(http://fmi.gov.ng/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/ECOWAS-LOGO-copy20.gif) The ECOWAS Commission says it will boost national, regional and local information systems in member states to create more jobs as well as promote agriculture and food security in the community.
Mr. Osei Tutu-Agyeman-Duah, the Acting Director, Community Computer Centre made this known at the launch of the West African Market Information System Network (WAMMIS-NET) website in Abuja on 3rd July, 2013.
Tutu-Agyeman-Duah said the launch will make information in terms of products, prices and markets available on the net for people across the region to view. He noted that information is needed "to make decisions and proper planning"; adding that the web will provide a virtual space for people to exhibit anything they want people to see especially agricultural products.
He equally highlighted the three levels of prices available on the platform, which include; the farm gate, the wholesale and retail. According to the Acting Director, Community Computer Centre, the products can be accessed via www.resimao.net.
Mr. Tutu-Agyeman-Duah said the market place has been done graphically with a map indicating all Countries involved. He explained that all the local farmers need is access to information which is not farfetched as most of them now have access to smart phones. RESIMAO is partnering with transport agents on delivery platform and access to physical goods from surplus to scarcity region, he said.
Also speaking at the event, Mr. Salofou Diarra, RESIMAO Coordinator/Mali Coordinator of Observatory Market said the desire to share information among countries in order to improve the market space led to the launching of the West African Market Information system Network (WAMIS- NET).
He stated that at the country level it was noticed that information about other countries is needed to enable member states share best practices in the area of food and agriculture products, which he said, will keep producers and everyone on the marketing chain informed.
Furthermore, Kofi Debrah, a representative of International Fertilizer Development Centre (IFDC), Ghana, which specializes in Agricultural development market and information system said his organization partnered with ROSIMAO to complement their effort to boost agriculture and food sustainability in the region.
He noted that ROSIMAO deals with the collation and dissemination of products and their prices in several markets. The IFDC, Debrah further informed, does prices for the inputs, fertilizer, seeds and pesticides through its MILL PLUS PROJECT. IFDC also provides technical support and training for RESIMAO.
A representative of the ECOWAS Commission who also spoke at the event stated that, it is the business information system that will create employment opportunities for the teaming West African youths. "We want to touch lives rather than touching members states as the case has always been, in order to achieve full self sufficiency", he said.
The West African Market Information System Network (WAMIS–NET) is a network of market information system from Benin, Niger, Burkina Faso, Cote d'ivoire, Guinea- Bissau, Mali, Senegal, Togo and Nigeria. The network provides all stakeholders with up to date and accurate information on four hundred (400) rural and urban agricultural commodity markets through the media.
The network achieves this by monitoring the development of agricultural sector through the collection and publication of related statistics and analytical representation of prices, market, abundance areas and identifying where there is scarcity.
The centrality of the platform is to get access to information on agricultural products and to partner with others stakeholders in the agricultural sector to move products to where scarcity is identified.
Print PDF
Federal Ministry of Information (FMI) Nigeria