sim2g Special issue of C.A
« Improving transparency and fairness in agricultural markets: African Market Information Systems at stake »
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CALL FOR PAPERS
Market information systems (MIS), in addition to their role for the monitoring of agricultural and food policies, are designed to improve market transparency, by disseminating information to producers, traders, processors, and consumers, in order to help them both with their decisions about marketing, production or investments. MIS are expected to generate improvements in i) market efficiency, more competitive trade and lower transaction costs leading to better resource allocation and ii) equity, reduced information asymmetries with middlemen and other buyers leading to better prices for the producers.
During the 80s’, MIS were introduced into many developing countries, for many types of products including cereals and tubers, fruits and vegetables, livestock, etc. They were strongly promoted by donors and international organizations as tools to support the liberalization of agricultural markets. They multiplied so much in Africa, Asia and Latin America that FAO decided to draw up an inventory (Shepherd, 1997). All these first generation MIS had a similar configuration: i) each was focused on a country and a group of products (cereals, livestock, etc.); ii) information was almost exclusively about prices; iii) it was collected in a sample of markets covering the whole country before being centralized, selected, and then disseminated for free on a national scale, through radio or other media, and; v) the MIS were managed in a centralized way by government departments or projects, and mainly aid-funded.
First generation MIS faced several problems to i) collect reliable data and disseminate it very quickly to market actors; ii) adjust information supply to the need of market actors; iii) secure the financial sustainability of the MIS; iv) minimize exclusion.
During the 2000s, along with the new information and communication technologies (in particular Internet and mobile phones), a second generation of MIS emerged. Apart from the ITC aspect, decentralized, interactive and sometimes private aspects characterize the new MIS. Sometimes, they try to link up with other market institutions such as Warehouses Receipt Systems, commodity exchanges or multi-stakeholder round tables.
These second generation MIS are still badly known. The only major comparative study carried out on MIS (Shepherd, 1997) took place prior to their existence; there have been very few impact studies. Nevertheless, the little information we have on them is enough to see their extreme diversity and the wide rage of innovations developed. Whereas the first generation MIS were all similar regardless of product and country, the new MIS innovate in very diverse ways and offer different king of services.
Therefore, what are the main MIS models? Do the second generation MIS (2GMIS) provide solutions to the problems that first generation MIS (1GMIS) have faced before? What is the impact of second generation MIS on agents’ marketing performances and market regulation?
This special issue will mainly focus on African cases. However, papers on other world regions can be submitted as well. The special issue will cover three main topics:
This section aims at characterizing current agricultural MIS in terms of technical and organisational innovations in order to identify the main types of second generation MIS (2GMIS).
This section is devoted to case studies that can provide better understanding of the assets and limits of second generation MIS (2GMIS), notably regarding the constraints that first generation MIS have faced before. These problems deal with difficulties i) to collect reliable data and disseminate it very quickly to market actors, ii) to adjust MIS information supply to the need of market actors iii) to secure the sustainability of the MIS (financing) and iiii) to minimize exclusion. Papers too descriptive or aiming only to promote some particular MIS will be excluded from the selection process.
This section is devoted to methodological or empirical papers that may contribute to provide some results on second-generation MIS impacts.
The special issue will include some papers in French and some papers in English. The synthesis paper alone will be included in both languages. The special issue will be available (print and pdf format) on Cahiers Agricultures website.
Franck Galtier, Hélène David-Benz, Julie Subervie and Johny Egg
The manuscript can be written in French or in English. It should not exceed 25,000 signs (including spaces). Further relevant information for submitting articles to Cahiers Agricultures are available here: CahiersAgricultures/instructions . Please mind the page numbering, tables and figures schemes. You can use the attached file (EndNote) for your bibliography.
The manuscripts have to be sent to Julie Subervie (subervie@supagro.inra.fr) to be included in the selection process. The manuscripts will be read by the editors first. Then, they are likely to be a) forwarded to reviewers; b) sent back to the authors with some suggestions for improvement; c) rejected.
Deadline for submission: October 22, 2010 .
Publication date: November, 2011.
For further information, please contact:
Franck Galtier : galtier@cirad.fr
Hélène Benz : helene.david-benz@cirad.fr
Julie Subervie : subervie@supagro.inra.fr
Johny Egg : egg@supagro.inra.fr
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