A lot of people have voiced their opinions about the morality of the challenge but that is not what this Short article is about. In this article, I would be unpacking why this challenge seems to be gaining more popularity as the day goes by.
Here is what you need to know about why the challenge is getting Popular:
Familiarity:
This is one of the reasons why many new ideas fail and also the reason why some ideas work. Being familiar with aspects of new ideas in order to make new ideas work in society is important.
New ideas have to be made familiar and old ideas have to have unfamiliar aspects in order to attract people. People love new shiny things but also find it hard letting go of older ideas they are comfortable with.
Videos with the hashtag #silhouettechallenge have already been viewed over 150 million times on TikTok. The videos however have found it’s way to other social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter thereby reinforcing the impact of the challenge.
The Silhouette Challenge involves posing in a doorway before turning yourself into a black silhouette against a red background. It combines the popular transition trend that’s taken over TikTok in the past year, but adds a little twist, using filters and colour to enhance the transition. What this means is that the transition trend is not something totally new and is an old idea reformed by adding new additions.
Another aspect of familiarity is the song. It is a blend of The track is a remix of two songs, Put Your Head on My Shoulder by Paul Anka and Streets by Doja Cat.
The popular lyric put your hands on my shoulder is from a 1959 song adapted for this challenge with the right mix from a new song. This challenge has increased the popularity of the classic and the new song by Doja Cat.
The sound was created by a TikTok user called @guiliadinicolantonio and has been used on the app 88,000 times as of January 29th 2021
Exposure:
The nature of the challenge allowed quick popularity among millennials. The right exposure took place at the home of challenges be named Tik Tok and with the amount of participation forced exposure and became a viral hit.
The more people got exposed to the challenge, the higher the participation and talks around it. Even the issue of morality helped made the challenge more popular.
Culture:
This is the way and manner in which people live. There have been issues of what women can do and can’t do. Many see the challenge as an opportunity to a reaffirmation of their womanhood and what they stand for while others cried out against.
The clash in cultural thinking of individuals gave the much-needed flames for the challenge to gain more popularity.
These are the three driving forces on why the challenge is gaining more popularity and generating newsworthy attention.
Ford will hire an additional 1,200 team members to support expanded production, bringing its workforce in South Africa to 5,500 employees. The investment also will create an estimated 10,000 new jobs across Ford’s local supplier network
A US$686 million (R10.3 billion) investment in technology, upgrades and new facilities at the Silverton plant will support high quality, efficient production of the all-new Ranger
The annual installed capacity of the Silverton plant will increase to 200,000 vehicles from 168,000, for domestic sales and export to more than 100 global markets
Silverton will become one of the first Ford plants globally to achieve “Island Mode” status, becoming entirely energy self-sufficient and carbon neutral by 2024
Ford’s private-public partnership with all three spheres of government in the Tshwane Automotive Special Economic Zone (TASEZ) is a crucial step toward unleashing the new production capacity
PRETORIA, South Africa, 2 February 2021 – Ford Motor Company today announced an investment of US$1.05 billion (R15.8 billion) in its South African manufacturing operations – marking the biggest investment in Ford’s 97-year history in South Africa. It also represents one of the largest-ever investments in the South African automotive industry, boosting Ford’s production capability and creating new jobs.
Photo by Dylan McLeod
“This investment will further modernize our South African operations, helping them to play an even more important role in the turnaround and growth of our global automotive operations, as well as our strategic alliance with Volkswagen,” said Dianne Craig, president, Ford’s International Markets Group.
“Ranger is one of our highest volume, most successful global vehicles. This investment will equip our team with the tools and facilities to deliver the best Ford Ranger ever, in higher numbers and with superior quality.”
Ford announced the investment at a media briefing attended by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, as well as several key government leaders, including Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel, Department of Public Enterprise Minister Pravin Gordhan, Gauteng Premier David Makhura, City of Tshwane Executive Mayor Randall Williams, and senior Ford executives.
With this investment, Ford’s Silverton Assembly Plant is expected to generate revenues exceeding 1.1 percent of South Africa’s gross domestic product.
The annual installed capacity at the Silverton plant will increase to 200,000 vehicles from 168,000, supporting the production of the all-new Ford Ranger pickup truck for the domestic market and export to over 100 global markets. The plant also will manufacture Volkswagen pickups trucks as part of the Ford-VW strategic alliance.
