E-SOKO – The Agricultural Market Price information system Bringing the market to Rwandans RWANDA DEVELOPMENT BOARD eRWANDA PROJECT Ministry Of Agriculture and Animal Resources

Contents What is the eSoko Project? How does the eSoko system work? How Is the eSoko System Used? Who is the Systems target Group? What are eSoko systems Potential Benefits? What is the Current status of the eSoko System? What is the Future of eSoko System?

What is the eSoko Project? Previously MINAGRI used its Planning and Statistics Unit that collected market prices from 33 markets distributed all over the country twice a month. This information was then faxed to MINAGRI, who processed, validated and analyzed the data. A table by market, province, and district was then generated and distributed to different users via email or courier or wall postings at market centres.

Challenges of the paper system? The paper based system resulted in distribution of mainly outdated information. A tedious process from data collection, aggregation, analysis to distribution Costly data transmission and dissemination process Limited access to the information by the key target group A collaborative effort between MINAGRI and RDB-eRwanda project to utilize the power of technology to increase faster access to real time agricultural commodity market price information.

How does the eSoko system work? HOSTED APPLICATION WEB SMS J2ME/GPS Approve/Reject Agent Submissions Submit Market Prices Publish Reports Submit GPS Location Non-response follow-up MARKET AGENT MARKET COORDINATOR IVR SMS WEB Request Price Information SMS to Agents Timeliness Notifications AGRI-USER/ PUBLIC 5

How Is the eSoko System Used? COVERAGE 50 Market Covered (i.e. 6-Kigali, 11-Western Province, 11 -Eastern Province, 8-Northern Province and 14-Southern Province) A total of 27 major agriculture commodities are surveyed Agents collect and submit market prince information on a weekly basis Public and Farmers’ Access guide Access via SMS channel Type the following SMS string “Igiciro[Space]izina ry’isoko[space]izina ry’igicuruzwa” Send to shortcode – 7656 Farmer/Trader/Public will get an instant response with the latest price per unit of the commodity Web Access Through the URL www.esoko.gov.rw , one can access the latest commodity prices in all markets as well as weekly and monthly reports regarding commodities available.

Who is the Systems target Group? Local Farmer (All citizens) Mobile Application SMS IVR Web Application Price trends Traders Local SMS IVR International Web access

What are eSoko systems Potential Benefits? Increased access to near real time market price information will: Reduce costs of communication and to stabilize the prices of the basic foodstuffs Sensitize producers to invest more in products with larger profit margins Facilitate access to the foodstuffs by the populations at a fair price Contribute to maintaining prices at reasonable levels by encouraging a greater competition Enable farmers decide, for example, if it is more lucrative to continue producing the crop or invest in the production of new species or decide on the right season to produce and sell at higher prices Facilitate MINAGRI’s food security planning and monitoring program Provide planning statistics needed by Government for planning purpose

SAMPLE REPORTS GENERATED FROM THE ESOKO SYSTEM: Price Trends for selected Commodities

RICE-RW

BANANA

BEANS

What is the Current status of the eSoko System? Total current SMS traffic is 25,186 Total Guests visited the system is 4043

What is the Future of eSoko System? In order to complement the development of a broader agricultural system for MINAGRI, eSOKO Phase II will; Focus on creating eSoko as a market place or trading point for agricultural commodities Enhancement of SMS Interface to support Multilingual interfaces ( Kinyarwanda and English) Enhancement of the analytics capabilities; Reports Enhancements, System User monitoring report Monitoring/ Surveillance of price trends will be enhanced Extend the system to other telecom operators– Tigo, Rwandatel

eSoko Administrator/ RDB- eRwanda Wilson Musonera eSoko Administrator/ RDB- eRwanda Thank You