Livelihood Assets of Small-Scale Fisherman in Tanah Merah District, Indragiri Hilir Regency, Riau Province, Indonesia

Abstract

People in Tanah Merah Village, Tanah Merah Subdistrict, Indragiri Hilir Regency generally have a livelihood as fishermen. Fishermen can be said to be prosperous if they have good control over their livelihood assets. Livelihood assets consist of human, natural, social, financial and physical resource assets. This study aims to: (1) find out the meaning of the sustainable livelihood approach, (2) find out the livelihood assets of small-scale fishermen and (3) determine the condition of the livelihood assets of small-scale fishermen. The research was conducted in Tanah Merah District, Indragiri Hilir Regency, Riau Province. Respondents from this study were 45 people. The method used in this research was survey method. The data analysis used was descriptive analysis. Descriptive analysis was used to generate an overview of the data that has been collected based on the respondents’ answers through the distribution of items from each variable. The presentation of the data was done by cross tabulating according to the parameters of several aspects of the assets that support fishermen’s livelihoods. The result showed that the livelihood assets of small-scale fishermen namely natural assets, human resources, social, financial and physical are in the medium category. The acquisition of this value can indicate that the control of the livelihood assets of small-scale fishermen in Tanah Merah Village is not sustainable.