Webinar

09
Dec
Financing innovation for sustainable fisheries with the private sector

Thursday, December 9, 2021

12.30 pm Bangkok, 1.30 pm Manila, 6.30 am Rome

Press brief

The webinar was organized by CAFI SSF Network in association with APRACA (Asia and Pacific Rural and Agricultural Credit Association) and the FAO of the United Nations on “Financing innovation for sustainable fisheries with the private sector”. More than 85 participants from financial institutions, fisherfolk associations, non-for-profit organizations, fisheries government agencies and regional training institutions joined the webinar.

The objective of the webinar was to discuss the  Multi-Disciplinary Fund project jointly implemented by the FAO-APRACA-BAAC (Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives) in Thailand.

APRACA presented the preliminary study findings on the baseline survey of small-scale fishers, fisherfolk organizations and financial service providers in Thailand. The study recommendations were discussed with stakeholders i) to provide credit services to SSF and its value chain actors by clubbing insurance products (along with asset, health & life), ii) promote more fisher cooperatives in the form of Joint Liability Groups (JLG) to enhance access to credit, iii) develop tailor-made financial products for different categories of small-scale fishers, iv) establish capacity building programme both for the financial service providers(FSP) and small-scale fishers (SSF) to improve the efficiency of the service providers and adopt new and innovative technologies by the SSFs respectively.

The Bank for Agriculture and Agriculture Cooperatives (BAAC), Thailand, presented the current services being offered by the bank and a recently designed financial product on ‘Liquidity support for Fisheries Entrepreneurship Project’ targeted to entrepreneurship development in the fisheries sub-sector with special reference to the small-scale fishers (SSFs) and to address the liquidity needs.

The webinar also included a guest speaker presentation from ACPC (Agriculture Credit Policy Council) titled Financing small-scale fisheries in the Philippines. The presentation discussed the two products; SURE(Survival and Recovery) for small-scale fishers affected by natural calamities and KAYA (Kapital Access for Young Entrepreneurs). The presentation further briefly discussed the recently completed project outcome by ACPC; on the stakeholder analysis, baseline survey, training of trainers rollout and the establishment of the PhilNet SSF to develop a credit and insurance programme for small-scale fisheries and address related capacity building needs both for financial service providers and fisherfolk organizations.

The webinar pictures and recordings are shared below.

Background

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Asia and Pacific Rural and Agricultural Credit Association (APRACA), in cooperation with the Thai Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) have recently implemented a project “Financing innovation for sustainable fisheries with the private sector”.

The project aims at supporting fishing businesses in Thailand to access the right financial services and enabling them to innovate.

BAAC implements projects to promote innovation and financing for sustainable fisheries with the private sector in Thailand. It is one of the specialized banking institutions in Thailand with both a strong urban and rural presence that facilitates the government’s implementation of economic and development policies and programmes. BAAC has implemented a  project to develop financial products to support small-scale fishers in Thailand for using appropriate technology, fishing gear usage for enhancing sustainable fisheries in Thailand. BAAC has designed and developed a loan product and is currently providing services, through a specialized credit process to enhance liquidity for fisheries entrepreneurs. BAAC has further developed training material for capacity building of BAAC staff and other financial service providers with the aim of increasing technical capacity for the provision of loan services to small-scale fishers.

The seminar will also feature a guest talk by invitation from the Philippine’s Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC) about their experience with trying to enhance financial service provision for SSF.

This webinar is an effort to highlight the financing innovation developed for the provision of specialized products and services for SSF.

Programme Agenda