Corporate social responsibility has the potential to do much more than mitigate the trade-offs between companies and citizens. Done right, CSI has the potential to meaningfully transform the industry in which it is implemented.
Oceana Group Limited’s Small-Scale Fishers (SSF) training programme is an example of how well-considered strategic CSI with long-term vision can change the face of the fishing industry for the better, building communities while supporting the long-term sustainability of the industry.
“Fisheries are an underrated sector in South Africa. Globally, fishing provides thousands of jobs and contributes substantially to the economy,” says Zodwa Velleman, Group Executive of Corporate and Regulatory Affairs at Oceana. “Upskilling SSFs plays a valuable role in how we regulate the sector and how we ensure the long-term sustainability of the resource. The better regulated the industry, the better it is for all industry stakeholders.”
CSI anchored in fairness and equity
Oceana’s CSI reflects the transformation ambitions that have evolved South Africa’s fishing industry since the birth of democracy.
The industry’s legislation has come a long way from the Marine Living Resources Act 18 of 1998, which factored only private businesses and individuals as the rights holders eligible to apply for limited fishing quotas. The introduction of broad-based black economic empowerment and the community rights holding model made some progress towards recognising the rights of fishing communities dependent on subsistence fishing. However, the lack of formal structures to comply with the legislation meant that traditional leaders or groups with the loudest voice often secured the available quotas, leaving much to be desired in the push for equity.
Subsistence fishing communities have since found benefit in the government’s adoption of cooperative fishing models, from across Japan, Mexico and Chile, which allocates quotas to community cooperatives. Cooperatives, governed by the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission legislation and democratic, mandated structures, manage the fishing rights on behalf of their communities.
While this approach gives fishing communities an important stake in the industrial fishing sector, it can overlook some of the realities subsistence fishing communities face. These cooperatives may have the quotas for high-value catches such as mussels, squid, lobster, oysters or traditional line fish like snoek and hake, but they may not necessarily have the human, vessel or cold storage resources to fulfil their quota allocations.
Seeing this gap in the industry, the private sector has stepped in to support SSFs and reinforce the industry as a whole. Oceana’s CSI initiatives are designed to grow fishing cooperatives, assist them in making the most of their quotas and support them in becoming more profitable.
Oceana, in offering the training programmes, decided not to enter commercial contracts with fisher people as the focus was on empowerment as opposed to business transactions. Velleman says the initiatives have a big philanthropic payoff for Oceana. “Through the process of running training and impact assessments, we’ve witnessed the importance of cooperatives as tools to build communities. Cooperatives are about more than just economic interests. Many of the individuals who participate in cooperatives, particularly rural cooperatives, are motivated by the desire to strengthen and uplift their communities,” comments Velleman.
Training uplifts fishing communities
Oceana’s CSI education initiatives serve fishing communities around the country. The commitment was to train all cooperatives established by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) across four provinces, namely the Eastern Cape, Western Cape, Northern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
“The better we equip people in the industry using the resources we have as Oceana – one of Africa’s largest fishing companies – the better it is for the entire industry. It’s not a matter of competition. It’s about partnerships for good.”
Oceana offers a three-pronged learning journey with its dedicated training facility, the Oceana Maritime Academy. External partners supporting the SSF training programme include the DFFE, National Sea Rescue Institute, South African Maritime Safety Authority, South African International Maritime Institute (SAIMI) and service provider DYNA Training.
The Co-operative Sense programme is a three-day course that has been on offer since July 2021, teaching communities the basics of how to run a cooperative and understand the constitution that governs it. It covers the essentials, including cooperative set-up, financial management, brand development and marketing. The course is the culmination of a two-year consultation with the DFFE and small-scale fishing cooperatives. The company also provides internationally recognised ocean safety training, educating cooperatives and interested parties on sea safety and emergency response protocols at sea.
Following the impact assessment of the programme by Mthente Research and Consulting Services Proprietary Limited, one of the gaps identified was a need for mentorship. Oceana’s one-year generic management course, made possible by the generous funding of FoodBev Manufacturing Sector Education and Training Authority, was an identified next step. The follow-up course offers National Qualifications Framework Level 4 training to cooperative leadership or mentors.
