The case for supporting small-scale fisheries governance through ICT

The policy brief examines the challenges facing small-scale fisheries (SSFs), particularly in Africa, such as data scarcity and the exclusion of fishers from governance. It proposes ICT tools as a means to enhance data collection, improve market transparency, and connect operational actors with strategic managers. The document highlights the ABALOBI initiative in South Africa as a successful model of a bottom-up, co-developed ICT suite that empowers fishers and supports the co-management of resources.

• Small-scale fisheries (SSFs) in Africa are critical for livelihoods and food security, employing approximately 10 million people directly and 90 million indirectly, and supporting the food security of 200 million people.
• SSF governance is hindered by poor data quality and quantity, with available information often being incomplete, dated, or extrapolated. This lack of data, particularly regarding socio-economic aspects and gender dimensions, leaves policymakers "operating in the dark".
• The SSF sector suffers from systemic fragmentation, where horizontal value chain activities (harvest, landing, processing, and sale) are disconnected and fishers lack vertical ties to managerial and governance actors, excluding their voices from decision-making.
• ICT tools can address SSF challenges by facilitating large-scale data collection via mobile phones, improving fish traceability, and creating real-time connections between spatially separated actors to increase fishers' bargaining power.
• The ABALOBI initiative in South Africa provides a suite of five interconnected apps (Fisher, Monitor, Manager, Co-op, and Marketplace) designed to improve monitoring, transparency, and the inclusion of fishers in governance and business development.
• For ICT interventions to be successful, they must be co-developed with fishers from the ground up and offer a clear value proposition—such as financial tracking or proof of fishing activity for rights acquisition—to incentivise daily use.

APA

Petrik, M., & Raemaekers, S. (2018). The case for supporting small-scale fisheries governance through ICT. South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Policy-Briefing-177.pdf

Chicago

Petrik, Marko, and Serge Raemaekers. The case for supporting small-scale fisheries governance through ICT. South African Institute of International Affairs, 2018. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Policy-Briefing-177.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Petrik |first1=Marko |last2=Raemaekers |first2=Serge |title=The case for supporting small-scale fisheries governance through ICT |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=June 2018 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Policy-Briefing-177.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{petrik2018case, author = {Petrik, Marko and Raemaekers, Serge}, title = {{The case for supporting small-scale fisheries governance through ICT}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2018}, month = jun, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Policy-Briefing-177.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }