PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Ketline Adodo; kadodo@ifdc.org
DATE: February 27, 2003
IFDC
Africa Inaugurates the AFAMIN Website
 The
African Agricultural Market Information Network (AFAMIN) was
established in Lome, Togo during October 2002.
AFAMIN
is a network and a website that provides a structure capable of
locating, collecting, processing, and disseminating agricultural
information in Africa and the entire world.
It provides vital information including local and world
prices, local tenders, market trends, productions, stock levels, and
movements of agricultural inputs and outputs.
It also provides a directory of about 3,000 contact addresses
of various actors (importers, producers, suppliers), and it serves
as a forum of self-promotion for associations, networks, and
interested institutions. AFAMIN
currently involves six countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, and Togo.
The
official launching of www.afamin.net
occurred on December 4, 2002, in Lome.
The launching ceremony gathered about 180 guests that
represented “the fertile triangle”—farmers and their
organizations, the private sector, and the public sector.
“I am very pleased to see the private sector, which creates
wealth, and the civil society, which is a guarantee for the
distribution of this wealth,” said Marc Atouga, director of
agriculture of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA)
and chairman of this session.
How
to create wealth was the central issue during this one-day event.
“The challenge for African States is to set up mechanisms that
enable them to take better advantage of market opportunities opened
by the liberalization process in order to finance their development
efforts,” said Yayi Boni, president of the West African
Development Bank (BOAD). “AFAMIN belongs to the category of
initiatives that BOAD encourages in order to create favorable
conditions to increase the wealth produced and distributed within
the sub-region.”
David
Latevi Lawson-Atutu, officer in charge of the database at the
National Office of Agricultural Statistics presented Togo’s web
page. “A network of 18 enumerators trained by IFDC feed the
systems. Every month, data including prices and availabilities are
collected among 78 dealers who handle seeds, fertilizers, and small
materials throughout the entire country.”
Many
participants were eager to know the minimum funding needed to link
to AFAMIN network. “IFDC’s
main role is to support the creation and growth of the network in
member countries, but the basic principle is that each system must
be self-supporting,” said Dr. Kofi Debrah, Leader of the Policy
and Market Development Program.
Some
are already benefiting from AFAMIN.
Stephen Danjuma Yakub-Atar, Managing Director of Alheri Seeds
Nigeria, LTD, has been in the seed industry for the past two years.
He said, “Through the AFAMIN network, I have made a very
interesting deal with an international agro-dealer who will supply
the chemicals I need to produce seeds on loan, on a trust basis, and
without a credit line; I’ll pay back six months later.”
Hamidou
Diallo, Manager of Comptoir Agricole S.A. from Guinea, deals with
fertilizers, seeds, crop production products, and planting
materials. Since last
year, he’s made business contacts with several international
operators who are interested in potato production. “This gives me
the opportunity to diversify my activities, and I am very grateful
for that.”
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