Management for Alleviating Poverty Among Fishermen Through Empowering Female Fishermen in North Kalimantan

Abstract

Research related to poverty alleviation models for fishermen has been widely carried out. However, models involving female fishermen have not been thoroughly investigated. This article explores the public policy management model in alleviating poverty in fishermen by involving female fishermen. In this study, the researchers employed the descriptive-qualitative method with a documentation study by reviewing the results of relevant previous studies. The collected data were analyzed using an inductive approach to social phenomena related to female fishermen. Results showed that: (1) poverty in fishermen was caused by the low monthly income, the use of traditional fishing gear, the lack of corporate effort, and the low level of education of fishermen; (2) the ineffectiveness of poverty alleviation policies, among others, were caused by inaccurate program targets, being not in line with objectives, administrative problems, resource problems, misuse of assistance, the lack of socialization, inaccuracies of data, the low commitment of program participants, education level of program participants, low community participation, and lack of technical performance of program management; and (3) the right model for alleviating poverty in fishermen with the concept of women’s empowerment is through business development in the form of the establishment of cooperatives for female fishermen. Therefore, affirmative action is needed for the management of the cooperatives so that these female fishermen can manage their businesses more efficiently and productively through an empowerment model by collaborating with local governments, universities, and private sectors/companies. The local government may provide a series of training and assistance for the management of the cooperative, while the private sector reinforces managerial, production, and marketing aspects. Furthermore, universities can implement their Tri Dharma of higher education by helping the government and cooperatives managed by female fishermen, thereby improving the fishermen’s family economy. Keywords: Poverty, Women’s Empowerment, Collaboration.