Community-led Tech Venture Abalobi Announced As A Finalist For The Earthshot Prize 2023!
Community-led Tech Venture Abalobi Announced As A Finalist For The Earthshot Prize 2023! Community led company Abalobi has announced that it is one of the finalists fit the Earthshot Prize 2023. The company took to LinkedIn to make the announcement.
The post read, “Our grassroots, community-led tech venture has stepped into the spotlight as a Finalist for The Earthshot Prize 2023! 🇿🇦🎉🎊This degree of recognition holds such meaning for the dedicated small-scale fishers leading ABALOBI who are deeply invested in our vision of healthier oceans and thriving coastal communities. The Earthshot Prize is more than the most prestigious environmental accolade — it is a carefully tailored fellowship programme nurturing a community of innovators and a culture of actionable change and optimism. We’re thrilled to be a part of this, fueling our aspirations to scale! Our gratitude to Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance, Nekton and Coleman Family Ventures for nominating us.”
ABALOBI was founded in South Africa by Serge Raemaekers and Nico Waldeck as a non-profit partnership between fishers and scientists. Its aim is to protect small-scale fishing communities and nurture their ocean stewardship, while arming their customers with better information about where their seafood comes from. An ABALOBI app connects fishers with a digital marketplace where they register their catches and log precisely how, when and where the fish originate. For the first time, small-scale fishers have a tool to demonstrate transparently that they are fishing sustainably, and in exchange, they receive a fair price for their catch.
“Coastal communities are instrumental in the fight to preserve the health of our oceans. Our technology, developed in partnership with fishing communities, is both easy to use and can be adopted at scale, meaning responsible small- scale fishers across the globe can be appreciated as stewards of the ocean. Our gratitude to The Earthshot Prize for recognising the efforts of coastal communities in this endeavour.” said Serge Raemaekers, Co-Founder and Managing Director of ABALOBI.
With the use of ABALOBI’s technology, fish populations are given a chance to recover. Initially, 60% of the fish logged on the app were species classified as “of concern”. Now, more than 90% are from ecologically resilient fish stocks. With 1,600 fishers already supported across 12 countries, the technology is easy to use and scale, requiring only a smartphone.
