Marketing

Marl<eting
information systems
information systems
for non-timber
for
forest products
forest
COMMUNITY
FORESTRY
FIELD MANUAL

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WMMMM
UPU
soMi
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V

Food
and
Agriculture
Organization
. I' of
the
United
Nations
Marketing
Marl<eting
information systems
CED

information systems
for non-timber
for
forest products

by
by Carla
Carla 'Koppel!
Koppel/

Edited by
by ¡<aren Schoonmaker Freudenberger
Karen Schoonmaker

A
F j AND AGRICULTURE
0 FOOD AND ORGANIZATIONOF
AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OFTHE
THEUNITED
UNITEDNATIONS
NATIONS
~4r ~ ....~~
Rome, 1995
Rome,
 Economic benefits that
Economic benefits that can be derived
derived from
from non-timber
non-timber forest
forest products
products
(NTFPs)and
(NTFPs) and agroforestlY
agroforesttyproducts
products have
have been
been identified
identified as
as a major opportunity
for community
for forestry projects.
community forestry projects. However,
However, while
while many
many projects
projects are
are producing
products which fall
fall into these categories, the markets are generally
generally informal and
is difficult
it is difficultfor
forlocal
localpeople
people to
to have access to information about potential mar-
mar-
kets and have
have any
any control
control over
over the
the prices
prices they
they receive.
receive.

In 1989,
1989, the FAO Senior Community
FAO Senior Community ForestlY
Forestry Officer
Officer conducted
conducted a survey
sUlvey in
selected Asian
selected Asian countries
countries to
to learn
learn of opportunities
opportunities for
for and constraints to commu-
nity forestlY
forestry in
in order to plan
plan activities
activities meaningful
meaningful at the national level.
level. Govern-
ment ministers,
ministers, staff
staffof
of non-governmental
non-govemmental organizations
organizations (NGOs)
(NG0s) and project man-
agers were included in the survey.
agers sunrey.

While those sUlveyed

While those suiveyed noted that there were
were many
many topics
topics of
of importance,
importance, im-
im-
proved benefits from marketing products
products from
from community
community forestry
forestly projects
projects was
was
the priority. highest importance was a locally-managed market information
priority. Of highest
system (MIS),
system (MIS).They
Theyemphasized
emphasizedthat
thatititshould
should be
be aa low input system which could
be sustainably
sustainably controlled by users, with very
velY little need for external
external investment
investment
or maintenance.
maintenance. They required a market
market information
information system which would em-
power
power local
local producers and traders
traders by
by providing
providing more transparent
transparent information
information on
community forestty
community foresny products,
products, making
making them
them more
more profitable
profitable to
to produce, manage
and sell.
sell.

In 1990,
1990, a locally-designed MIS
MISwas
was established
established by
by a farmers'
farmers' group in
in the
the
Philippines,
Philippines, in collaboration
collaboration with the
the FAO's
FAO's Forests,
Forests, Trees
Trees and People
People Pro-
Pro-
gramme.
gramme. Starting
Startingwith
with price
price comparisons
comparisons between different markets, the activities
activities

PREFACE
PREFACE ..
411.
 of the MIS have expanded
MIS have expanded into two-way information flows
flows and more complex
analysis. The
analysis. The success MIS can
success of the MIS can be
be measured by the fact
fact that
that itit has
has contin-
contin-
ued after outside support stopped. The
The Philippines
Philippines Government has
has adopted the
ideas behind the
the MIS
MIS and is
is incorporating this approach into
into its
its extension
extension pro-
pro-
gramme.

The approach was field

field tested in
in two
two other
other locations
locations in
in the
the Philippines,
Philippines, as
as
well as in Uganda, Islands and
Uganda, the Solomon Islands and Peru,
Pent, and it appears that
that itit is
is being
being
found useful by many farmers.
found farmers. This
This field
field manual
manual draws
draws on
on the
the experiences to
date.
date. Experience has shown
Experience has shown that,
that, when
when established at a simple
established at simple level (as de-
level (as
scribed in examples in this manual), an
scribed an MIS
MIS can be self-sustaining and empow-
self-sustaining and
ering.
ering. ItIt is
is hoped
hoped that people will
will try out these ideas, adapt them
tryout them to
to other
other situa-
situa-
tions and
tions and give give feedback
feedback to
to enable further development and
further development and expansion of this
this
manual.

Clearly,no
Clearly, no market-oriented
market-oriented production
production should
should be
be included in a community
community
forestty
forestty project
project until
until aa market
market study has been
been carried
carried out. But, community
out. But, community forestty
forestty
and agroforestry
agroforestty activities
activitiesseldom
seldom include
include market studies or market strategy plan-
ning.
ning. The market information system,
system, as proposed
proposed in
in this
this manual,
manual, isis limited
limited to
to sit-
sit-
uations
uations where the products and
and the
the markets
markets already
already exist.
exist. It may be that
that increases
increases
profit and
in profit and control which result from
from an MIS willbe
MIS will beuseful,
useful,as
aswas
was the
the case
case in
in
some
some of our examples.
examples. Or,
Or, the increases
increases may
may be too small to warrant the develop-
ment or continuation
continuation of an MIS. The problems
MIS. The problems related to lack
lack of
of information
information
when a project
project or community is considering
community is considering new
new products
products are
are not
not addressed by
this
this manual.

The next step will

The will be to expand the
the ideas
ideas presented
presented here
here into
into aamarket-ori-
market-ori-
ented micro-planning
micro-planning system.
system. This
Thiswill
willbe
beaa greater
greater challenge,
challenge,as
as there
there are
are many
many
other issues to consider in the development
development of
of new
new products
products especially
especially when
they are long-term investments,
investments, as
as is
is often
often the
the case with tree and forest products.
A market
market information
information system
system isis just
justone
one element
element of
of the
the whole, place to
whole, one place to start
start
addressing complex
complex marketing
marketing strategies.
strategies.

