LESSONS FROM THE MALIAN MIS EXPERIENCE

Mali has been successful in developing a financially sustainable, client-oriented agricultural market information system (MIS) that provides farmers, consumers, processors, banks, government agencies, and donors up-to-date information on market conditions and the forces driving them. Six factors have been critical to the MIS success in Mali: the commitment of policy makers, the financial commitment over the medium term of external funding agencies, developing thorough knowledge of the marketing systems of the country; the choice of the appropriate institutional "home" for managing the system, the development of the human capital for managing the system, the constant targeting of the information needs of the users, which is essential to the financial survival of the system