MAXIMIZING FINANCE FOR DEVELOPMENT STORIES SOLOMON ISLANDS Sustainable Fisheries and Jobs With one of the world’s largest and most plentiful fishing Highlights of World grounds, vulnerable Solomon Islands relies on tuna for revenue, food security and exports. World Bank Group support is boosting Bank Group Support capacity to sustainably manage fish resources, increase tuna The International Finance Cor- catches, and tackle key obstacles at the only processing facility, poration (IFC) provided a $10 SolTuna, where two-thirds of the staff are women. The World million loan to expand Solomon Bank Group also supports an investment at National Fisheries Islands’ only tuna processing fa- Developments (NFD), SolTuna’s sister company. As a result, the cility and $20 million in loans for country captures more value from its tuna resources, providing fishing vessels for its sister compa- more jobs and expanding opportunities for women. ny. IFC also worked on solutions for women, labor and occupation- Development Challenge al health and safety. Like many Pacific nations, Solomon Islands—a country of 600,000 with 30 per- cent unemployment—is vulnerable to economic and national shocks. Since Sol- The Global Agriculture and Food omon Islands generates revenue by selling fishing rights in its waters, sustainable Security Program contributed to management of its abundant tuna stocks is vital. Revenue from tuna resources financing for the vessels. accounts for 18 percent of GDP. However, high levels of absenteeism, especially by women workers, was adversely impacting SolTuna’s ability to increase produc- The World Bank and Global tion and exports. Environment Facility (GEF) committed $11.12 million to The MFD Approach enhance sustainable management Prior to each IFC investment, the World Bank and IFC consulted with a broad of the country’s tuna and coastal group including donor governments, regional organizations and non-governmen- fisheries. tal organizations (NGOs). The World Bank provided updated assessments of the tuna fisheries. To maximize finance for sustainable fisheries, support came from the Global Environment Facility and the private sector window of the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program for the World Bank and IFC projects. Photo © Charlotte De Fontaubert/World Bank Building institutions and strengthening their pay slips and understand a company bonus scheme governance for attendance—was seen as a key factor in cutting absen- teeism. Providing access to banking services and creating In 2015, the Bank initiated support to Solomon Islands jobs for women in non-traditional roles also contributed. to promote stronger fisheries governance through its Additionally, IFC advisory services helped SolTuna and Pacific Islands Regional Oceanscape Program (PROP). its sister company, NFD, with occupational health and Through PROP, the World Bank provides technical as- safety standards. sistance to help national institutions in Solomon Islands, and three other countries, sustainably manage their tuna In 2017, IFC approved $20 million in loans to the Tri fisheries and build capacity for improved management of Marine-owned NFD to support the purchase of two coastal fisheries and critical coastal habitats. fishing vessels. Building the fisheries sector through Results investment and advisory services • IFC’s support for SolTuna contributed to positive op- IFC’s loan in 2013 to the tuna processing facility SolTuna erational results, with IFC’s advisory work helping the marked its first investment in wild-catch fisheries in 15 company significantly reduce absenteeism and costs. years. It came after initial talks with a leading global tuna • With new fishing vessels, NFD is creating more local supplier, Tri Marine, a controlling shareholder of SolTu- jobs. It recently hired three female cadets—a first for na. IFC’s $10 million loan was part of the company’s the company. $27 million upgrade and expansion plans to increase its • SolTuna now has a workforce of just over 2,000, com- processing capacity. pared to 1,800 a few years ago. With production at SolTuna affected by an absenteeism • Occupational health and safety standards have im- rate of about 18 percent—mainly among women employ- proved. ees—IFC’s advisory services worked with the company to analyze key factors contributing to this problem. The • More women at SolTuna have been promoted. Wom- analysis found that women often skipped work because en have also moved off the production line into jobs they ran out of money before payday, and therefore had once considered exclusively male, such as driving fork- to sell produce in markets to earn additional income. The lifts. need to care for children and worker and family health • SolTuna has developed new export markets, shipping issues—including domestic violence—were also factors. to the United States for the first time last year. The analysis also showed women felt they had limited career prospects. To address this, IFC’s advisory team worked with the company on a series of solutions to encourage women to stay at work. Financial literacy training—for example, teaching women how to save, read A 35-year-old mother of two, Beverly Micha, used to run out of money before payday. Being responsible for running the household, she would often skip work and head to the market to sell goods for money. After financial literacy training, however, she now knows how to save. “I managed to save money for a house,” she said. “Now there’s only the walling to go up. I’ve shown my husband I can do it.” WHAT IS MFD? Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals to end extreme poverty by 2030 will require about $4.5 trillion annually, far more than multilateral development banks or donors can provide by themselves. To face this challenge, the WBG adopted the MFD approach, which entails working with governments to crowd in the private sector while optimizing the use of scarce public resources. This ap- proach is guided by the Hamburg Principles adopted by the G20 in 2017 and builds on the substantial experience across the institution. www.ifc.org www.worldbank.org www.miga.org