PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Marie K. Thompson;
mkthompson@ifdc.org
DATE: June 8, 2004
CTA/IFDC
Workshop Strengthens Market Information Systems in West Africa
Lome, Togo, June 8, 2004—The Centre for Agricultural and Rural
Cooperation (CTA) and IFDC—an International Center for Soil
Fertility and Agricultural Development—organized a workshop on
Market Information Systems (MIS) with logistical support from the
Computer Community Center of the Economic Community of West African
States (ECOWAS). This workshop was conducted at IFDC’s Africa
Division Office in Lome, Togo, during May 3 -7, 2004. Twenty MIS
professionals from Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali,
Niger, Senegal and Togo attended the workshop to strengthen their
capacities in data collection and dissemination.
In his opening remarks, Rodger Obubo, who represented CTA’s
Director, stressed the role of information in market development.
“Market liberalization has exposed small producers to externalities
induced by other agents and factors influencing the system,” he
said. “There is also a lack of communication between producers and
markets while importers and exporters operate in an opaque
environment. Improving information flow and overall management of
information systems is necessary to facilitate market supply and to
reduce market distortions due to the lack of transparency.”
Togolese Government officials appreciate IFDC’s contribution toward
the advancement of MIS in the region. “Togo doesn’t have a
structured MIS,” said David Lawson of the Office of Agricultural
Statistics, Togolese Ministry of Agriculture. “We work with the
African Agricultural Market Information Network (AFAMIN), an IFDC-managed
network that deals with inputs. We are grateful for this opportunity
to participate in a program on agricultural product markets. This
will enable us to catch up with the other countries that are ahead
of us.”
Mr. Gaston Dossouhoui of the National Support Service for Food
Security, Benin, was impressed by the overall approach. “We are
pleased with IFDC’s approach, which shows a certain dynamics and
consistency: from the diagnosis of the MIS situation to assistance
to countries in designing their market information systems to the
present workshop,” he said. “We believe that dealing with such a
reliable and faithful partner will enable us to contribute more
effectively to the development of our sub-region.”
Successful cases were presented; among them was that of Manobi, a
private system that provides information services to add value to
the fruit and vegetable sector in Senegal. “Valorizing productions
will increase farmers’ self-financing capacities,” said David Boggio
of Manobi. “The real challenge is to reduce transmission delays to
provide fresh information in real time for market players so that
they can make effective business decisions. Our experience also
shows that one can break the local dimension of trading channels.
Producers can look for markets at the other end of their country or
abroad. This will enhance competition among suppliers and increase
exchange flow within the sub-region.”
In his concluding remarks, Elly Wotoko, representing the Executive
Secretary of ECOWAS, outlined the follow-up to this initiative.
“These joint activities are the beginning of a long series of
training programs that we are planning to implement,” Wotoko said.
“I am convinced that our partnership with CTA and IFDC will bear
sustainable fruits in the whole sub-region.”
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