CO MARKETING INFORMATION
···MARI(ETING INFORMATIONSYSTEMS
SYSTEMS FOR
FOR NON-TIMBER
NON-TIMBERFOREST
FORESTPRODUCTS
PRODUCTS
 The FAO Community Forestry
FAO Community Forestry Unit
Unit invites
invites practitioners
practitioners working
working with com-
munity-managed MISs
MISsand
and market-oriented
market-oriented micro-planning
micro-planning to
to share
share their
their experi-
experi-
ences in order to improve
improve strategies
strategies and tools in this veiy
very important area.

Marilyn W.
W. Hoskins
Senior Community
Senior CommunityForestr3.7
Forestry Officer
Policy and Planning
Forestry Policy Planning Division
Division
Forestry Department

PREFACE ....
411)
PREFACE III
LIST OF FIGURES
LIST IX
CHAPTER 1:
CHAPTER 1: Introduction 1
1

About
About this
this manual 4
Definitions 6

CHAPTER 2:
CHAPTER MIS and Markets for
MIS and for Non-Timber
Non-Timber Forest
Forest Products
Products 9
non-timber forest
The market for non-timber forest products
products 9
Why is marketing information
is marketing information important? 13
What isis aa marketing
What marketing information
informationsystem (MIS)?
system(MIS)? 16
16

• steps in
Three steps in setting up
up an
an MIS
MIS 21

CHAPTER 3:
CHAPTER Step I:I: Selecting
Step Selecting the MIS
MIS Location
and Identifying
Identifying thethe Participants
Participants 23
Selecting the MIS
Selecting location
MIS location 23
Identifying the
Identitying the MIS
MIS participants 29
CHAPTER 4:
CHAPTER Step II:
Step II: Assessing
Assessing the
the Local
Local Situation 31
What information
VVhat is needed
information is todesign
needed to designan
anMIS?
MIS? 33
• Information on the local
local forest and tree
forest and tree product
product economy
economy 33
• Information on marketing
marketing knowledge
knowledge and
and interest
interest 36
• Information about
about local
local organizational
organizational capacity 37
• Information about
aboutthe
thequality
qualityand
andavailability
availabilityofofNTFP
NTFP
prices (and other) data
prices (and 39
How can
How can the
the information
informationneeded
neededininthe
theassessment
assessment
step be collected?
collected? 41

CHAPTER 5:
CHAPTER Step III:
Step III: Designing
Designing and Implementing the
the MIS
MIS 45
Choosing the objectives
objectives of
of the
the MIS
MIS 48
Organizing
Organizing data
data collection
collectionand
andanalysis
analysis 52
Designing record-keepingsystems
Designing record-keeping systems and
andanalysis
analysis 56
Choosing how
Choosing how to
to communicate
communicateresults
results 60
Designing training
training activities
activities 65
Establishing the
Establishing the monitoring
monitoring system
system 71
Anticipating the evaluation
evaluation 74

TABLE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CONTENTS.. .
CHAPTER 6: IssuesThat
Issues ThatArise
Arise Once
Once thethe MIS
MIS isisOperational
Operational 79
Expanding the scope
scope of
of the
theMIS
MIS 79
Problemsthat
Problems that commonly
commonly occur in implementing anan MIS
MIS 83

APPENDICES 11 Information sources

sources for different kinds
kinds of data 89
2 Resources about how
Resources about how to collect
collect information,
and monitor
monitor and
andevaluate
evaluate projects
projects 91
91

3 Rapid
Rapid appraisal tools that
that are
are useful
useful for
forMIS
MIS assessments
assessments 93
44 Data collection forms
Data 99
5 Evaluation instruments
Evaluation 103
I 03

REFERENCES 109
PUBLICATIONS 111

MARKETING INFORMATION
.......... ·····MARI<ETING INFORMATION SYSTEMS
SYSTEMS FOR NON-TIMBER
NON-TIMBERFOREST
FORESTPRODUCTS
PRODUCTS
 Figures
1 Threes steps in
Threes steps in the
the development
development of
ofan
anMIS
MIS 20
2 Hand-drawn production and
and marketing
marketing chain
chain for cashew 34
3 Uganda marketing chain 49
4 Bar graph showing
Bar showing price
price of
ofcoconuts
coconutsininfive
fivemarkets
markets 58
5 Trend line
Trend line for price of coconuts in market
market A (1993)
11993) 59
6 Example of
Example of participatory map 94
7 Example of a Venn
Example Venn diagram 96

Tables
1 Price of
Price of coconuts in five
five markets 57

LJST FIGURES ..
DST OF FIGURES HH • • • • • • • • • • • • • H

1:,
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• _
Introduction
'ntroduction

When one thinks

thinks of
of the
the productivity
productivity of a forest,
forest, the first thing that
first thing that comes
comes to
to mind
mind
is timber. The production of timber is often organized and highly
timber. The highly visible,
visible, and the
markets for wood are highly
markets for highly structured and
and well
well established.
established. Forests
Forests also
also pro-
pro-
multitude of
duce a multitude of non-timber
non-timber products,
products, however,
however, including
including such
such diverse
diverse items
items
medicinal plants,
as medicinal dyes, mushrooms,
plants, dyes, mushrooms, fruits,
fruits, resins
resins and saps, raw materials
saps, and raw materials
that can be made into
into ropes,
ropes, baskets,
baskets, mats,
mats, fences,
fences, clothes
clothes and
and many
many other
other con-
con-
sumer products.

