Market information systems (otherwise known as market intelligence systems, market information services, or MIS, and not to be confused with

management information systems A management information system (MIS) is an information system used for decision-making, and for the coordination, control, analysis, and visualization of information in an organization. The study of the management information systems involves peop ...

) are information systems used in gathering, analyzing and disseminating information about prices and other information relevant to farmers, animal rearers, traders, processors and others involved in handling agricultural products. Market information systems play an important role in agro-industrialisation and food

supply chain In commerce, a supply chain is a network of facilities that procure raw materials, transform them into intermediate goods and then final products to customers through a distribution system. It refers to the network of organizations, people, acti ...

s. With the advance of information and communication technologies for development (ICTs) in developing countries, the income- generation opportunities offered by market information systems have been sought by international development organizations,

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

s (NGOs) and businesses alike.

Types of market information systems

There is a wide variety of market information systems or services.

OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate e ...

countries have traditionally emphasised the importance of information provision for the agricultural sector, a notable example being the service provided by the

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the United States federal executive departments, federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, ...

(USDA). Such systems are widely used in order to increase the transparency and the volume of information flowing through the supply chains for different agricultural products. The ability of market information systems to provide a valuable service was strengthened with the development of the Internet and the advance of electronic commerce (

business-to-business Business-to-business (B2B or, in some countries, BtoB) is a situation where one business makes a commercial transaction with another. This typically occurs when: * A business is sourcing materials for their production process for output (e.g., a ...

(B2B),

consumer-to-consumer Customer to customer (C2C or consumer to consumer) markets provide a way to allow customers to interact with each other. Traditional markets require business to customer relationships, in which a customer goes to the business in order to purchas ...

, etc.). Industry structure, product complexity and the demanding nature of agricultural transactions are considered determining factors for the development of B2B

electronic commerce E-commerce (electronic commerce) is the activity of electronically buying or selling of products on online services or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain manageme ...

in agriculture.

Agricultural market information in developing countries

In developing countries, market information initiatives are often part of broader interventions and part of the

agricultural marketing Agricultural marketing covers the services involved in moving an agricultural product from the farm to the consumer. These services involve the planning, organizing, directing and handling of agricultural produce in such a way as to satisfy farm ...

and

agribusiness Agribusiness is the industry, enterprises, and the field of study of value chains in agriculture and in the bio-economy, in which case it is also called bio-business or bio-enterprise. The primary goal of agribusiness is to maximize profit w ...

development strategy that many governments are actively engaged in. It is commonly understood that long transaction chains, lack of transparency, lack of standards, and insufficient access to markets for products has perpetuated low incomes in predominantly agrarian economies. Early attempts at market information provision in developing countries involved government bodies in collecting price information, and arranging for this to be disseminated via newspapers and radio stations. The information provided was often not very accurate and usually reached farmers too late to be of practical use. Governments often attempted to cover far too many locations and many services either collapsed after initial donor assistance came to an end or managed to struggle along with little impact. Furthermore, it was soon recognised that it was not enough just to supply market information to farmers. They needed assistance in understanding how to use that information. However, donor organizations, such as

FAO The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

, the IICD,

USAID The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 bi ...

DFID , type = Department , logo = DfID.svg , logo_width = 180px , logo_caption = , picture = File:Admiralty Screen (411824276).jpg , picture_width = 180px , picture_caption = Department for International Development (London office) (far right ...

, and the

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), a merging of the William H. Gates Foundation and the Gates Learning Foundation, is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was ...

, remain committed to improving the efficiencies within the supply chain through greater information provision. The recent surge of

mobile phone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whil ...

usage in developing countries has provided an opportunity for innovative projects to leverage this new distribution channel to get critical market data into the hands of farmers and traders, taking advantage of the

SMS Short Message/Messaging Service, commonly abbreviated as SMS, is a text messaging service component of most telephone, Internet and mobile device systems. It uses standardized communication protocols that let mobile devices exchange short text ...

capacity of phones. Using the so-called "push" method recipients of information are identified on a database and automatically receive messages of relevance to them. Alternatively, the "pull" method enables farmers and traders to interrogate the database of the MIS. A farmer can send an SMS with the product and location he is interested in (e.g. tomatoes;Nairobi) and receive an immediate reply. Several projects by

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...

Nokia Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporatio ...

Esoko Esoko is an online agricultural marketing and messaging service, based in Accra, Ghana. The service sends out market data and other information to individuals, agribusiness, government agencies, projects by text messaging, and also gives pers ...

