Under the Food Security Project in Northern Sudan, FAO Sudan will soon begin a deployment of Esoko’s web and mobile Market Information System as the FAMIS (Food and Agriculture Market Information System) portion of the overall Food Security project. This project is being implemented through the local ministries in the fifteen northern Sudanese states. The service will be known as Esook, ‘sook’ being the Arabic word for market, with ‘e’ added for ‘electronic’. These are some of the character behind it.
Yahia Awad, MIS Manager
It seems that Yahia Awad, the MIS manager for FAO-Sudan’s Northern Food Security Project (SIFSIA), has been on a clear trajectory in his career to get to exactly where he is today. After decades working inside the Northern Sudanese Ministry of Agriculture in various capacities and then years in the private sector at a large agricultural export company, Yahia has joined the SIFSIA team to lead the MIS component of the project, and most importantly, to make sure that the project becomes not only sustainable but also profitable in the end. His aim is to make the service unquestionably relevant for users across Northern Sudan so that in time there is a viable business in place; one that thrives because it is held accountable to the needs of its customers. His unique perspective and experience in the private sector help him to regard every decision and every bit of information with a different eye than most in his field. The success of any large MIS deployment is dependent upon, first and foremost, having a tireless and dedicated leader who has the ability to work with all facets of the local agricultural community with ease–farmers, traders, associations, businesses and government. In the very particular context of Northern Sudan this understanding is even more essential, and Yahia’s experience and presence of mind make the future of MIS in Northern Sudan look promising indeed. Look for Esook to go public with their MIS services by the end of this year, with Yahia quietly behind every strategic move.
Omer El Dirani is Northern Sudan’s walking, talking encyclopedia of livestock knowledge. Beginning at a young age, Omer saw livestock not only as animal husbandry but also a fascinating mix of culture, tribes, attitudes and ancient behaviors. His particular panoramic point of view and the fact that he has spent his working life hopping back and forth between the public and private sectors gives him a unique perspective on market information and the needs of the real producers and traders on the ground. For Omer, the main problems with traditional MIS are that 1) government programs never actually mirror the complexity of what is going on in the markets, and have never before collected or redistributed market information that would be interesting to producers and traders and 2) government programs are based on fictitious assumptions; assumptions about how many traders are working in livestock, assumptions about what they need, assumptions that simply bringing scales into the markets will make traders use them instead of their traditional pricing based on colors, sizes and origin, etc. Dirani admits that fixing such problems would be a massive undertaking, and may even be impossible due to all of the factors that made him fascinated by livestock markets to begin with. Perhaps there isn’t any new market information that would be useful to producers and traders of livestock because they already get their information from trusted sources that cut along tribal lines. But we can at least start by actually reflecting the varieties and origins of livestock for better price collection, and by simply asking what types of market information people on the ground may actually find useful so that we can then move forward based on real knowledge–no more assumptions.