Non-timber forest
forest products (NTFPs)-
(NTFPs)* have
have the
the potential to become substan-
substan-
tial sources of revenue,
tial sources revenue, but in many
many communities
communities they they are
are underexploited.
underexploited. In
some cases,
cases, people make
make considerable
considerable useuse of
of the
the products,
products, but
buttheir
theircommercial
commercial
value is low.
value is of the
low. One of the difficulties
difficulties for
for small-scale
small-scale producers
producers who
who seek to com-
com-
mercialize NTFPs
mercialize NTFPsisisthat
that often
often the
the markets
markets for
for these products are
are relatively
relatively com-
com-
plex compared to
to those
those for
for timber
timber and
and more
moretraditional
traditionalagriculture
agriculture goods.
goods. Many
Many
NTFPs occupy
NTFPs occupy "niche"
"niche"markets,
markets,which
whichtend
tend to
to be
be small
small and
and dispersed.
dispersed. In addition,
there are few
few established
established standards
standards for NTFPs, and consumer
NTFPs, and preferences for
consumer preferences for
products may valY
valy considerably
considerably depending
depending on such factors
factors as the type of
of market
market
(tourist or local) and the
the time
time of
of year. Prices for NTFPs
year. Prices NTFPs valY
vary from
from place
place to
to place
as well as over time. Buyers rnay
may impose different quality control standards. All
All of
these factors contribute to
to the
the complexity
complexityof NTFP markets.
ofNTFP markets.

** Non-timber
Non-timberforest
forestproducts
products (NTFPs)
(NTFPs)isisthe
theterm
termused
used throughout
throughout this
this manual
manual to
to describe a
broader range of
of goods
goods than
thanthose
thosedefined
definedasasnon-wood
non-woodforest
forestproducts
products(N\XTFPs).
(N\\'!fPs).
NTFPscan
NTFPs can include
includesmall
smallproducts
productsmade
made of
of ligneous
ligneous (or
(or woody)
woody) materials,
materials, such
such as
as wood-
wood-
en stools,
stools, masks,
masks, drums or other handcrafted items which are
are not
not industrial
industrial timber or pulp.
pulp.

CHAPTER
CHAPTER I ..
 are often
Producers who are often specialists
specialists in
in hatvesting
hatvesting or
or manufacturing
manufacturing goods
goods us-
us-
ing forest resources may have limited experience in marketing.
marketing. They may not
know how to
to obtain
obtain and
and make
make use
use of
ofinformation
information that
that would
would help
help them
them make
make
informed decisions about
informed decisions about what
what to
to sell,
sell, and
and where and when
when to
to market
market their
their
in order
products in order to
to earn
earnthe
themaximum
maximumprofits
profitsfrom
from their
theirefforts.
efforts.

This field
This field manual
manual presents
presents a systematic
systematic approach
approach that can be used
used by
by small-
small-
scale producers to
to gather
gatherinformation
informationabout
aboutmarkets
marketsfor
forNTFPs.
NTFPs. AAMarketing
Marketing In-
In-
System (MIS)
formation System (MIS)collects,
collects,analyses
analysesand
and communicates
communicates information
information about
markets and marketing.
marketing. The kind ofof MIS described in this
MIS described this manual can be man-
man-
aged by local people themselves.
themselves. They determine what information
information is needed,
set up systems
systems toto gather
gather the
the information,
information, and
and decide
decide how
how andand to whom the in-
formation will
formation will be
be communicated.
communicated. The
The purpose of the MISMIS isis to
to improve
improve people's
access to marketing information for NTFPs and to
NTFPs and to train them in its its use.
use. This,
This, in
in
turn, will
turn, help them make
will help make better decisions about the
decisions about the use of of local
local natural re-
they receive
sources and increase the revenues they receive from
from these products.
products.

The development
The development of the methodology used in this field
methodology used manual began in
field manual
1990when
1990 when the
the FAO's
FAO'sForest,
Forest,Trees
Treesand
andPeople
People Programme
Programtneresponded
responded to
to a re-
quest by the Philippine Government to
Philippine Government to help
help local
local people
people with
with the marketing
marketing of
community forestty
forestry products.
products. In collaboration with local communities,
communities, they de-
de-..
veloped the
veloped first locally-managed
thefirst locally-managedMarketing
Marketing Information
Information System
System in
inSta.
Sta. Catalina,
Catalina,
the Philippines. Recognizing
Recognizing the potential value of
of such
such aa system,
system, FAO's
FAO's Com-
Com-
munity Forestry
Forestry Unit
Unit and
and Forest
Forest Products
Products Division
Division decided
decided to field
field test the ap-
ap-
in aa variety
proach in variety of
of settings. MIS test
settings. MIS test sites
sites were
were established in two other
other loca-
loca-
tions
tions in the Philippines, as well
Philippines, as well as
as in two communities in Uganda,
communities in Uganda, two
two places
places in
in
the Solomon Islands
Islands and
and a remote area of
of Peru.

Examples from
Examples from the
the Uganda
Uganda and
and the Philippine experiences will be present-
present-
ed in boxes throughout
throughout the
the manual
manual to
to illustrate
illustrate the
the issues
issues raised
raised in
in the
the text.
text. The
The
box on p.
p. 33 provides
provides aa brief
brief introduction
introduction to the
the sites
sites in
in these
these two
two countries
countries that
that
will be
will be discussed in greater
discussed in greater depth in each
each chapter.
chapter. Occasional
Occasional examples from
from
other places where an
an MIS has been used will also be cited.
MIS has cited. This manual sum-
marizes
marizes the lessons of these various experiences while recognizing that the ap-
will continue
proach will continue to
to be
be refined
refined and
and improved by each
improved by each new group of users.
users .

