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Mobile del Mar: How Mobile App Fisher Friend Helps Fishers in India

Posted by MelissaUlbricht on Mar 31, 2011

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Mobile del Mar: How Mobile App Fisher Friend Helps Fishers in India data sheet 3309 Views

An ongoing project in coastal India is working to improve the livelihoods of “fisher folk.” A mobile app called Fisher Friend provides timely information on local fish markets, the weather, and the sea.

A video about Fisher Friend suggests that, “for fishing communities, the key to livelihood is knowledge... knowledge of the market, the weather, and most importantly, the sea.” The Fisher Friend app, which launched in 2007, provides timely and critical information for fishers, and “also increases their knowledge base by providing information on government schemes and entitlements, health services, directory services, and a marine toll-free helpline.”

The project is a collaboration between the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), Tata Teleservices in India, Astute Systems Technology, Wireless Reach, and Qualcomm.

The Fisher Friend app provides information on potential fishing zones and market rates per species, helping fishers in all phases of their work. MobileActive.org spoke with S. Senthilkumaran, director of MSSRF in Chennai, to learn more about Fisher Friend.

Basic Information
Website URL: 
http://www.mssrf.org/
Organization involved in the project?: 
M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation
Project goals: 

The goal of the project is to share timely and critical information, via mobile application, with fishers in coastal India.

Brief description of the project: 

An ongoing project in coastal India is working to improve the livelihoods of many “fisher folk.” A mobile app called Fisher Friend provides timely information on local fish markets, the weather, and the sea.

Target audience: 

The target audience is fisher people in areas of coastal India.

Detailed Information
Status: 
Ongoing
What worked well? : 

The application and its content has been helpful to fisher folk. The vernacular language and interface is easily understood by the user.

What did not work? What were the challenges?: 

One challenge is building partnerships with various content providers.