, KACE, Manobi, AgRisk and others have demonstrated the impact that such information can have. Amongst donors there is a renewed interest in promoting regional trade, particularly in Africa, and market information is seen as an important way of achieving this. Examples of donor-supported services are RATIN for East Africa and RESIMAO for West Africa. Nevertheless, it remains unclear whether MIS can be delivered on a profitable basis by the private sector, given the difficulty of fully covering costs, or on a sustainable basis by the public sector, given the latter's history of gathering inaccurate data and disseminating it badly. To try to address some of these problems, a new approach makes the buyers responsible for uploading the price information via SMS, and facilitates trade by creating a capacity for sellers to contact individual buyers. Others question whether formal systems are still necessary when farmers can just contact traders by phone. Work in Bangladesh, India, China and Vietnam found that 80% of farmers now own cell phones and they use these to speak to multiple traders about prices and demand and to conclude deals. A study in the Philippines found that farmers using cell phones reported improved relationships with their trading partners, possibly because the ability to compare prices made them trust their buyers more. Studies in Niger and India demonstrate the impact of cell phones in reducing price variations and creating greater equilibrium among markets. Introduction of

internet kiosk An interactive kiosk is a computer terminal featuring specialized hardware and software that provides access to information and applications for communication, commerce, entertainment, or education. By 2010, the largest bill pay kiosk network ...

s and

cafes A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-caf ...

that provide wholesale price information to farmers has been shown to enhance the functioning of rural markets by increasing the competitiveness of local traders in India.Aparajita Goya
Information, Direct Access to Farmers, and Rural Market Performance in Central India
July 2010

References

{{reflist, 2

Supporting organizations

* FAO –

Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

(UN), Rome * IFAD –

International Fund for Agricultural Development The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD; french: link=no, Fonds international de développement agricole (FIDA)) is an international financial institution and a specialised agency of the United Nations that works to address ...

, Rome * IICD – International Institute for Communication and Development * MCA –

Millenium Challenge Account The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is a bilateral United States foreign aid agency established by the U.S. Congress in 2004. It is an independent agency separate from the State Department and USAID. It provides grants to countries that ...

* CRS -

Catholic Relief Services Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is the international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. Founded in 1943 by the Bishops of the United States, the agency provides assistance to 130 million people in more than 110 ...

* IITA –

International Institute for Tropical Agriculture The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is a nonprofit organization that works with partners to enhance crop quality and productivity, reduce producer and consumer risks, and generate wealth from agriculture, with the ultimate ...

– United States Agency for International Development *

– UK's Department for International Development *

CGIAR CGIAR (formerly the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research) is a global partnership that unites international organizations engaged in research about food security. CGIAR research aims to reduce rural poverty, increase food ...

* FARA – Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa, Accra. *

Grameen Foundation Grameen Foundation, founded as Grameen Foundation USA, also known as "GFUSA", is a global 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Washington, DC, that works to replicate the Grameen Bank microfinance model around the world through a global netw ...

Seattle. *

International Development Research Centre The International Development Research Centre (IDRC; french: Centre de recherches pour le développement international, ''CRDI'') is a Canadian federal Crown corporation that funds research and innovation within and alongside developing regions ...

(IDRC), Canada. *

MercyCorps Mercy Corps is a global non-governmental, humanitarian aid organization operating in transitional contexts that have undergone, or have been undergoing, various forms of economic, environmental, social and political instabilities. The organizatio ...

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, after the Carneg ...

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is an intergovernmental organization within the United Nations Secretariat that promotes the interests of developing countries in world trade. It was established in 1964 by the ...

(UNCTAD) * CIHEAM – International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies

External links

AMIS
G20 Agricultural Market Information System
Agis
South Africa's Agricultural Marketing Information System
Agmarknet
Indian Government's detailed price information service on commodities (national informatics division)
Commodafrica
Francophone African Service
FAO PriceTool
National basic food prices – data and analysis tool from GIEWS
FEWSNET
Quarterly reports from USAID's food security program
Infotrade
provides current agricultural information to farmers and agricultural stakeholders in Uganda
MED-Amin
CIHEAM MEDiterranean Agricultural Information Network
Nokia's Life Tools
Partnered with RML in India, deploying icon-driven ag MIS services.
RATIN
Regional Agricultural Trade Intelligence Network

Blogs and discussion groups

Promoting Second Generation Market Information Services (MIS) in Developing Economies
DGroup from CTA
Mobiles in Agriculture
Google Group from MobileActive08
Mobile Market Design for Development
Blog
Aginfo News from IAALD
– postings on market information systems