In 2013/14 The Food Security Analysis Service (VAM) and Purchase for Progress (P4P) piloted farm-gate price data collection from lead farmers in El Salvador, Ghana and Tanzania using smartphones and GRASP (Georeferenced Real-time Acquisition of Statistics Platform) technology. This study summarises lessons learned during the pilot.
As an opportunity to enrich the data pool for P4P M&E activities, the achievements of the pilot include the successful testing and improvement of the GRASP-based tool, enhanced technical resources for WFP monitoring activities, and the opportunity for farmers’ organizations (FOs) to explore the use of mobile phones for sharing information.
The main challenge on the other side was the trade-off between the aspiration to better understand how farmers take marketing decisions and the need to have simple questions in the standard questionnaire form. The data collected during the pilot could not explain farmers’ behaviour without supplementary evidence. The report also illustrates other aspects of the implementation such as internal communication and feedback to farmers.