MARKETING INFORMATION
.. ·MARKETING INFORMATIONSYSTEMS
SYSTEMS FOR
FOR NON-TIMBER
NON-TIMBERFOREST
FORESTPRODUCTS
PRODUCTS
 Many people contributed
Many people contributed to the development of tbis
this publication. The ap-
publication. The
proach could never have been
been implemented
implemented without
without the
the great
great efforts
efforts of Isabeli-
Isabeli-
Austria in
ta Austria in the
the Philippines
Philippines who saw the
the project
project through
through from
from its
its inception.
inception. Ab-
Ab-
woli
woH Banana extended the
the process,
process, establishing
establishing two
two sites
sites in
in Uganda.
Uganda. Tom
Tom Ham-
Ham-
mett, FAO
mett, FAOforestty
forestryproducts
products marketing
marketing specialist,
specialist,supported
supported the
the setting up of
of the
the
first Philippine
first Philippine MIS
MISsite
siteand
anddeveloping
developing the
the methodology.
methodology. Important
Important guidance
guidance
also given
was also given by FAO agroforestry specialist Susan Braatz and by
by FAO by FAO
FAO forestty
marketing specialist Leo Lintu.
specialist Leo Lintu. Lars
Lars Bjorklund
Bjorklund and Anders Sjoberg both provided
provided
helpful comments and perceptive
perceptive advice.
advice. This document was skilfully edited by
skilfully edited
Karen Schoonmaker Freudenberger.
Freudenberger.

ANINfRODocnON fO fHEM(S nSf SITES

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE MIS TEST SITES

The
The Philippines
Philippineswas wasthe the first
first country
countly to cashew
cashew nutsnuts throughout
throughout the year and to
test
test the
the Marketing
Marketing information
Information System.
System In in learn more about
leam about processing
processing options for
1991,
1991, activities
activities began
began at the the first
first site,
site, Sta
Sta. this product.
this Julita ts
product Julita is a village
village on on one of
Catalina in
Catalina in Ouezon
Quezon Province.
Province In 1993, the the the smaller islands
islandswithwith fewer marketing
test
test programme
programme was was expanded
expanded to to two opportunities than either Sta Sta. Catalina
Catalina or
additional sites Alion (in
sites: Alion (in Bataan
Bataan pro- pro- Itsprincipal
Alion. Its
Alton principalNTFPs
NTFPs are abaca (fiber (fiber
vince)
vince) and Julita (in {in Aklan
Aklan province)
province}. In used to make rope
used rope and cloth),
cloth), ambulong
Philippines, the
the Philippines, the implementation
implementation of of the leaves {used
palm leaves (used for
for roofing}
roofing) and copra.
and copra
MIS
MIShas hasbeen
beensupported
supported by by the Depart-
Depart- Their MIS
MISwaswas set
setupup initially
initially to
to provide in-
ment of
ment ofNatural
NaturalResources
Resources (DENR),
(DENR),which which formation on these
formation these products,
products, but but users
users
has been involved in in all
all stages of the pro- later expanded it to include rice rice.
cess.
cess
In Uganda, MIS MIS activities
activitieswere
were oriented
oriented to
The Philippine MIS
MIS participants
partiapants were
were prin- handicraft traders involved in the market- market-
cipally the growers and collectors
cipally collectors of
of var-
var- ing of
of locally
locally made
made goods
goods suchsuch as as mats
mats
ious
ious forest
forest products.
products The The first
first site
site in the and baskets
baskets to both area
to both area residents
residents and
Philippines was
Philippines was Sta. Catalina, an upland
Sta Catalina, upland tourists. The
tourists The traders
traders were particularly
particularly in-in-
vii/age
village located
located some
some 150 150 km km south
south of terested
terested in learning more about
in learning about consu-
consu-
Manila. The
Manila The participants
participants decided to mon- mon- mer preferences
preferences for for different
different goods so so
itor prices
prices forfor seven products, including
seven products, that they could
could target
target different
different markets
markets
banana, eggplant,
banana, eggplant, ginger and coconut coconut. more effectively.
effectively One of of the
the Uganda
Uganda sites
sites
Alion isis located
located in aa moremore agriculturally
agriculturally was Mukono, just 15 15 km from the capital
capital
developed region
region.ItItisis also
also closer
closer to Man- Kampala.
Kampala The The Mokono
Mokono group includedincluded
ila and hence
hence enjoys
enjoys access
access to to larger mar- more
more than 20 20 families
families and
and individuals
individuals.
kets. Major
kets Major commercial
commercial crops crops in in the
thearea
area smaller Masaka
The smaller Masaka group
group (six(six families)
families)
are
are mango, coffee, banana,
mango, coffee, banana, peanut and operates
operates about
about 130 km from the capital capital.
cashew. In
cashevv In addition
addition to setting up up anan MIS
MIS
monitoring in-season
for monitoring in-season prices
prices of bana-
bana- In both the
the Philippines
Philippines and
and Uganda,
Uganda, the
peanut and
na, peanut and citrus
citrus fruit
fruit ininfive
five markets,
markets, primary participants
primary participantsinin the
the MIS
MIS were
were
users decided
the users decided to monitor
monitor prices
prices ofof women.

CHAPTER 1I
CHAPTER ....
1Ib
ABOUT
ABOUT THIS MANUAL
THIS MANUAL

Purpose The immediate

The immediate purpose of this is to help local groups es-
this manual is
tablish a Marketing
Marketing Information System that is user-driven, flexible and respon-
respon-
sive to local needs. The longer
sive longer term
term objective
objective of the
the MIS, in most cases,
MIS, in cases, will
will be
to help people
people market
market their
their NTFPs
NTFPs more effectively and increase
effectively and increase their
their earnings
earnings
from these
these activities.
activities.

