Market Information for West Africa Economic Integration
WAMIS-NET/RESIMAO to launch its new web-based platform with IFDC technical support June 26, 2013 – BAMAKO, Mali – In order to ensure better dissemination of agricultural information in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) region, the Network of West Africa Market Information Systems has set up a new web-based platform (www.resimao.net) that will be officially launched on July 3 at the ECOWAS Commission headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria. Deployed in 2013 to replace the former platform (www.resimao.org), Resimao.net is a modern platform with new options that integrates information on both agricultural products and agroinputs. It is one of the building blocks of the ECOWAS regional agricultural information system (ECOAGRIS). On July 2 the Network will unveil its five-year Action Plan (2014-2018), which focuses on improving understanding of the functioning of agricultural product and input markets in order to facilitate trade and ensure food and nutritional security in West Africa. About 100 participants including representatives of national market information systems (MIS) from the 10 member countries of the network as well as financial and technical partners are expected to attend this large event. Network member countries include Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Niger, Mali, Senegal, Togo and Nigeria. Financial and technical partners attending the event are the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC), ECOWAS, the Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS), the Netherlands’ Directorate-General for International Cooperation (DGIS) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The new platform is designed to inform all stakeholders in the agriculture sector of the prices and availability of agricultural products and inputs in the sub-region. According to the ECOWAS Commissioner for Agriculture, Environment and Water Resources, Dr. Marc Lapodini Atouga, “This platform is deployed at the right time to address the challenges of limited information that most farmers, agro-dealers and other stakeholders are often confronted with in West Africa.” Henceforth, even in the most remote villages, “one needs only to have access to the Internet to get timely information on the availability of agricultural products and inputs,” he added.
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The Coordinator of WAMIS-NET/RESIMAO, Mr. Salifou Diarra, and his colleagues are particularly happy for this important tool that has been developed thanks to technical and financial support from the MIR Plus project (a joint ECOWAS-UEMOA project implemented by IFDC). “We can now fully play our role with all stakeholders in the agriculture sector, that of collecting, processing and disseminating quality agricultural information in order to contribute to food security in West Africa,” he declared. Specifically, the launch will be an opportunity for WAMIS-NET/RESIMAO to present its network and its new web-based platform to decision-makers, stakeholders of agricultural and food chains as well as to technical and financial partners. The network will also request support from all stakeholders for the implementation of its five-year action plan. WAMIS-NET/RESIMAO was created in April 2000 in Bamako (Mali) during the second West Africa Conference on Agricultural Outlooks. It is made up of national MIS organized around a regional coordination. The number of MIS members of the network has been increasing since its inception and reached 10 in 2013. The ambition of the Network is to cover all ECOWAS Member States. ### For more information, contact: WAMIS-NET/RESIMAO Salifou Diarra Email: salif@datatech.net.ml Tel: +223-667 683 47
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