Electronic Marketing Communication System (EMCS)

Electronic Marketing Communication System (EMCS) using mobile phone Short Message Service (SMS) technologies is an enabling technology for capacity building opportunities, particularly as it allows the farming and marketing sectors to collectively monitor the value chain and co-operate to achieve incremental improvements. This project is funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricutural Research a body listed on the Australian Competitive Grants Register.

Our work to date on EMCS is showing the potential of ICT to enable greater visibility across the chain, allowing the production (eg crop information) and marketing (eg regional price information) chains to collectively respond to climatic events (eg weather alerts) and market signals/drivers, thus increasing greater system and human resilience. Cheap, simple and robust technologies such as SMS are matched with a model of information sharing and exchange, and addresses both economic and social production goals.The use of the EMCS system for marketing, and the broader use of SMS and mobile technologies in the production and extension components of the project, will provide important opportunities for all participants to expand their understanding and skills around the applications of new information and communications technologies across the chain. The development of a web-based information system in the form of a content management system will offer stakeholders online access to research information and other resources in more timely and accessible forms than currently offered by traditional printed materials. The delivery and uptake of agricultural extension activities would in particular benefit from expanding the online access (eg computer and phone) to information.

The project will continue to implement the EMCS (electronic marketing communication system) initiative from ASEM/2003/012. The new project will refine the SMS technology; refine the types of information and communications to be incorporated; and build capacity of value chain participants to use the technology. The SMS technology will focus on the delivery of market and production information by:
• Linking with VC & MIS workshops held with project researchers, collaborators, and stakeholders in Cambodia to build awareness of SMS objective and current EMCS developments
• Developing a trainer-the-trainer model for using the EMCS
• Collecting and consolidating data that can be used to map the EMCS system and and its relationship to the VC
• Conducting workshops to finetune EMCS and apply it to identify system limitations and priority MIS opportunities
• Ongoing evaluation and monitoring of EMCS use and future developments.The Cambodia-Canada Agricultural Market Information Project (CAMIP)

In late 2006 we became aware of the work of CAMIP and their project to develop the Cambodian Agricultural Market Information System, CAMIS. We initially shared ideas about the dissemination of market information and our project to develop a SMS-based market information system. Spriggs and Fitzgerald presented a number of papers at sector-wide meetings organised by Pieter Yipma. Fitzgerald liased closely with CAMIP staff around ways of collaborating and we agreed to share SMS models. Our work on the EMCS and our collaboration with CAMIP was referred to in a July 2007 research report (“A pre-investment feasibility study on ICT solutions for private sector development in the agricultural and fishery sectors”) prepared by Indochina Research Limited for UNDP Cambodia. This report identified three agricultural market information initiatives in Cambodia including:

• ACIAR: SMS Market Information pilot project – Improving the Marketing System for Maize and Soybeans in Cambodia
• AusAID: CAVAC – Cambodia Agriculture Value Chain
• CIDA: CAMIP – Cambodia Agricultural Market Information Program

CAMIS is now trialing the retrieval of market information from their database via SMS using our server. The Agricultural Marketing Office is one of the ten offices and units of the Department of Planning and Statistics (DPS) within the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry & Fisheries (MAFF). AMO collects market wholesale price information three times weekly. These prices can be accessed using their website (http://www.camis-kh.org/).

For more details contact:
Dr Robert Fitzgerald
robert(dot)fitzgerald(at)canberra.edu.au