Improving Agricultural Market Performance:
Developing Agricultural Market Information Systems
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The services provided by MANOBI include the following:
• Database of producers including precise geo-referencing of their plots. MANOBI also
maintains a database of seed suppliers, agricultural equipment suppliers, transporters,
processors, small traders, wholesalers, exporters and importers.
• Related to the above, monitoring farm operations during the production cycle.
• Price-monitoring providing wholesale and retail prices for a wide range of agricultural
products in different markets (urban and rural), including vegetables, grains, livestock, fish
products, cocoa, mango, groundnut, coffee, cashew, rubber, seed and agricultural inputs.
• E-commerce facility allowing sellers (including producers of different sizes, i.e. large-scale
and small-scale producers) to make offers for the sale of produce; and for aggregators and
other traders to submit bids to buy produce. As with most of these platforms which are not
linked to commodity exchanges or WRS, the performance against the bids and offers is not
guaranteed by the service provider and therefore tends to limit the scale of uptake.
• General agricultural information including epidemic alerts, weather and output forecasts.
Figure 24: MANOBI’s Target Stakeholders
SourceThe main beneficiaries of the services provided by MANOBI as illustrated in Figure 24 are:
smallholder farmers (considered the primary target beneficiaries) as well as seed and
agricultural equipment suppliers, transporters, processors, produce aggregators, traders,
wholesalers, exporters and importers. They also share information with government
organisations for policymaking purposes and to donors/NGOs working with smallholder
farmers on various agricultural development projects. The farm monitoring services are also
attracting uptake by banks.The main benefits for producers using the services of MANOBI include the knowledge of
prevailing prices, which enables them to negotiate better terms for the sale of their products.
Their bargaining power with suppliers of inputs and other agricultural services was also
enhanced as a result of access to information. Also improved is their credibility with banks
through the farm monitoring services. The existence of the database on specific farmers, their
geographic location and farming practices also eased produce traceability tracked by MANOBI,
thereby enhancing eligibility for export, especially into niche markets (e.g. for organic produce
and also under fair trade).