There are now quite a number of experimental designs and RCTs (randomized controlled trials) of market information systems measuring revenue gained by rural agriculturalists (farmers, fishermen) and traders. While some show improvements to the prices farmers get for their crops, others disappointingly show a lack of impact. There are also Read more…
A warm welcome to visitors who’ve found their way to this page from the Catholic Relief Services ICT4D conference. To know more about the objectives of this 5+ year research project visit our about page. If you are involved in an ICT4D project in the domain of agricultural, markets, and Read more…
This month Janaki Srinivasan presented at the ICTD conference on her project revisiting the site of a canonical study on mobile phone use by fishermen in north Kerala. The original study (by economist Rob Jensen) showed compelling evidence that fishermen used mobile phones to check prices at different beach landing Read more…
Our first comparative case bringing together findings from fieldwork (by Jenna Burrell and Elisa Oreglia) among rural farmers in Hebei and Shandong provinces in China and fishermen and fish traders at Lake Victoria and Lake Kyoga in Uganda. The working paper is titled “The Myth of Market Price Information: Mobile Read more…
Editor’s Note: This is an update from the field by Janaki Srinivasan who is currently researching the fishing industry in Kerala, India and the use (broadly) of tools and technologies ranging from trawlers, nets, and GPS to the mobile phone. Her project is funded by the Institute for Money, Technology, Read more…
A new profile, the first in a series that will offer rich context about the lives and livelihoods of farmers, fishermen, and traders. This profile deals with a man who fills the (often maligned) role of middleman …Read The Profile…