The structure, conduct, and performance of agricultural market information systems in Sub-Saharan Africa

This dissertation addresses three sets of questions: (1) what evidence is there that supports the premises that second-generation agricultural Market Information System (MIS) models are likely to meet user needs and become financially sustainable relative to first-generation models? (2) How have different MIS models tried to address the generic design issues of any MIS and what are the relative advantages of different models of MIS in addressing those challenges? (3) What factors affect the reception of improved agricultural market information among smallholder farmers in Mozambique; and how does reception of improved agricultural market information affect their marketing behavior? The key findings are that: (1) there is great heterogeneity among MIS in terms of their structure and conduct design issues. (2) Whether or not an MIS is government-based explains very little in terms of its performance. What matters is the: (a) mandate, (b) financial and managerial autonomy, (c) information and communication technology (ICT) used in transmission and diffusion, (d) funding strategy, (e) quality control methods, and (f) feedback methods of the MIS. (3) All MIS types still heavily depend on