نبذة مختصرة : Only a few years ago, the farmers in Bungoma and Eldoret knew nothing about market information, or how it could help to improve their lives. They were always complaining about the middlemen who were cheating them on prices. For any one crop, the marketing chain consists of multiple middlemen, each taking a margin at every stage between producer and consumer. The Kenya Agricultural Commodity Exchange (KACE) was established in 1997 to make available reliable and timely information on the availability and prices of a wide range of commodities, and to link buyers and sellers in domestic, regional and even global markets. Based on the success of its actual trading floor in the centre of Nairobi, KACE has now taken its services online, with the Regional Commodity Trade and Information System (RECOTIS), and a small but expanding network of local market information centres (MICs). KACE staff collect information on the prices of various commodities from market vendors in Nairobi, Bungoma and Eldoret. The information is forwarded to KACE headquarters, where it is processed and made available to members via the RECOTIS pages on the KACE website, on notice boards at the MICs, or by fax. Trades are made through competitive bids and offers, which the system prioritizes according to price and time of receipt, and posts them on the website. Once a buyer and a seller agree to trade, KACE acts as a clearing house and (for a commission) arranges the financial and logistical aspects of the sale. Bungoma and Eldoret are small towns serving commercial and smallholder farming communities. Access to telecommunications is limited, and usually expensive. However, the MICs are equipped with phone, fax and computers with a dial-up connection to the Internet, so that members of farmers´ associations, unions, cooperative societies and small traders can now log on to the KACE website and place their offers of produce for sale. They can also obtain agribusiness news and information that is hoped will encourage business partnerships and promote ...
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