Intended
Intended audience
audience This manual is
is .written primarily for the facilitator
facilitator
who will
will work with
with aa local
local community
community to
to set
setup
upan
anMIS.
MIS. The
The facilitator
facilitator may be
be
from the cominunity
community or be an
an extension
extension worker,
worker, project
project staff
staff person, government
government
official or
official or consultant.
consultant. In
In most
most cases,
cases, the facilitator will have
facilitator will have some
some experience
marketing issues and project
with marketing project management.
management. The
The role
role of
ofthe
thefacilitator
facilitator will
will be
be
to help the
the community
community understand
understand the
the potential
potential of
ofan
anMIS
MIS and to
to assist
assist in
in plan-
plan-
ning and organizing
organizing activities. He or she will also provide administrative
activities. He administrative support
and training,
training, help with monitoring and evaluation and, where necessaiy,
necessaty, coordi-
cOOl'di-
nate the funding
funding assistance
assistance needed
needed totoget
getthe
theMIS
MIS under
underway.
way.The
Thefacilitator
facilitator will
will
not generally make decisions
generally make decisions concerning the design and implementation
implementation of the
MIS. This
MIS. Thiswill
willbe
be the
the responsibility
responsibility of
of local
local operators
operators and users.

Community participation
Community participation The activities described in this manual
activities described
depend on
on the
the active
active participation
participation of
of community
community members in the design
design and im-
im-
plementation
plementation of the MIS. The MIS
MIS. The MISisis intended
intended for
for people
people who grow,
grow, collect,
collect,
process, sell
sell or trade
trade NTFPs. It is
NTFPs. It is critical
critical that
that the
the local
local population and, in partic-
partic-
ular, the potential
potential users
usersof
ofMIS
MIS information, be
be involved
involved With
with every step of
of plan-
plan-
ning and implementing
implementing the
the MIS. The objective
MIS. The objective of
of this
this manual
manual isis to
to put in place
MIS that
an MIS that isis "owned"
"owned" by
by the
the local
local community
community or
or a group within that communi-
ty.
ty. Previous experience with MIS implementation suggests
MIS implementation suggests that
that the
the earlier
earlier the
community isis involved
community involved in
in the
the process of collecting
collecting information
information and
and planning
planning the
MIS, the greater
MIS, the greater its
its palticipation
participationand
and interest
interest in
in the
the system
system will
will be
be once
once it gets
gets un-
der way.

··········MARI<ETING INFORMATIONSYSTEMS
MARKETING INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR
FOR NON-TIMBER
NON-TIMBERFOREST
FORESTPRODUCTS
PRODUCTS
 Organization of
Organization of the
the manual
manual This
This manual
manual takes
takes the
the facilitator
facilitator
step-by-step through the design
design of
ofan
anMIS.
MIS. After
After an initial
initial introduction
introduction to
to the con-
cepts of MIS
MIS(chapter
(chapter2),
2),the
thenext
next three
three chapters
chapters take
take the
the reader
reader through
through each
each of
of
the steps in
in establishing
establishing an
an MIS.
MIS. Chapter 3 outlines the preliminary
preliminary step in
in which
which
the
tlle site is selected and the
the participants
participants are
are identified.
identified. Chapter
Chapter 44 addresses
addresses the
the as-
as-
sessment step in which information
sessment information is gathered
gathered for
for the
the MIS
MIS design. Chapter 5
turns to the
the design
design step
stepininvsThich criticaldecisions
which critical decisionsare
aremade
made concerning
concerning the
the ob-
jectives and
jectives and the structure of the MIS. The final
MIS. The finalchapter
chapter (chapter
(chapter 6)
6) reviews
reviews some
some
issues that commonly arise in implementing
implementing an MIS and offers
an MIS offers suggestions
suggestions for
for re-
re-
solving problems that may occur.
solving
Since the manual systematically
Since systematically follows the MIS
MIS implementation process, itit
will
will probably make the most sense ifif the sections
sections are
are read
read in
in order.
order. However,
However,
communities will
communities will be
be at different
different stages
stages in defining
defining their needs and in in organizing
organizing
members. Certain
their members. Certain communities
communities may
maybe
be able
able to
to pass very
very quickly
quickly through
through
steps in the process if,
some steps for example,
if, for example, they
they are
are already
already velY
yew clear
clear on
on what
what the
the
objectives for
objectives their MIS
for their MISshould
should be.
be. Others
Others will
will want
want to
to take more time with each
each
of the suggested activities.
activities.
The examples given in
examples given in the text boxes are simply
simply illustrations of how
illustrations of how two
two
communities set up their MIS
communities set MIS activities.
activities.They
Theyare
arenot
not intended
intended toto provide "mod-
els"
els" for
for how an MIS
MIS should look,
look, since
since every
evelYcommunity
communitywill
willtailor
tailorits
itsMIS
MIS to
to its
its
own needs and
and circumstances.
circumstances.

Further
Further reading
reading This
This is
is one of
of several FAO
FAO manuals
manuals that provide infor-
mation to
mation to community
community groups working broadly on forest
forest management
management issues.
issues. A
A
number of the other
other manuals
manuals in
in the
the series
series complement
complement this
this one
one and
and will
will be
be use-
use-
ful to groups working
working on
on marketing
marketing and and community
community participation
participation in
in the
the man-
man-
agement of NTFPs
NTFPs(see
(see reading
reading list
list atat the
the end of this manual).
manual).
FAO manuals are
FAO manuals are available
available through
through country
counby or regional
regional representations
representations
throughout the world,
throughout world, often in several languages. Readers
several languages. Readers are
are encouraged
encouraged to
to con-
con-
FAO representative to find out how
tact their nearest FAO howto toobtain
obtainFAO
FAO publications
publications
most easily
easily in their area.

CHAPTER IJ .
CHAPTER
41.
·········G
 DEFINITIONS

The
The following
following list
list includes
includes definitions
definitionsof
ofsome
some of
of the
the key
key terms
terms used
used in mar-
mar-
keting information systems.