The expanded production will help create 1,200 incremental Ford jobs in South Africa, increasing the local workforce to 5,500 employees, and adding an estimated 10,000 new jobs across Ford’s local supplier network, bringing the total to 60,000.
The overall investment includes US$686 million (R10.3 billion) for extensive upgrades to the Silverton Assembly Plant that will increase production volume and drive significant improvements in production efficiency and vehicle quality.
These include the construction of a new body shop with the latest robotic technology and a new high-tech stamping plant, both of which will be located on-site for the first time. Both facilities will modernize and streamline the integrated manufacturing process at Silverton while contributing to higher quality and reducing overall cost and waste.
The new stamping plant will use a high-speed line to produce all the major sheet metal components for the new Ranger. It includes a fully automated storage and retrieval system for stamping dies, which will be housed innovatively in the roof of the facility, thus eliminating related labour-intensive processes.
In addition, a modern blue-light scanner system that scans surfaces for imperfections will ensure the highest-quality final product leaves the stamping plant.
Extensive upgrades also will be made to the box line, paint shop and final assembly to improve vehicle flow within the plant, along with the expansion of the container and vehicle yards.
Ford also will build new vehicle modification and training centres – the latter developed to ensure all Ford employees are equipped with the knowledge and skills required to maximize the efficiencies of the enhanced Silverton facilities.
“The extensive upgrades and new state-of-the-art manufacturing technologies will drive efficiencies across our entire South Africa operation – from sequenced delivery of parts direct to the assembly line, to increased vehicle production line speeds and precision of assembly to ensure the world-class quality that our customers expect,” said Andrea Cavallaro, director of Operations, Ford’s International Markets Group.
Islandmode
The new investment program builds on the recently announced Project Blue Oval renewable energy project, which aligns with the company’s global target of using 100-per cent locally sourced renewable energy for all its manufacturing plants by 2035 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.
The first phase of Project Blue Oval already is underway with the construction of solar carports for 4,200 vehicles at the Silverton plant.
“Our aim is to achieve ‘Island Mode’, taking the Silverton Assembly Plant completely off the grid, becoming entirely energy self-sufficient and carbon neutral by 2024,” Cavallaro said. “It will be one of the very first Ford plants anywhere in the world to achieve this status.”
Modernizing our supplier base
Ford also will invest US$365 million (R5.5 billion) to upgrade tooling at the company’s major supplier factories.
“Supporting our suppliers with this new tooling will ensure we modernize together to deliver world-class quality for the all-new Ranger at higher volumes for our domestic and import customers,” Cavallaro said.
Economic growth
“As part of our extensive investment in the Silverton plant, we also are building a new Ford- owned and operated chassis line in the Tshwane Automotive Special Economic Zone (TASEZ) for this new vehicle programme,” said Ockert Berry, vice president, Operations, for Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa.
“Having this new line and our major component suppliers located adjacent to the Silverton plant in the TASEZ is key to expanding our production capacity, as parts will be sequenced directly onto the assembly line,” Berry added. “This will significantly reduce logistics costs and complexity, improve efficiency and allow us to build more Rangers for our customers.”
In addition to its representation on the TASEZ board, Ford also is working closely with all three spheres of government and relevant state-owned entities such as Transnet, in developing the Gauteng Province – Eastern Cape Province High Capacity Rail Freight Corridor.
This will be a full-service line linking the Silverton Assembly Plant and the TASEZ with Port Elizabeth, which is home to Ford’s Struandale Engine Plant and the Coega Special Economic Zone.
The GP-EC High Capacity Rail Freight Corridor will channel all of Ford’s inbound and outbound logistics exclusively through Port Elizabeth to support the higher production volumes. It is projected to create thousands of jobs within the value chain.
“Ford’s investment in our South Africa manufacturing operations underscores our ongoing commitment to deliver ever-better vehicles to our customers in South Africa and around the world while providing opportunities for our own employees, new team members and our communities,” said Neale Hill, managing director, Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa.
Egg Distribution business is a low capital business that one can easily set up. If you are in need of ideas on what to set up with a small capital then you here is one for you.
You will need capital to start an egg distribution business no matter how small your distribution business wants to start.
