TITLE:
Information Service and Integration of Maize Markets in Togo
AUTHORS:
Koffi Yovo
KEYWORDS:
Market Information Service, Maize Markets Integration
JOURNAL NAME:
Modern Economy,
Vol.6 No.2,
February
12,
2015
ABSTRACT: In the framework of
liberalization policies, a market information service (SIM) was created in 2008
in Togo. This public service entrusted in collecting and disseminating
information about the mercurial of agricultural products aimed to improve the
spatial integration of agricultural markets through the development of
arbitrage. This paper assesses the impact of price dissemination on the spatial
integration of maize markets. To this end, the weekly retail maize prices
collected from 13 markets for the period without service (2003-2007) and the
period with service (2008-2012) are considered. The results show that the
impact of price dissemination on the spatial integration of maize markets is
mitigated. By reference to Lome, neither rural markets nor northern markets
have significantly improved their level of long-term and short-term spatial
integration. To improve the efficiency of the service, it is necessary to
understand the need of the sector’s stakeholders in order to revise the current
format of the market information service.