Markets
,Marl<et,s, and services.
are outlets for products and selvices. The buyers may
may be either
either in-
in-
stitutions
stitutions or individuals.
individuals. Markets can exist for raw
Markets can raw materials,
materials, semi-processed
semi-processed
goods, finished
finished products or
or seivices.
selvices. They
They can
can be
be local,
local, regional,
regional, national
national Or
or in-
ternational.

; .
Marketing
Marl~~ting
. ,,1
involves
involves "finding
"finding out
out what
what the customer wants
wants and helping to
to
set up the production/marketing
production/marketing system
system that
that meets
meets demand
demand and
and maximizes
maximizes in-
in-
come" (FA0,1989). The
come" (FAO,1989). The marketing
marketing process
process includes
includes the selection and develop-
develop-
ment of products and production
production processes,
processes, markets,
markets, pricing
pricing strategies,
strategies, packag-
ing,
ing, distribution
distribution channels
channels and methods, and advertising.
advertising.

Marketing information
Marl<eting
I ____ _
information isis all
_ _ __ '____ '_
all the
the data
data that
_ _____ '____
that can help those
___ i
those involved
involved in
production and sales identify the clients'
clients' needs and meet tllO~e interests.
meet those interests. This data
concerns all aspects structure and operation
aspects of the structure operationof
ofthe
themarket.
market. With
With this
this infor-
infor-
mation,
mation, sellers
sellers can
can make better decisions about marketing
marketing their
their produce.
produce. Specifi-
Specifi-
cally, producers
cally, producers might
might use
use marketing
marketing information
information to
to determine
determine what
what to
to produce
and when to harvest
halvest or process a product.
product. They
They could
could calculate
calculate the returns de-
pending on how much they process a product.
product. And, they could
And, they could choose
choose where
where and
and
when to sell
sell and decide how to
to package
package and distribute their wares
distribute their wares depending
depending on
on
what would provide
provide the
the greatest
greatest profit.
profit.

e· ...... MARKETING INFORMATION

INFORMATION SYSTEMS
SYSTEMS FOR
FOR NON-TIMBER
NON-TIMBERFOREST
FORESTPRODUCTS
PRODUCTS
 Market J:ranSPflreoc:::y,
.JViarket transparency refers
refers to
to the amount of information
information a person has
about the entire production and sale chain of a certain good. someone knows
good. If someone knows
the entire process of production
entire process production and sale
sale of a good from halvest
harvest to
to the
the consumer
consumer
(including
(including costs
costs and profits
profits at each stage), then
then the marketisis "absolutely
the market "absolutely transpar-
transpar-
ent"
ent" to
to that person. Markets are
person. Markets are more
more transparent
transparent when people have
have access
access to
to in-
in-
formation. Often, small
formation. small producers lack information that others (such as middlemen
(such as middlemen
exporters) may
or expOlters) may have.
have. This
This puts
puts them
them at
at a disadvantage
disadvantage in getting
getting the
the best
best price
price
for their products. One purpose
purpose of
ofan
anMIS
MIS is to increase
increase market
market transparency
transparency for
for
small producers so that they can increase
increase their
their power
power in
in the
themarketplace.
marketplace.

A Marketing Information System

A .Marl<~tin~Jnf()n!1atjQn Syst~l11_(MIS)
IMIS). is a tool
tool to
to organize
organize
the collection, analysis and communication
communication of
ofmarketing
marketinginformation.
information.An AnMIS
MIS
increase market
should increase market transparency
transparency so
so that
that producers can market their products
more effectively
effectively and increase the
the profitability
profitability of their venture.

A Facilitator, as
A ,Eac!lltfltqr., as used
used in this
this manual,
manual, is
is a person
person who
who helps
helps stimulate
stimulate a
community's interest
community's interest in
in creating an MIS and assists
MIS and assists in
in its
its efforts
efforts to
to design,
design, oper-
oper-
ate and eventually
eventually expand
expandthe
thescope
scopeofoftheir
theirMIS
MIS activities.
activities.

AgroforesPy product5
t\gr9fqr~~try
, . / -" -:
~ _'---_
_'~ ' "
P"'9duc:::t~
,_ : - , __ I
are wood and non-wood
non-wood products
products from
from trees,
trees,
shrubs or other
other woody
woody perennials
perennials grown
grown in
inagroforestry
agroforestry systems
systems (integrated
(integrated sys-
tems in
tems in which
which woody perennials are grown in association with crops
association with crops and/or an-
imals).

Non-timber forest
1\I~1'l_-1:iJ'11~7r products (NTFPs)
f~~estpr()<:fl...lcts l~TF~sJ. is the term used through-
through-
out this
out this manual to describe
manual to describe aa broader range of goods than those defined
broader range defined as
NWFPs. NTFPscan
NWFPs. NTFPs caninclude
includesmall
smallproducts
productsmade
made of
of ligneous
ligneous (or woody) materi-
als,
als, such as wooden stools,
stools, masks, drums or other
other handcrafted
handcrafted items
items which are
not industrial timber or pulp.
pulp .

