The proudly South African app ABALOBI, designed to help small-scale fisheries, has been selected as a finalist for the 2023 Earthshot Prize.
Global (28 September 2023) – Small-scale fisheries and communities have been supported by the innovative app called ABALOBI, which is designed to help them connect with scientists and creates a digital marketplace where they can log their catches, showing how, when and where the fish originates. The proudly South African, non-profit app has been selected as a finalist for the Earthshot Prize this year.
The Earthshot Prize
In October 2020, Prince William launched the most prestigious global environment prize in history, The Earthshot Prize. The international prize highlights five disciplines and winners in each will receive a total of £1 Million each. The project will run over the course of the next decade, meaning a total of £50 Million will be given to causes working to repair the Earth.
The launch came after two years of work by Prince William and The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to develop a project which will support the global effort to protect and restore the environment. As well as identifying evidence-based solutions to the most significant environmental problems the planet faces, The Earthshot Prize aims to turn the current pessimism surrounding environmental issues into optimism that we can rise to the biggest challenges of our time.
The Earthshot Prize is the biggest initiative prize to date from both Prince William and The Royal Foundation and was first introduced on 31st December 2019. Since then, a global coalition of individuals, businesses and organisations has been established to maximise the impact of the Prize.
The five Earthshots are:
- Protect and restore nature
- Clean our air
- Revive our oceans
- Build a waste-free world
- Fix our climate
Each Earthshot is underpinned by scientifically agreed targets, including the UN Sustainable Development Goals and other internationally recognised measures to help repair our planet. Together, they form a unique set of challenges rooted in science, which aim to generate new ways of thinking, as well as new technologies, systems, policies and solutions.
Every year from 2021 until 2030, Prince William, alongside The Earthshot Prize Council, which covers six continents, will award The Earthshot Prize to five winners, one per Earthshot.
ABALOBI the App
ABALOBI is the only South African initiative in the running for the prize and is listed within the “Revive Our Oceans” category. The team, founded by Serge Raemaekers and Nico Waldeck, dreamed of a way to connect small fishing communities to the ever-growing fisheries space by providing accessible technology for them to take part in the market space. ABALOBI means fisher in the isiXhosa language.
“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.” – Serge Raemaekers, Co-Founder and Managing Director of ABALOBI
The app has seen over 1,600 fishers join to log their catches and where before 60% of catches were fish “of concern”, now 90% of logged catches are from ecologically resilient fish stocks.
Not only does the app provide accessible technology for fishers, but it also provides a fair and useful marketplace where fishers can connect with buyers and various stakeholders looking to acquire fish.
Winning this prize will go a long way in helping more fishers take responsibility for the ocean’s health and wellbeing, while allowing them to continue supporting their loved ones.
“My hope is for every fisher to become a responsible fisher, to take ownership of the ocean and the
species in the ocean for the next generation, and I strongly believe that ABALOBI is the ideal tool,”
said David Shoshola, traditional fisher and ABALOBI advocate.
You can find out more about the app via the website here or Facebook here. They even produced a documentary highlighting the lives of five South African fisherwomen which you can watch below:
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