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 USAID awarded IFDC the
4-year MISTOWA project in September 2004; this project aims to increase
regional agricultural trade and food security through the improvement
and linkage of the existing regional efforts to generate, disseminate,
and commercially use market information. MISTOWA, under the guidance of
Dr. Debrah, is helping regional MIS and trade partners to address other
constraints so that strong and dynamic commodity chains emerge that will
use the information to enhance production, handling, credit, and trade;
and value-added services such as post-harvest, processing, packaging,
and quality control. Effective MIS and trader organizations will also
heighten farmer awareness of opportunities and technologies to increase
production and will facilitate the demand-pull for higher value and
quality agricultural products.
During 2004/05 the MISTOWA project has
accomplished the following:
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Assisted RESIMAO to
improve its technical, networking, and operational capacities at the
regional and national levels by organizing a 1-week workshop for their
managers.
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Worked with RESIMAO
to develop a common platform to link their database information and
databases for regional usage.
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Supported the West
African Network of Economic Operators in the Food Industry (ROESAO)
and its national affiliates to improve their organizational and
operational capacities.
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Provided more
information for producers and traders, thus making the market more
transparent and efficient.
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Collaborated with
the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Ghana Standards Board and GAPTO
to promote the use of standard weights and measures.
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Established baseline
trade statistics for focus commodities in the target countries.
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Market & Trade Policy --->
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