Dear Edith, Hi and greetings! I found this study quite interesting. If I may ask; has IDRC done or supported some work on cotton production,ginning and marketing in Kenya? And to what extent has ICT contributed to this? Remember the IDRC's initial 'ACACIA' project ideas. Best regardsa, Philip. On Tue, Mar 15, 2011 at 11:31 PM, Edith Adera <eadera@idrc.or.ke> wrote:

Listers,

Just a quick note to share some research findings of work supported by IDRC in 6 African countries (Kenya, Benin, Ghana, Madagascar and Malawi)

Some highlights of findings from the project (eAgriculture Research Network):-

ü Participation in ICT-based market information service projects strengthens farmer linkage to markets:- increases the share of agricultural production (crop and livestock) that is sold by about 14% implying that farmers that participate in such projects have greater participation in the market. It also increases the per-capita household use of productivity enhancing purchased inputs (seeds, fertilizer & pesticides) by 10-12%.

ü There is evidence that participation in ICT-based projects improves household food security: Increases per-capita agricultural income and reduces the extent of food insecurity (duration of food deficit) in a participating household.

ü Markets covered by ICT-based projects perform better:- they are characterized by lower price dispersion and lower transaction costs and are more integrated with other markets.

ü That the effect of the use of ICT-based tools (especially mobiles) by rural traders on transaction cost is nuanced. It reduces some of the components of transaction costs but not others (e.g. screening & renogotiation costs) suggesting that the nature of the market influence how use of such tools affect transaction costs.

ü Awareness of ICT-based market information service (MIS) projects are driven by *farmer-specific factors* - age (-ve), education/literacy, farming experience, membership in farmer organizations; *infrastructural factors *- access to electricity (-ve); *asset endowment* - land size, value of household non-land physical assets, value of livestock assets, household income; *country-specific factors *e.g. price controls and ban on maize export in Malawi distorted the market.

ü The environment (physical, socio-cultural, economic and legal) in which ICT-based projects are deployed and their design affect their outcomes i.e. performance and sustainability. Flexible and responsive designs improve the odds of success and sustainability of such projects. Overdependence on donor support and failure to plan for exit reduce the odd of success.

Finally, in Kenya it was found that over 60% of mobile money transfer is used in the agriculture sector!

Telecom operators in Sri Lanka have incorporated provision of "real-time" (within the hour) agricultural market information in their service offerings and have hired market scouts to collect information hourly (they charge consumers equivallent of ksh 30 per month for this information (good source of revenue) - we need these types of innovations in Kenya rather than price controls.

Edith

*________________ *

*Edith Ofwona Adera *

Senior Program Specialist

ICT4D Program and Climate Change & Water Program

International Development Research Centre | Centre de recherches pour le développement international

Regional Office for Eastern and Southern Africa

Tel: +254202713160 | Fax/Téléc: +254202711063 | Skype: edithadera

eadera@idrc.or.ke | www.idrc.ca | www.crdi.ca

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-- Regards, Philip