Photo by Jakub Kapusnak
If you want to start a large egg distribution network then you need large funding to do that.
2. Find Reliable Suppliers
You will need a reliable supplier of the product and probably even have more than one supplier in order to have alternatives in the cause of disappointment and also having two or more allows you to bargain for cheaper prices.
Even if you are starting your business on a small scale, you still need to find at least two suppliers.
Also, build a trustworthy relationship with your suppliers and you can enjoy many benefits such as and lower prices for wholesale purchases and also able to pay in instalment basis for produce or buy eggs on credit.
3. Storage Location
Where would the eggs be stored? This question needs to be answered. How much space is needed to store the eggs? This is worth answering. Also, your location should not be far from your suppliers and customers.
4. Operations Set up
If you are running a small egg distribution business and you can attend to your customers, operate your facilities and communicate and buy from your suppliers on your own then you will probably save on costs.
However, if you taking of starting a large egg distribution business or need to increase the number of places you distribute eggs and increase profit, then you would need to hire one or more people to help with the distribution.
5. Establish your Distribution Network:
You will need to determine where you would like to sell your eggs. Places you can sell include Open Market, Supermarket restaurants, fast food joint. You can also seek alternative places where eggs are used for other uses apart from consumption. An example is Cosmetics and Fitness industry.
These are the five necessary or important steps that you take if you are considering starting an egg distribution business in Nigeria.
MultiChoice Nigeria has announced the headline sponsor for the highly anticipated 6th season of The Nigerian Idol. The leading Pay-TV entertainment company stated that Rite Foods Limited, manufacturers of Bigi Soft Drinks is the headline sponsor of the music reality show.
In December 2020, MultiChoice Nigeria made known to the public that it was bringing back the highly-rated music reality show, and a bigger winner’s prize that includes a recording contract and 50 million Naira worth of prizes. It has now announced Bigi Soft Drinks as the headline sponsor of the show.
Speaking on this, Channel Director M-Net, Wangi Mba-Uzoukwu, said,
“We are pleased to welcome Bigi as our headline sponsor on this exciting project. The Nigerian music landscape is one with a lot of promise. We want to play a part in making sure we help build that industry.
Our contribution is in the form of talent identification and giving the talents a platform to express themselves. We know doing this will require that we put all hands on deck and bring in others to combine resources to make this work. We couldn’t have asked for a better partner than Bigi Soft Drinks, and we are excited for what’s to come”.
“This is a partnership we are proud of, and it is a way for us to support the Nigerian creative industry as well as our customers. Being a part of this initiative is also in line with our resolve to support the drive of the Nigerian youth”.
The auditions for the Nigerian Idol has been concluded, and the show is expected to be live on both DStv and GOtv anytime from now.
The mobile games industry exploded in 2020, with revenues and downloads reaching record levels amid the lockdown. As the number of people playing and spending on mobile games continues to grow, the entire sector is set to resume its impressive growth.
According to data presented by Safe Betting Sites, mobile games are expected to generate $109.6bn in revenue in 2021, a 44% increase in two years.
400 Million People Started Playing Mobile Games Amid Pandemic
Even before the pandemic, mobile games have witnessed a surge in revenues and the number of users. In 2017, the entire market hit $57.7bn value, revealed the Statista survey. Over the next two years, revenues jumped by 31% to $75.9bn.
However, as millions of people turned to mobile games as their number-one at-home entertainment amid the lockdown, the entire sector boomed in 2020. Statistics show revenues surged by 25% year-over-year to $95.1bn, or 70% of total video games revenues last year.
The positive trend is set to continue in 2021, with revenues increasing by 15% year-over-year. By 2025, the mobile games industry is forecast to hit over $160bn value.
The Statista survey also revealed the number of people playing mobile games surged by more than 400 million amid the pandemic, growing from 1.37 billion in 2019 to almost 1.8 billion in 2021. By 2025, more than 2.2 billion people worldwide will be playing mobile games.
Chinese Mobile Games Revenues Spiked by 50% Since 2019
China has the largest mobile games industry globally, expected to hit more than 560 million users and $41.4bn in revenue in 2021. Statistics also show the Chinese market witnessed the most impressive growth amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with revenues surging by 50% since 2019.
