Hello, I work for Mercy Corps in Afghanistan and we are in the process of launching a pilot SMS project delivering price information to farmers, traders and other interested parties. Our collaborators include the mobile company Roshan and the owner of the platform, TradeNet. Kristi Tabaj

Hello Everyone, I meant to post last week, but just didn't get a chance. There are currently three projects I know of in Afghanistan involved with getting market information to value chain participants. I'd like to discuss the concept of a project we (Mercy Corps) are interested in starting soon. The dissemination of market information would take place through SMS and the web. At this stage we are examining a number of issues that have, could and will occur. First, security. Insurgents have threatened and destroyed mobile towers. Additionally, offices and other equipment belonging to these companies have been targeted (some possibly criminal actions). I anticipate a decline in these types of attacks, but it does affect how people use their mobiles. Insurgents have encouraged people to turn off their phones during certain times of the day. Second, we realize that there will be some problems with text translation - from the server to the mobile. Some users have Roman letters while others have Arabic script. It could take some time to overcome glitches. A bigger problem is the number of mobile users with limited literacy skills. There are two options to address this: 1) identify other means of relaying price information (voice?) or 2) teach people how to use the system using a series of simple codes. Third, we are unsure of how people will respond to this service. Response may vary from place to place. This could mean we receive positive/negative responses or clients may demand different services. How will people respond to this availability of information? Idealistically, I anticipate results that will allow us to grow to meet the needs of clients. Lastly, cost. Are people willing to pay for the messaging? If so, how much? In the pilot phase we plan to pick up the cost of SMS and hopefully gather information to help us determine how much value chain participants will pay for information. I'm interested in seeing how this information might be distributed through other means, shared through communities. I welcome any questions or comments. I realize this sounds a bit vague, but we're still working out some of the details prior to initiating. Kristi