Evaluation des Performances Techniques et Financieres de l’Observatoire du Marche Agricole (OMA) de 2001 à 2002

The Agricultural Market Watch, or Obsevatoire du Marché Agricole (OMA), is a decentralized information service in charge of collecting, analyzing and diffusing data on agricultural markets in order to inform and enlighten decision-makers, producers, traders and the public. OMA produced 1,342 communiqués vs. 1,642 planned. The rate of realization was significant and reached 85%. 1334 communiqués were broadcast in local languages through 18 local radio stations. The broadcasting rate of communiqués was 99%. Besides these communiqués, OMA’s record in meeting its targeted production of written reports was as follows: weekly reports, 93%; monthly reports, 100%; and situation reports (2), 100%. The overall rate for production and broadcast for all planned reports was 90%. The evaluation showed that OMA is not well equipped with adequate human and material resources. In spite of that, OMA has a satisfactory rate of production and diffusion of information, weekly and monthly reports. OMA faces financial challenges. The resources it generates itself cover only 12% of the total budget, with the remaining funds coming from the state. These self-generated resources come largely from consultancies (representing 95% of total own-generated resources). In light of the findings, it is recommended to equip adequately local market information offices, train local radio correspondents on market information issues, and conduct studies to identify specific information needs of various economic actors, pay survey takers adequately, and reestablish the contract with the national television network for dissemination of market reports on TV.