The United States ranked as the second-largest mobile games market with $20.4bn in revenue as of this year, 34% more than before the pandemic. The number of people playing mobile games in the United States is set to rise to almost 156 million in 2021, a 14% jump in two years.
With $12.4bn in mobile games revenue or 25% more than in 2019, Japan represents the third-largest market globally. South Korea and India follow, with $4.5bn and $3.8bn in revenue, respectively.
More disruption expected as supply and consumption affected by lockdowns
2 February 2021 – Global fisheries and aquaculture have been hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and could face further disruption in 2021 as lockdowns affect supply and demand across the sector, according to a report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
Fisheries and aquaculture have been hard hit by the impact of COVID-19 pandemic. | www.brandspurng.com
Fish supply, consumption and trade revenues for 2020 are all expected to have declined due to containment restrictions, the report noted, while global aquaculture production is expected to fall by some 1.3 per cent, the first fall recorded by the sector in several years.
“The pandemic has caused widespread upheaval in fisheries and aquaculture as production has been disrupted, supply chains have been interrupted and consumer spending restricted by various lockdowns,” said FAO Deputy Director-General, Maria Helena Semedo.
“Containment measures have provoked far-reaching changes, many of which are likely to persist in the long term.”
While the food itself is not responsible for the transmission of COVID-19 to people, the report stressed every stage of the fisheries and aquaculture supply chain is susceptible to being disrupted or stopped by containment restrictions.
Aggregate prices for 2020, as measured by the Fish Price Index are down year-on-year for most traded species. Restaurant and hotel closures in many countries have also led to a fall in demand for fresh fish products.
“The impact has been significant in developing countries, especially those with large informal sectors, where small-scale and artisanal workers and communities depend on fisheries for their food security, livelihoods. They have borne the brunt of restrictions,” Semedo said.
The FAO report indicated that in aquaculture there is growing evidence that unsold production will result in increasing levels of live fish stocks, creating higher costs for feeding as well as a greater number of fish mortalities. Sectors with longer production cycles, such as salmon, cannot adjust rapidly to the demand shifts.
Global catches from wild fisheries are also expected to have declined slightly in 2020, as, overall, there has been a reduced fishing effort due to COVID‑19-related restrictions on fishing vessel crews and poor market conditions.
As a result of Covid-19, consumer preferences have shifted. While demand for fresh fish has waned, consumer demand for packaged and frozen products has grown as households look to stock up on non-perishable food.
Before the pandemic, the sector was on a general upwards trend. In 2018, global fisheries and aquaculture production (excluding aquatic plants) reached an all‑time record of nearly 179 million tonnes.
Overall capture fisheries, with 96.4 million tonnes represented 54 percent of the total, while aquaculture, with 82.1 million tonnes, accounted for 46 percent. And over the last decades, fish consumption has grown significantly to an average of over 20 kilos per person.
FAO has called for disruptive border restriction measures on trade in food to be minimized for food security. The report called for sectoral and regional organizations to work together in order to manage fisheries and aquaculture during the pandemic, with measures that support job protection and ensure fast recovery of the sector without compromising sustainability.
The impact of COVID-19 on women, already vulnerable as food producers, processors, vendors and carers, should also be considered with government support provided for women along the fish value chain.
Uncertainty continues to dominate the outlook for the fisheries and aquaculture sectors, particularly with regard to the duration and severity of the pandemic.
This year COFI 34 is celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, a landmark instrument endorsed by FAO member states, that has been guiding efforts towards sustainable fisheries and aquaculture around the world.
With the uncertainty in the sector posed by the pandemic and other issues, the code’s principles have never been more vital to ensure the fisheries sector remains viable and sustainable.
Jumia Technologies’ stock was among the hottest in the tech sector in 2020 and is likely to carry the momentum through 2021 and beyond. According to the research data analyzed and published by Sijoitusrahastot, its share price grew by more than 1,000% in 2020.
Shares of the German company started the year priced as low as $2.15 and its market value was a few hundred million. By the end of 2020, the price had risen to $59 and the market capitalization to $4.62 billion as a result of a growth explosion occasioned by the pandemic.
In December 2020 alone, the stock increased by 25.4%. Its year-to-date (YTD) growth as of January 29, 2021, was an impressive 47.18%.
