastal and off-shore. Coastal fishing is the major subsector, contributing 54% of production. This sector, mainly a small scaleindustry, the most vulnerable and marginalized section of the fishingcommunity and the most affected by the tsunami, is the focus of this paper.According to the census of tsunami affected households conducted by theDepartment of Census and Statistics, the total number of householdsaffected by the tsunami was 85,748. Out of the 68,272 employed tsunamiaffected household heads, approximately 40% were from the fisheriessector. The number of registered fishing craft in Sri Lanka, pre-tsunami, was30,700, although the actual number may have been higher due tounregistered craft. About 16,000 boats were lost and about 7000 damaged bythe tsunami (Amarasinghe 2005). The total property damage to the fisherysector was estimated as US$391million (ICSFW 2005). In addition, housing84