Multi-modal livelihoods, access, and agency in small-scale fisheries: case study insights from the Bolivian Amazon.
Date
2025
Authors
Macnaughton, Alison
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Abstract
While the significance of fishing in supporting household and community resilience in coastal, riparian, and floodplain regions is widely acknowledged, its potential to drive sustained improvements in well-being and reduce vulnerability remains less understood. Critical knowledge gaps persist regarding the conditions, choices, and structural factors that enable or constrain small-scale fishers and their households in achieving long-term escapes from poverty and marginalization. This dissertation examines the multifaceted roles of fishing in rural livelihoods, centering the concepts of agency, access, and equity, and seeks to identify pathways toward systemic and transformative change. Through an in-depth case study of an inland fishery in the Northern Bolivian Amazon Basin, focusing on the introduction of the commercially valuable fish species “paiche” (Arapaima cf. gigas), contextual factors, external pressures, and emerging livelihood opportunities that shape strategic shifts and outcomes for fishing households are explored. Four findings chapters contribute empirical findings and conceptual advancements. The first provides a historical and contextual overview of paiche fisheries in one community, highlighting the important role of historical-contextual factors, social processes, and institutions in emerging community-based management systems, as well as broader implications relating to conflicts, adaptation, and economic opportunities. The second explores intersecting vulnerabilities among a group of fishing communities, and discusses the development and application of a Gender Transformative Approach (GTA), making use of participatory value chain analysis and knowledge dialogue methodologies. The third analyses the contributions of fishing as part of multi-modal livelihood strategies at household, community, and regional levels in remote rural areas, and assesses impacts from external drivers, such as introduced species. The fourth presents a novel theoretical framework for understanding the dynamic relationship between access and agency in natural re.-dependent livelihoods. Overall, the research highlights the value of livelihoods approaches in revealing how households organize and pursue their goals, and underscores the importance of examining gender, vulnerability, power, and access dynamics within broader systems. Findings demonstrate that access is closely linked to well-being, and emphasize the need to address the root causes of poverty and inequality as central to achieving equitable and sustainable development outcomes.
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Keywords
inland fisheries, rural livelihoods, Bolivia, Amazon, small-scale fisheries, access, agency, bricolage, gender transformative approach, intersectionality, knowledge dialogue, vulnerability, multi-modal livelihoods, resilience