Jumia seeks to be Africa’s answer to Amazon as it attempts to get within Africa the level of penetration that the FAANG giant has achieved. It provides eCommerce services in 11 countries on the continent.
According to an analysis carried out by Benzinga, 74% of the investors and traders who participated in the study think that Jumia’s share price will soar to $100 by the end of 2022.
Jumia’s Revenue Sank by 12% YoY in Q1 to Q3 2020
Jumia, which went public in April 2020, believes that mobile internet penetration and economic expansion will drive its long-term growth in Africa. At the time it went public, the IMF had projected a GDP growth rate of 5.9% for Africa between 2018 and 2023. According to research firm Ovum, mobile internet penetration was expected to rise from 32% in 2017 to 73% by 2023.
However, as a result of the pandemic, a number of Jumia’s key markets, including South Africa and Nigeria, went into a deep recession in 2020.
Based on a study by Fitch Ratings, South Africa’s economy was estimated to contract by 7.3% while Nigeria’s was forecast to fall by 3%. The two markets cumulatively account for more than 40% ($799 billion) of Jumia’s economic output across all markets.
Though other markets such as Egypt, Kenya and Ghana had modest growth during the year, this would not offset the decline in key markets.
The impact of the economic downturn was seen on the eCommerce platform’s performance during the year. Its gross merchandise volume (GMV), which had contracted by 3% in the fiscal year 2019, sank by 11% in Q1 2020. In Q2 2020, the decline accelerated to 13% and reached 28% in Q3 2020.
The company’s revenue had grown by 24% in the fiscal year 2019, but declined by 7% in Q1 2020, 10% in Q2 and 18% in Q3 2020.
Jumia’s Revenue from Q1 2020 to Q3 2020
SOURCE: Jumia
For the first nine months of 2020, it had a revenue slump of 12% YoY to €98 million ($119 million). Its operating loss during the period went from €167 million to €109 million. To a great extent, the decline was driven by a 47.2% drop in revenue from first-party sales. Jumia had wound up its first-party retail business in favor of a third-party marketplace for everyday products.
On the bright side, the number of active annual customers during the period soared by 23% to 6.7 million. The total number of orders shot up by 9% reaching 19.8 million. On Jumia Pay, the number of transactions increased by 34% YoY, boosting total payment volume by 74% to €137 million ($167 million).
At the end of Q3 2020, Jumia had €147 million ($178 million) cash at hand. In December 2020, it raised an additional $231 million from the sale of shares to US investors.
Africa’s Average Internet Usage Rate was 39.3% in 2020 vs. 59% Global Average
In all the countries where Jumia operates, the rate of eCommerce penetration is below 3% and this presents a significant opportunity for growth. However, realizing that growth is far from easy. Jumia requires relatively high rates of internet usage so as to get sufficient eCommerce consumption from its target audience.
Average Internet Usage Rate Worldwide and in Africa in 2020
Source: Fool.com
On the African continent, the average internet usage rate stood at 39.3% in 2020. Comparatively, the average global internet usage rate is 59%. That makes it difficult for Jumia to make the most of the continent’s low eCommerce penetration.
Jumia Pay, its digital payment service, could assist the platform in accelerating the transition to being a basic-needs site. The fintech platform offers a digital wallet, an important service on a continent where two-thirds of the adult population is unbanked.
Other eCommerce platforms in emerging markets such as MercadoLibre in Latin America have succeeded on a similar two-pronged approach. According to eMarketer, sales on MercadoLibre’s online marketplace surged an estimated 46.5% in 2020 to reach $20.51 billion.
The frenzied trading around the COVID-19 crisis helped the world’s largest investment banks boost their trading and investment banking revenues and better position themselves in times of economic uncertainty. However, not all major bank stocks performed the same in times of crisis.
According to data presented by Stock Apps, the market capitalization of JP Morgan, as the world’s leading investment bank, dropped by $23bn amid the COVID-19 crisis, while Goldman Sachs grew by $12bn year-over-year.
JP Morgan’s Stocks Started Recovering Six Months After the COVID-19 Crash
An investment bank’s key role is to help companies and governments raise capital from investors, like pension funds or other money managers. The banks take the role of the underwriter, making sure bonds or stocks are competitively priced and sold. Investment bankers also help clients manage mergers and acquisitions.
