Improving Agricultural Market Performance:
Developing Agricultural Market Information Systems
52
4.2.2 OTHER NATIONAL MIS IN ARAB GROUP Whilst the Moroccan system is government-based, Lebanon, in contrast, has price data available
through a civil society group Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture Zahlé and Bekaa.
The Chamber, in addition to providing market information, also offers training in certification,
financial analysis and other services. Market price data is collected and collated 3 times a week
from regional markets and disseminated mainly via mobile phones. Also pro ed to its
members is analytical information on trends in the main export commodity market Sulaiman
et al. (2015) reports that Syria maintains a database of daily prices for agricultural c modities
but the information is kept in government departments and is only accessible electronically.
Qatar also has an accessible statistical page but price information is very difficult to find and not
easy to use due mainly to the format in which the information is kept.
4.2.3 MED-AMIN: AN EXAMPLE OF A REGIONAL MIS IN ARAB GROUP The Mediterranean Agriculture Market Information Network (MED-AMIN) was launched in
February 2014, with seven of the participating countries being OIC members (Table 5). The
network focuses on four strategic crops, namely: wheat, maize, barley and rice. MED-AMIN seeks
to promote cooperation and experience-sharing between national MIS in the Mediterranean
region as well as collaboration with other international MIS.
Table 5: List of Member Countries of MED-AMIN
Member country Focal organisation
OIC member countries:
Albania Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Water Administration
Algeria Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
Egypt Agricultural Research Centre (ARC)
Lebanon Ministry of Agriculture
Morocco Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries; Office National Interprofessionnel
des Céréales et Légumineuses (ONICL)
Tunisia Ministry of Agriculture (ONAGRI), Office Tunisien des Céréales
Turkey Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock; Turkstat
Non-OIC countries:
France Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forests
Greece Ministry of Production, Reconstruction, Environment and Energy
Italy Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies
Malta Ministry for Sustainable Development, Environment and Climate Change
Portugal National Institute for Agricultural and Veterinary Research (INIAV)
Spain Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment
SourceA key report published by MED-AMIN is information on crop harvest and planting progress in
member countries. The information obtained from the national focal organisations (Table 5) is
triangulated with reference data on cereals harvest forecasts produced by USDA, AMIS and FAO
using the system illustrated in Figure 16. An example of a report on wheat is in Figure 17.
15 http://www.cciaz.org.lb/english/static.php?menu=96-local&parent=94-local