IICD supported project: Marketing Information System for Small Producers in the Chuquisaca Region

Countries: Bolivia [BO]
Sectors: agriculture livelihood

Summary

Foundation ACLO assists the development of the productive capacity of small farmers in Sopachuy - Tarvita, Alcalá, and El Villar, in the Department of Chuquisaca. The Foundation promotes the increment of production and agricultural productivity. This means improving food availability and generating a surplus for the market and, at the same time, the creation of agricultural economic organizations (or associations). In the area of the marketing of agricultural products, foundations have been laid to start creating the conditions that will allow the improvement of the current situation of agricultural producers working in the area served by the project.

Objectives

The project meets the lack of appropriate and well-timed information. Its main purpose is the creation of suitable conditions for producers to insert beneficially in a more and more competitive market. It is based on the common elements and focused on the capacity of associations to concur in common proposals. The project sets up three main lines of work:
1. a training and capacity development programme;
2. a system for Research and generation of information; and,
3. a system for the dissemination of marketing information and communication, updated and easy to access, providing information about prices, customers, commercial policies, quality standards, market trends and consumers preferences. This will ease the way for the small agricultural producers in the nine associations to find new markets for their products and by-products.

The project intends to provide training to leaders and producers of the three member associations of ACLO and to help capacity development. Its goal is to generate marketing information to be disseminated afterwards by the mass media. For this, ICTs will be used. All the actions that this project intends to undertake are focused on helping the organizational and economic development of the producers in the area served by the project.

Planned outputs

For the use of ICTs, an Information Network about Agricultural Markets will be developed. A Monitoring System for Information and Communication Technologies (S.M.T.I.C.) will be set up. This system has three main lines of action:
1. Interactive training and capacity development of human resources (the producers) by means of several modules providing training and capacity development activities in relation to different issues such as the management of agricultural business, agricultural marketing and the promotion of municipal economies;
2. the Research Services on Agricultural Markets (S.I.M.A.), that consists of the periodical gathering and systematization of information about prices, total amounts of agricultural products currently in the market, about rural markets and urban assembling markets, wholesale and retail markets and the identification of potential customers in the local area, in the Department and on a national and international level, and
3. the Municipal Productive Information System (S.P.I.M.) that sets up a broadcasting system providing periodic information by means of an internal communication system; that is in charge of the dissemination of information through the mass media and of the design of a website to display all the information about goods and services offered and asked for by each one of the associations.

Development Impacts

Thanks to the project, organized producers are able to enhance the conditions of productive planning and the insertion of their products in the market since they gain access to relevant information and timely communication concerning productive processes and markets. In this way, producers obtain a better profitability and financial return when they sell their agricultural products and by-products.

The purpose of the project is to provide the commercial organizations and municipal governments with an effective means of development and strengthening of their capacity of marketing, negotiation and commercial promotion. For this, ICTs will be used to strengthen and develop their organizing capacity and their participation in the management processes of agricultural marketing.

Management and organisation

ACLO Foundation is responsible for the fulfilment of the objectives and the final results of the project that has been tailored to meet the specific needs and demands of nine organizations of agricultural producers in seven municipalities. The Foundation will also be in charge of monitoring the implementation of the project. ACLO Foundation is a Christian organization that provides services to organized agricultural producers in the south of Bolivia. It helps them to strengthen their own economic, organizational and productive capacities and their municipal management. The Foundation works in coordination with the municipal governments and with public and private institutions and its overall objective is to produce alternative proposals and replicable results oriented to sustainable development with equity and justice.

In the Department of Chuquisaca, the ACLO Foundation has its own offices in the Municipalities of Sopachuy, Tarvita (San Pedro), Alcalá and El Villar. On the other hand, each association has offices managed by their own organizations.

Market and finance

The users of the project are agricultural producers organized in associations and other organizations such as: three municipal governments, three surveillance committees, 42 communities and a joint community of small producers associations. It serves an area grouping 758 agricultural producers in nine small producers’ organizations.

The project establishes that income will be generated by the payment that producers of the nine associations will have to do for the use of ICT services for the marketing of their primary products and agricultural by-products. The total income up to the fifth year of the project is of $16.009, 07.

Cash flow is calculated with regard to the budget and the estimated incomes. The index income/cost shows that by the fifth year of the project, incomes produced by the use and application of ICTs will cover from the 3,76% during the first year up to the 42,21% of the operating costs, the training and the investments of the project.

Project Owner : Fundación Acción Cultural Loyola (ACLO)
Calle Loa #602, Casilla 538, Chuquisaca – Bolivia
Tel. (+591-4) 6462213 – 6454248, Fax (+591-4) 6462618
E-mail: aclochuq@mara.scr.entelnet.bo

Contact Organisation : IICD

Project Contact : Stijn van der Krogt