In January 2020, the market capitalization of the world’s largest investment bank, JP Morgan, stood at $427.8bn, revealed the MacroTrends data. However, this figure plunged by 42% to $244.6bn after the COVID-19 crash in March.
Statistics show the combined value of shares of the US multinational investment bank remained deep below the pre-COVID-19 level by the end of the third quarter of 2020. In December 2020 it rose to $383.2bn, still 14% less than the same period a year before. The MacroTrends data show JP Morgan’s market cap stood at around $405bn last week, a $21.8bn increase in a month, still a 5% drop year-over-year.
Goldman Sachs has also witnessed its market cap plunge amid the COVID-19 crisis, with the figure falling from $87.9bn in January to $48.3bn in March 2020. However, statistics indicate the combined value of stocks of the world’s second-largest investment bank quickly bounced back, reaching $73.6bn by the end of the second quarter of 2020.
After slipping to $69.4bn in September, Goldman Sachs` market cap surged to $91.1bn in December, a 31% jump in three months. The increasing trend continued in 2021, with the combined value of shares of the US megabank rising by another $9.1bn in January.
JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs Generated 17% of Global Investment Banking Revenue in 2020
The year 2020 witnessed a boost in investment banking revenues as the world’s largest banks focused on trading and investment activities amid unprecedented stock market volatility.
Analyzed by regions, Asian banks witnessed the most significant growth, with their investment banking profits rising by 27% year-over-year to $13bn in 2020, revealed the Wall Street Journal and Dealogic data.
The US investment banking market increased by 24% in a year and hit $49.3bn in revenue. European investment banks followed with a 12% year-on-year growth to $18.6bn in revenue.
As a market leader, JP Morgan gained a 9.1% market share in 2020, a 0.2% increase year-on-year. The US giant’s total investment banking revenue rose by $1.6bn to nearly $8.5bn last year.
Goldman Sachs Group hit $7.6bn in investment banking revenue in 2020 and an 8.3% market share, compared to 7.5% in 2019. Statistics show the New York-based financial giant increased its investment banking profits by more than $1.8bn year-on-year.
The Smartphone AP market posted an all-time-high revenue in Q3 2020, driven by an increased mix of 5G APs.
The global smartphone applications processor (AP) market grew 32 percent in revenue terms to $7.4 billion in Q3 2020, according to Strategy Analytics’ Handset Component Technologies (HCT) service report.
According to this Strategy Analytics’ research report “Smartphone Apps Processor Market Share Tracker Q3 2020: Revenue Surges 32 Percent” from Strategy Analytics, Apple, Qualcomm, MediaTek, HiSilicon, and Samsung LSI captured the top-five revenue share spots in the global smartphone applications processor (AP) market in Q3 2020.
Apple led the smartphone AP market with a 31 percent revenue share, followed by Qualcomm with 21 percent and MediaTek with 19 percent.
Smartphone AP market posted all-time-high revenue in Q3 2020, driven by an increased mix of 5G APs.
Smartphone APs with on-device artificial intelligence (AI) grew 28 percent in Q3 2020.
Sravan Kundojjala , Associate Director at Strategy Analytics, commented,
“Apple overtook Qualcomm to capture the top smartphone AP revenue share spot in Q3 2020. Qualcomm also faced heat from MediaTek in terms of units as Qualcomm’s AP shipments reached the lowest in the last eight years. Qualcomm, however, is expected to reclaim its top spot in Q4 2020 with increased 4G and 5G AP shipments.”
Stephen Entwistle , Vice President of the Strategy Analytics Strategic TechnologiesPractice, added,
“HiSilicon and Samsung LSI both saw their smartphone AP shipments decline in Q3 2020. Trade restrictions have affected HiSilicon’s AP shipments and we expect its shipments to decline further in 2021. Unisoc, on the other hand, saw signs of recovery in its smartphone AP shipments with its new Tiger-branded 4G APs.”
FAO Committee on Fisheries this week explores a sustainable future for a fast-growing industry
1 February 2021, Rome – Fisheries and aquaculture are of critical importance for global agri-food systems transformation as well as recovering from the COVID-19 crisis, the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), QU Dongyu, said today.
