UN Division for Sustainable Development

Case Study Detail Record

Organization type:	Government

Name of Ministry/Agency:	Department of State

Country:	United States of America

Name of Focal Point:	Hiram Larew

Initiative Title:	Creating Markets and Market Access in West and East Africa: Leveraging Communication Networks to Distribute Critical Market Information

Internet links:	http://www.tradenet.biz/ http://www.ratin.net/

Scope:	Global

Status:	Ongoing

Timeframe:	Start: End:

Lead Institution:	US Agency for International Development

Stakeholders/Partners:	Smallholder farmers

Relevent issues:	- Access to financing, investments or markets - Technology transfer

Objectives/Challenges:

USAID supports a variety of projects that use information and communications technology (ICT) to improve regional markets; improve market access for smallholder farmers; and, increase food security by linking together existing regional efforts to generate, disseminate and make commercial use of market information. Three projects have been completed:
• Regional Agricultural Trade Expansion Support (RATES) -- changing trade policy to enhance regional trade in maize
• Famine Early Warning System Network Project (FEWS Net) – information on crop production and trade
• Regional Market Information Systems and Traders' Organizations in West Africa (MISTOWA)
In East Africa, the Regional Agricultural Trade Intelligence Network (RATIN) also combats food insecurity, enabling more poor households to buy food by informing them about which markets (for maize, beans and rice) have affordable and competitive prices.
The West Africa system is Tradenet, covering a wider variety of crops including maize, beans, rice and cooking bananas, groundnuts, honey, eggplant, okra and chili and pepper seeds.
RATIN and Tradenet use a variety of ICT “channels” to link buyers and sellers, including cell phones, radio, TV, print media and the Internet. Buyers can post offers; sellers can respond. Both can use their cell phones to find the current price for a specific crop in a specific market. RATIN also distributes a monthly bulletin on market information to 30 loosely organized trader associations. Tradenet allows trader members and groups to set up free web pages and send commercial SMS messages to targeted customers and market their products globally.

RATES also developed a trade network with ICT-enabled channels for traders of cotton related products (such as fabric, lint, thread and dyes) for traders: www.cottonafrica.com.

Although the MISTOWA and RATES projects ended in September 2007, the ICT enabled networks continue without USAID funding. Some key challenges remain, including the need to focus on both formal and informal trading; improved coordination among existing national market information systems; and, improved dissemination channels to targeted audiences. Despite advances, many consumers and traders remain underserved due to limited access to, and capacity to use, information technology.

Lessons Learned:

Better Information and communication technology can supply traders with improved early warning marketing and trade information that lead to more efficient and competitive transactions in food trade between surplus and deficit regions in East Africa. Additional advances can be leveraged through communication networks that distribute critical market intelligence and information.

Summary:

Key Results -

Both RATIN and Tradenet, which continue to operate after the USAID projects were completed, have successfully:

• linked farmers, traders and transporters in hundreds of markets across West and East Africa (Tradenet alone links over 400 markets) and to new global markets;

• increased price transparency and competition (hence, reducing prices in some cases for poor households); and

• reduced transport costs when closer markets are found.