Crop Price Information for Bolivian Farmers

There are many local farmer markets throughout Bolivia, with prices fluctuating greatly. In order to help farmers get better prices for their products, the programme focuses on providing price information and technical agricultural information to small-scale producers in the departments of Santa Cruz, La Paz, Sucre, Potosí and Tarija. This information allows farmers to make better-informed decisions about selling their produce. In addition, the increased transparency diminishes the huge profit margins of middlemen.

Current status

The project extension will start as soon as enough donations have come in. There are no general project start-up costs as the project is already being implemented in 6 other localities in Bolivia. The markets of La Paz and El Alto will be included in the existing project. First step will be to train extension workers in how to collect the price information, but also in the use of computers to store and retrieve the price information, to the immediate benefit of the farmers.

Apart from the radio broadcasts, the price information will also be available for farmers online and in printed form on the walls of telecentres. Also, a texting service is available through which farmers can receive text messages with price information about products and varieties of their choice. This ensures that there is a maximum outreach.

To increase the income of some 30,000 Bolivian small-scale farmers and their families in La Paz and El Alto. This is brought about by informing them better about the most recent prices for their agricultural products. A mix of various IT tools is used: daily radio broadcasts, internet, and tailor-made texting services.

Goals

• 2 Extension workers trained in collecting price information
• Income of 30,000 farmers and their families raised
• Daily farm radio broadcasts covering La Paz and El Alto
• Daily price information gathered from 2 markets (LP, EA)
• 1000 producers receive daily text messages on agr. prices

The main project has achieved a high degree of sustainability as it receives a large part of its funding from the local counterpart, the Gobernación de Santa Cruz. With the inclusion of the La Paz and El Alto markets more cooperation with the Gobernación de La Paz is expected, which may lead to an additional source of funding. In the near future, expansion towards the Department of Oruro is also targeted thus achieving a national coverage.