Accessing the communities and individuals to engage in training takes place with the support of community liaison officers in the DFFE’s small-scale fisheries management branch. The 80% female attendance rate of the generic management classes speaks to government’s prioritisation of women and youth empowerment as well as to the community nature of cooperatives. “Women are the pillars of many of our fishing communities, so naturally the co-ops start to take that shape and form,” notes Velleman.
Relationships built on trust
Oceana’s hands-on approach to CSI allows it to take ownership of the SSF programme better, by listening to the needs of communities and adjusting to better serve these needs.
Velleman says that this approach has enabled the formation of strong trust-based relationships with SSF communities and other industry stakeholders that have partnered with Oceana for the benefit of the SSFs.
When the world’s largest maritime insurer funded a global study of the socioeconomic impact of drownings within small-scale fishing communities, Oceana’s relationships with these communities enabled South African representation. Researchers were unable to gain the trust of local fisher communities to access the necessary information until Oceana’s CSI team stepped in to facilitate the process.
“Even if this is not a direct benefit for Oceana, it is a benefit for the global fishing community to understand the quantifiable impact of drownings in small-scale fishing communities globally. That research would not have been possible in South Africa without an entity intimately involved in cooperatives that had taken the time to build their respect and trust.”
These relationships have established a bridge between South African fishing communities and other entities, such as SAIMI, that would like to lend additional support to communities.
The future is small
Velleman envisions a future where SSFs are successfully supported and integrated into a sustainable fishing industry.
Oceana is currently exploring innovative options for future CSI. It will continue to offer its bespoke training for another year, after which its CSI will evolve into other forms of strategic support.
“You can’t continue to train just for training’s sake,” explains Velleman. “The industry will most likely need to make real, material resource investments to support SSFs. This remains the focus of our discussions with our partners on what the next two to three years will look like for SSFs post Co-operative Sense and mentorship training.”
For now, Oceana continues to upskill fishing cooperatives while paving the way for a more sustainable and integrated fishing industry.
Rural community engagement CSI challenges
| CSI in urban areas, marked by easier access and better infrastructure, can be an easy win for companies, but companies aiming to make an impact in vulnerable, far-flung rural communities face unique challenges. |
| Geographical Velleman explains how accessing fisher people involves overcoming substantial geographical difficulties. Taking quality training programmes to areas that are seldom accessed by vehicles and which lack electricity or flushing toilets creates logistical hurdles for companies responsible for these initiatives. Providing catering that meets the required standard, transporting portable toilets to distant locales and supporting training service providers to travel to and stay in areas with minimal facilities all present challenges to the initiative. |
| Financial Physical challenges have knock-on financial implications. Longer distances and rougher roads demand more time and money being spent on hiring suitable vehicles, longer travel and on-site time for service providers as well as higher incident risk and mitigation. These financial implications were amplified in the wake of the initial Covid-19 outbreak, requiring larger venues, more vehicles and more stringent measures to comply with health regulations. The deaths of key community members influenced community attendance and engagement. |
| Corporate mistrust An unanticipated difficulty Oceana has had to navigate has been the deep, inherent mistrust that rural communities have when it comes to corporate engagement. Velleman notes that many of these communities, particularly mineral and resource-rich rural communities, have experienced negative, even violent and traumatic historical interactions with corporate entities. These can have implications for community attendance in unrelated CSI initiatives. Oceana’s initial training programme attendance rates of 50–60% increased to nearly 90% once the company understood the problem and established measures to build community trust, adding in additional time before training to sensitise communities to its presence, explain its intentions and demonstrate the company’s philanthropic motivations. |
| Language South Africa’s particular language challenges add further complications for rural CSI initiatives. Not only do languages vary widely across the country, but they can vary in the same training group, something that can be hard to anticipate. Oceana’s Co-operative Sense course has been written in four languages – English, Afrikaans, isiXhosa and isiZulu – and course facilitators are equipped to deliver the course in all these interchangeably as the class requires. |
