The Role of ICT-Based Market Information Services in Spatial Food Market Integration: The Case of Malawi Agricultural Commodity Exchange
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Date
2011Author
Katengeza, Samson, P.
Kiiza, Barnabas
Okello, Julius Juma
Type
ArticleLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
The government of Malawi in 2004 initiated an ICT-based Malawi Agricultural Commodity Exchange
(MACE), a market information service project, to improve access by farmers to market information. MACE
was intended to improve the efficiency of agricultural markets as part of the strategy to improve food security.
This study uses quantitative methods to examine whether MACE has contributed to efficiency of rice markets
in Malawi. It especially tests if MACE has contributed to spatial integration of rice markets. As hypothesized,
the study finds that the tendency of rice prices to move together in spatially separated markets has significantly
increased since the implementation of MACE. It concludes that ICT-based market information services project
enhances linkages between markets and can therefore improve the efficiency with which agricultural markets
perform. The study discusses implications of this finding for policy.
Publisher
IGI Global. Department of Agricultural Economics
Description
Journal article