Empowering the Fish Processor Community in West Java Province

Abstract

Indonesia is the largest archipelago country in the world accounting for over 17,000 islands. The West Java Province is one of the country’s 34 provinces and is an important fisheries production centre, owing to its abundance of fish resources. This annual catch of marine life and fish in this area is the source of livelihood of this area’s coastal communities. The fish processing business in West Java is done mostly by women. Any support to the household fish processing business improves the livelihood of local people, benefits the income of the coastal communities and the economy of Indonesia. A simple model of empowerment has been constructed that can be applied to these fishing communities to help them. By identifying external and internal variables, an analysis structural equation model (SEM) capable of simplifying multivariate data to empower home-based fish processors has been formulated. This research can strengthen the theory of community empowerment, pointing out the importance of extension programmes and formulating future strategies, especially in the field of fisheries.