Transcript Market Information

Regional Cassava Processing and Marketing Initiative


FIRST REGIONAL MEETING OF IFAD ROOTS & TUBERS PROJECTS
14-16 November 2007
Hotel Somatel - Douala, Cameroon
Cassava processing and marketing

Market Information –
Concepts & Service Providers in WCA
Content
• Introduction - Market Information Services (MIS)
– MIS components – how do MIS function ?
– MIS Functions - why market information ?
– Interactive MIS through ICT integration
– Constraints of MIS in WCA
• MI initiatives and service providers in the WCA region
– RESIMAO/ WAMIS – network of public MIS
– Mistowa – strengthening MIS and organizational capacity
– Busylab’s TradeNet.biz – private MI platform
– Manobi – purely private MIservices
– A communication & trade network in Burkina Faso –
alternative to classic MIS ?
• Towards a best practice – key challenges of sustainable
MIS
Cassava processing and marketing

How do MIS function ?
Processes
Data collection & transmission
Data processing
Data analysis
Dissemination
Cassava processing and marketing

Market Information:
What is it good for ?
What is it good for ?  “transparency” helps:
 Public institutions:
• Planning & policy
 Chain operators
1. Improving business planning and decision making - more
efficient investment of resources
2. Improving procurement of input & equipment
3. Improving produce marketing:
–
Increasing bargaining power
–
Reducing transaction costs by decreasing the market risks
Cassava processing and marketing

ICT in Market Information Services
Internet Platform/
Data base
Classic MI
System
Data
Private
market actors
Classic:
one-way
Market Info
New ICT:
Interactive
Bids & offers
Private
market actors
Cassava processing and marketing

MIS in WCA –
major constraints
Information content:
• Data quality:
– Inconsistent: low reliability
– Lack of standards in quality, weights & measures,
collection methods
• Often limited to prices, excluding direct bids & offers
transport availability and costs
Information accessibility:
• Dissemination often inappropriate - information is often
obsolete
Cassava processing and marketing

RESIMAO/ WAMIS
(West African Market Information Network)
• Network of public MIS of 9 ECOWAS-states, but generally open to
any MIS
• Initiated in 2005, main function: regional MI online platform
Clients:
• Mainly public institutions (planning, policy, science),
• Private actors
Services:
• Online data base: MIS operators upload data and manage it
through web
• Information dissemination:
– Print media (quarterly bulletins)
– Information platform: web site, email, sms-alerts
Cassava processing and marketing

Resimao – network of public MIS
Price information:
Historical data/graphs
Different market levels
Different currencies
Other Information:
Stock, yields
imports/exports,
cultivated land
Population,
climatic: precipitation
Missing:
•directories
•trade information:
offers, bids
Cassava processing and marketing

Resimao
Information in an interactive map
Cassava processing and marketing

MISTOWA –
strengthening MIS and organisational capacity
• Mistowa implemented by the International Center for
Soil Fertility and Agricultural development (IFDC)
• Overall goal: facilitate the trade of agricultural
products in West Africa (ECOWAS)
• Key elements of Mistowa’s strategies:
– Working through organizations (PO’s & TO’s)
– Supporting and linking private & public MIS by
Integrating new Information & communication
technology (ICT)
Cassava processing and marketing

MISTOWAAgro Business Information Points (ABIP)
Functions
Potential Operators
Associations:
Base for
Data collection
& transmission
(TO‘s, PO‘s assisted by
MISTOWA)
ABIP
Internet Cafe‘s/
Business Shops
(Out-contracting)
Info & Marketing Point
Info dissemination:
Training & advice
Marketing of MI-services
Cassava processing and marketing

Public Bodies (MIS)
TradeNet.Biz - private MI platform
• TradeNet started in 2005
• Platform is used by MIS in 10 West African countries &
Mozambique, Uganda, Honduras
Services:
• Infrastructure and technical assistance for data management
& information dissemination  no data collection
• Online data base  Data providers/ MIS upload and manage own
data via internet
• Information Dissemination via web site and mobile phones/ sms
• Fees: initial charge of US$ 2,000, annual license fee of US$ 5,000,
Cassava processing and marketing

Manobi- purely private MIservices
• Private multi-media service provider based in Dakar/ Senegal
• Operates MIS in Senegal (since 2003) and South Africa (since 2006)
• Whole range of MI services: data collection, database management
analysis, dissemination  no collaboration with public MIS
Services
• Web based information platform
– Information is accessible through account
• Services via mobile phones
– Online accounts via mobile phone through WAP technology
– Bookkeeper software in mobile phones  automatic M&E of
beneficiaries’ economies  emphasis on individual phones
– Information adapted to illiteracy: cartoon-style icons & voice system
• Beneficiaries consulted by business agents
• Promotion and organization of collective sales
Cassava processing and marketing

The Manobi-Concept
Markets
supervision
Data
Collectors
Traders
Manobi
Data Provider
&
Contract
Mobile Operator
Mobile Phone
Operator
Villages
V
„Business
Prof.
Organizations
Promoter“
V
V
V
Cassava processing and marketing

GSM-based trade-communication network in
Burkina Faso
Initiated by the association “COMITE INTERPROFESSIONELDES
CEREALES DU BURKINA” (CIC-B) in 2005:
• GSM-based trade-communication network:
Direct communication among currently 250 members, producers &
traders, linked via mobile phone network:
–
Access for a monthly flat rate of 5 EU  members can call
each other free of charge
–
Members directory (updated and distributed monthly)
• Organization of collective sales and related logistics (storage,
transport)
Cassava processing and marketing

Assessment of comparative
Strengths, weaknesses & risks
Strenghts
• Substantial regional Network already in place - Experience
throughout the region – Resimao and TradeNet
• Strengthening of organizational capacity – Mistowa concept
emphasizes integration of Organizations
• Software - Manobi Software with useful features to overcome
illiteracy-related constraints
• Sustainability: The system in Burkina Faso is simple and costeffective
Cassava processing and marketing

Comparative
Strengths, weaknesses & risks
Weaknesses & risks
• Risk of smallholders marginalisation in Burkina-System:
– Without price reference of an independent MIS for less informed
– Risk of price agreements/ alliances among strong actors
• Resimao/ Tradenet: typical problems of public MIS: deficiencies in
service quality and stability
• Reach of the poor and secluded areas: Manobi system doesn’t
include radio dissemination: services limited to mobile phone
network. Coverage in many WCA countries still low.
Cassava processing and marketing

GSM coverage – still a limiting factor
MTN in Nigeria
Cassava processing and marketing

TELECEL in Benin
key challenges
How to reach sustainability of MI services ?:
– The dependency on public resources leads often to dysfunctions
– Potential cost recovery through service charges limited because
beneficiaries have little resources to pay for the services !
 How to provide needs-oriented quality services with minimum costs ?
How to customize services to immediate needs ?
 How can MIS be efficiently organized ? Can public services be
efficient ? Can private services be profitable ? Can PPP’s provide a
solution ?
How to reach the beneficiaries ?:
– How can the poorest with little surplus benefit from MI services?
Do they need support for collective sales?
– How to integrate the remote areas outside GSM networks ? Can
rural radios be used to enable not only 1way information but trade
communication?
Cassava processing and marketing

Merci !
Thank you !
Cassava processing and marketing