The Director-General addressed the opening of the 34th session of the FAO Committee on Fisheries (COFI), which is the only global inter-governmental forum where FAO Members meet to review and consider the issues and challenges related to fisheries and aquaculture. It is being held virtually for the first time.
In his remarks, Qu noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the fisheries and aquaculture sector through changing consumer demands, market access and logistical problems related to transportation and border restrictions. He also highlighted that fisheries and aquaculture are essential for the world economy to build back better from the COVID-19 crisis.
“The potential of a modern aquaculture to grow and feed the world is extraordinary,” Qu said, noting that 10 percent of the world’s population relies on the fisheries and aquaculture sector for their livelihoods, mostly small producers that need support. ”
To mark the 25th anniversary of FAO’s Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries , fisheries ministers from around the world also joined the Director-General in a High-Level Special Event to review the Code and renew their commitment to attain sustainable fisheries and aquaculture as the sector faces increasing challenges.
In a videotaped keynote address, the Prime Minister of Norway, Erna Solberg, stressed the need for countries and organizations to work together to find a balance between fisheries production and protection of the oceans. She noted FAO’s important role in this regard.
The Prime Minister also stressed that the Code of Conduct had contributed to a healthier, more robust blue economy by urging implementation of standards for responsible and sustainable management practices.
Ambassador Peter Thomson of Fiji, the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean, told the High-Level Event that the Declaration recognised the role of fisheries and aquaculture in the fight against poverty and hunger and called for improved management and capacity building in developing countries.
The European Union’s Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevicius, congratulated FAO for its assessments of the COVID-19 impact on fisheries and aquaculture as well as the valuable information provided by SOFIA and stressed the industry should be a priority for recovery strategies to overcome the impact of the pandemic.
Canada’s Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, Jonson Bernadette Jordan, and Sylvia White from the Caribbean Network of Fisherfolk Organisations (CNFO), a civil society network which represents small scale fishers worldwide, also gave presentations.
FAO’s State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA), issued in June 2020, estimates that total fish production is set to increase to 204 million tonnes in 2030, up 15 percent from 2018, with aquaculture’s share growing from its current 46 percent. Aquaculture has been the fastest expanding food production sector globally for the last 50 years, growing at an average of 5.3 percent per year since the turn of the century.
Against this background, COFI endorsed the first-ever COFI Declaration for Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture. The Declaration aims to outline a global vision for the transformation of blue ecosystems, 25 years after the adoption of the Code of Conduct.
The Director-General said the Declaration will encourage the collective drive to build inclusive, resilient and sustainable agri-food systems in a fast-changing industry to meet the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
“Much has changed over these past 25 years,” Qu said. “We need to ensure that our aquatic food systems are resilient and meet the growing demand for nutritious, safe and affordable food while maintaining sustainable ecosystems, economies and societies that leave no one behind.”
The Director-General invited FAO Members to take advantage of COFI 34 to discuss how the production, processing, trade and consumption of aquatic foods can be transformed as part of a broader agri-food systems transformation, making them more sustainable, resilient and inclusive.
“We know that land alone will not feed us with abundant quantity and food diversity – we need blue transformation to secure blue food production,” he added, stressing the importance of modernizing traditional fisher culture with innovative approaches and digital technologies.
“Combining fisheries with tourism and educational activities is a way of keeping the cultural heritage alive and creating new values and new job opportunities,” Qu said as an example.
The Director-General also pointed out the benefits of fish in diets, especially for pregnant women, children and in combatting all forms of malnutrition, stressing that fish should be promoted in food and nutrition strategies across the world.
“The fisheries and aquaculture sector has a crucial contribution to make within the Four Betters: Better Production, Better Nutrition, Better Environment and Better Life.”
The anniversary of the Code comes at a challenging time as pollution, climate change, biodiversity loss, unregulated practices and increased competition for the use of marine and coastal areas are threatening aquatic ecosystems and their resources. FAO estimates that 34.2 percent of all marine fish stocks are fished beyond biological sustainable limits, a threefold increase since monitoring started in 1974.
COFI 34 will also review the SOFIA report, the role of small-scale fisheries and the livelihoods of coastal and inland fisheries communities, illegal fishing and fish operations at sea, as well as the critical role of women in the post-harvest and service sector.
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