.Non-wood forest .products

N9n:-WQQdf9Jest prgQyc:::ts (NWFPs)
{NWfPsJ.Non-wood
Non-wood forest products
(NWFPs)are
(NWFPs) aregoods
goods of
of biological
biologicalorigin
originother
otherthan
thanwood
wood that
that are
are derived from
derived from
forests. NWFPs
forests. NWFPs also
also include
include services,
services, such
such as
as rope making and
and gum
gumcollecting,
collecting, that
that
collection and processing of these products.
are related to the collection

CHAPTER I1 .
CHAPTER
MIS and
MIS and Mar'<ets
Markets
for
for Non-Timber
Non-Timber Forest
Forest Products
Products

THE MARKET
THE MARI(ETFOR
FOR NON-TIMBER
NON-TIMBERFOREST
FORESTPRODUCTS
PRODUCTS

Non-timber forest
Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) play an
(NTFPs) play an important
important role
role in both national and
and
local economies.
local economies. In some cases, the importance of
of these
these activities
activities can be seen
seen
clearly from national statistics.
clearly from statistics. In
In India,
India, for
for example, more than
than 30
30 million
million peo-
peo-
ple are employed in the
the non-timber
non-timber forest
forest product
product sector.
sector. In
In central
central Java in In-
donesia, of handicraft
donesia, wood carving represents roughly 75 percent of handicraft exports. Prod-
ucts like
ucts like rubber are critical
critical to the economies
economies of
ofmany
manycountries.
countries. National
National statis-
statis-
tics do
tics do not tell the whole
whole story,
story, however.
however. Products
Products that
that hardly
hardly figure
figure in
in the
the sta-
sta-
tistics
tistics may
may nevertheless
nevertheless play
play an
an essential livelihoods at the 10-
essential role in maintaining livelihoods lo-
cal level.
cal level. In
In Channapata,
Channapata, a town in Karnataka
Karnataka state in India,
India, some 35 percent of
employment comes from the lacquerwork
lacquelwork industiy.
industly. In
In Sahelian
Sahelian villages
villages such as
Samkedji, Senegal,
Samkedji, Senegal,families
familiessurvive
survivethe
thehunglY
hunglyseason
season by selling kinkiliba,
by selling kinkiliba, a kind
wild tea
of wild tea that grows
grows on common lands around the
the village.
village.

NTFPs canalso
NTFPs can also play
play an
an important
important part
part in
in the sustainable management of
forests. The value
forests. The value of
of timber
timber depends
depends on cutting trees. While
cutting trees. While this
this can
can be
be done
done in
in
sustainable fashion,
a sustainable fashion, often the fastest profits are obtained by
fastest profits by clear-cutting
clear-cutting which
decimates
decimates aa whole
whole range of forest
forest resources.
resources. In
In contrast,
contrast, the
the exploitation
exploitation of
of many
many
NTFPs depends on
NTFPs depends on keeping forests
forests intact.
intact. In many places,
places, if the full range of
NTFPs
NTFPs isis extracted
extracted and
and marketed,
marketed, forests
forests can
can provide
provide much
inuch greater economic
benefits
benefits than when they
they are
are used
used exclusively
exclusively for timber.
timber. In cases where thethe val-
val-
ue of
of NTFPs
NTFPs isis well
well recognized,
recognized, there is a powerful
powerful incentiVe to maintain stand-
incentive to
ing forests.

CHAPTER 2 ...
CHAFFER

• •••••••
 TIle NTFPs vaty
The markets for NTFPs vaty enormously.
enormously. Some
Some markets,
markets, such as the bidi
bidi cig-
cig-
arette market in India, the rattan
rattan market
market in Indonesia
Indonesia and
and the
the Brazil
Brazil nut
nut market
market
in Brazil,
Brazil, are extremely well organized.
organized. More
More commonly,
commonly, however,
however, the markets
NTFPs are
for NTFPs are informal
informal and While the
and unstructured. While the immense
immense variety
variety of
ofNTFPs
NTFPs
difficult, these
makes generalization difficult, these products
products often
often share
share at least
least some
some of the fol-
fol-
characteristics.
lowing characteristics.

The raw materials for This

!Jn~J~",,",!1'1,t:t!eri~Js_t9,r, This includes
includes such products as honey, game meat,
NTFPsare
NTFPs are often
often
L~::2:2'S;:> ~~- ~.'" '~-';
liana vines
liana vines and grasses.
grasses. Tenure systems
systems on these
these
gathered from lands may be more
more complex
complex and
and the
the rules
rules of
ofaccess
access
government owned or
,~::tQY~rnV1~mg~'J~gg,r, less clear than on
on private
private lands.
lands. This
This may
may result in
communal (as opposed
~~'21l11~l.Jf'1i!lj~~c~HR~~~~ conflicts between
conflicts between users
users and make planning for for the
the
to private) lands.
~<1-g!i¥~!eJ}~n~~~l sustainable management
management of of resources
resources more
moredifficult.
difficult.
In addition,
addition, if users
users fear
fear that
that they
they may
may lose
lose access
access to
to the forest,
forest, they
they will
will be
be less
less
likely to
likely to invest
invest in the resource and
and to
to monitor
monitorancl
and control
control harvesting.
harvesting. Because
Because
the harvesting of certain forest products is illegal on some public lands,
lands, itit may
may be
be
particularly difficult
particularly difficulttoto obtain
obtainvalid
valid information,
informationabout
about the
the collection
collection and
and use of
these products.

NTFPs are Many NTFPs,

Many NTFPs,such
such as
as mushrooms
mushrooms and
and nuts,
nuts, are
are
often seasonal, seasonal
seasonal and depend on
on natural
natural growth and regen-
eration,
eration, which
which makes
makes their
their productivity
productivity unpre-
unpre-
dictable. Prices
dictable. Prices may
may vaty
varyover
over the
the course
course of
of the
the year in reaction to seasonal
seasonal
changes and will also
also vaty
vary between years
years depending on nature's
nature's bounty.
bounty. The
The in-
in-
come of collectors and processors tends to
to be
be similarly
similarly variable.
variable. The seasonality
of these products can
can also
also be
be an
anadvantage.
advantage. Many NTFPs are available during the
ManyNTFPs
non-agricultural season.
non-agricultural season. Exploitation
Exploitation of
of these
these products
products can complement farming
activities and fill
activities and fill gaps
gaps in
in the
the household income
income flow.
flow.

