An interactive training session on the ABABLOBI Fisher app was conducted for cooperative leaders.

An Overview and Objectives

During this workshop, the Port St Johns co-op leaders attended sessions on ABALOBI Fisher with the focus on capacitating them to become trainers in their cooperatives on the use of the tool. This would assist broader uptake of the tool but also enable co-op leaders to assist their co-op members to log their activity on the ABALOBI Fisher app.

Perspectives from the Community

Taitum-Lee Manuel, a community coach from Lambertsbaai, accompanied the ABALOBI team to Port St. Johns and played a key role in presenting a community perspective on ABALOBI to inspire participation from fishers in Port St. Johns.

The fishers were eager to learn and get involved with ABALOBI. They took part in
the activities and were open about their experiences as fishers. There was a great representation of the fishers present: different age groups, female and male, and a lot of experienced and knowledgeable older fishers. They shared a lot of their history with facilitators. They also showed a good understanding of the data presented and made meaningful observations.

Conclusions

We believe that the workshop was a tremendous success based on the enthusiastic participation and understanding demonstrated by the community. Co-op leaders are better equipped to co-op members to use the ABALOBI Fisher app which will undoubtedly lead to a higher uptake of the tool.