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Fisher communities adapt to new realities
Dr Serge Raemaekers, managing director of ABALOBI ICT4FISHERIES, shares how seafood supply chains are adapting to new realities and highlights the social enterprise’s transition to a multi-channel marketplace.
Words: Dr Serge Raemaekers and the ABALOBI team Images: Abalobi
“Closed until further notice: COVID-19.” This common headline, seen on the news and social media since March has been linked to the restaurant and hospitality industry of many cities, Cape Town included. Closed restaurants also resulted in closed supply chains for hundreds of small-scale fishers in the Western Cape.
ABALOBI ICT4FISHERIES is an African- based, fisher-driven social enterprise with global reach. Our mobile app suite and programmes include an electronic catch documentation and traceability platform, a marketplace for seafood with a story, and an integrated digital transactional system.
We work with small-scale fishers on the human-centred design of this platform and undertake capacity- building towards community entrepreneurship and improved safety at sea. We also operate the ABALOBI MARKETPLACE with fishers and their partner organisations to achieve transparent, equitable and responsible supply chains. The intention is to catalyse the improvement of small- scale fisheries and the management of sustainable fisheries.