10 ···········MARJ<ETING INFORMATION SYSTEMS

MARKETING INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR
FOR NON-TIMBER
NON-TIMBERFOREST
FORESTPRODUCTS
PRODUCTS
 Producers are NIFPs often provide income to people with
NTFPs with limited
limited
frequently
~~!-t~~ alternative employment opportunities
alternative employment opportunities and low in-
rural people and often
rM[~LH~~p!~"nggf!~n come. Products
products on communal
communal lands are
are particular-
particular-
poor or landless.
p~~x,,9rJ~~ng/~~~; ly important to the landless. For many forest
forest prod-
~[~£!M<:~L9n!~
Production is.. tr~g!-!~,~
frequently ucts,
ucts, the skills
skills and tools required for collecting,
collecting, and
small scale.
sea/e.
f///N./ ","<.::;;' i"-">~'--' ~-, "I--'l
processing, are low, making the enterprise
even for processing, enterprise
attractive
attractive to
to poorer people.

The percentage
j~·JD~-H~f~nl~9.~ The profitability of enterprises based
based on
onNTFPs
NTFPs is
is
of the final sale price
gfJJl~,!!ngL~~l~Rri.~.~ low. Some
often low. Some of the reasons that individual pro-
for aa NTFP NTFP received
rV70:_":;0';\'?-';;;-Y,{:)2C::<7~'f' ),-'O?C9.3;Y!'-;::S;'57'l,7Jf!''''7'T1
ducers receive such a small percentage of the total
total
by the..!g<:g!:!~~~
!?Y'3t/;1~ local-level profit on NTFPs are: trading is done
NTFPs are: done individually;
individually;
collector,
collector" producer nroducer
r:::!Q:, ~":::::S87~;'C'"4?~;F; .----/:i ::,<',-,,3S'OJ
producers are unorganized
unorganized and
and dispersed;
dispersed; individ-
individ-
or processor
jS?!e.!2£~~~£! uals lack the necessary
uals necessary marketing
marketing skills
skills and infor-
infor-
!1!~~:a~~!!!J~
is frequently mation to gain leverage in the market; and individ-
individ-
extremely small.
~~!r~I):I!:J¥~7~TIJ:l~/k uals lack related business
business assets
assets such
such as
as storage
storage
and transport.

Information Foresters
Foresters who are trained
trained in
in timber
timber management
management
on the exploitation
g.n.ltlggxp!g!t~tjQU
-
'--~-'-------- ',', - -----,-----, "--,--'
training and
frequently lack training and experience
experiencewith NTFPs.
withNTFPs.
of NTFPs
of NTFPs
v.::::-?~·~Cf?7:-Y-::'<:1
Research
Research inin these areas has generally focused
focused on
is often lacking. only aa few
only few products that are important on the in- in-
ternational market (such as nibber).
ternationalmarket rubber). Often
Often there
there isis
considerable local
considerable local indigenous
indigenous knowledge
knowledge concerning
concerning thethe production
production and man-
NTFPs, but
agement of NTFPs, but there
there are
are sometimes
sometimes gaps
gaps in this
this knowledge as well. It is
therefore particularly important that
particularly important that the design of
of strategies
strategies to exploit
exploit NTFPs
NTFPs be
a collaborative exercise that
collaborative exercise that makes
makes full
full use
use of local people's knowledge as as well
well
as the expertise of
of outside professionals
profeSSionals with relevant experience.

CHAPTER
CHAPTER 22 ..
I· Many NTFPs have
Many.I\JI~P~f'1av~ SinceNTFPs
Since NTFPsareare often
often soldsold in informal
in informal markets,
markets, in- in-
only weak
rQ[lIy vveal< links
link~ formation about prices, product flow and
formation and marketing
marketing
to official marketing
,to marketing options is less
less well known than for major crops or
systems.
,_ _ _ 1
training isis largely
for timber. Foresters whose training largely tech-
tech-
nical and oriented to
to production
production issues
issues may
may know
know
little about the economics and
little and marketing
marketing of
ofNTFPs.
NTFPs. However,
However, the absence of
of for-
for-
mal marketing channels can also be an
an advantage,
advantage, since
since itit is
is easier
easier for
for small
small pro-
ducers to gain access
access to these markets,
markets, and regulations are often less onerous
regulations are
than in government-regulated
government-regulated markets.
markets.

While these characteristics

characteristics are coinmon
common to
to NTFPs,
NTFPs, many
many other
other village-level
village-level
enterprises share similar
similar characteristics. Once local producers master
characteristics. Once master the
the princi-
princi-
ples of setting up an
an MIS
MIS for NTFPs, they can,
NTFPs, they can, and
and probably will,
will, apply the
the sys-
sys-
tem to other local products. In several
several of the test
test sites,
sites, participants
participants decided to
to
use the
the system
system to
to track
track prices
prices for
for NTFPs plus other goods that
NTFPs plus that were
were particularly
particularly
important to them.

MARKETING iNFORMATION
. . ············MARI<ETING INFORMATIONSYSTEMS
SYSTEMS FOR
FOR NON-TIMBER
NON-TIMBERFOREST
FORESTPRODUCTS
PRODUCTS
 WHY
WHY IS
Is MARKETING
MARI(ETING INFORMATION
INFORMATION IMPORTANT?
IMPORTANT?

As described in the definitions

As described marketing information
definitions above, marketing inforniation is all the data
that can help those involved
involved in production and sales
sales identify
identify and meet clients'
needs. Marketing information isis critical
Marketing information criticaltoto the
the success
success of
of any
any business
business since,
since, in
order to market
market goods
goods or
or services
services effectively,
effectively, the seller
seller needs
needs solid
solid information
information
about what the buyer
buyer wants,
wants. Similarly, to ensure
Similarly, to ensure that the most effective produc-
effective produc-
tion and distribution
distribution methods
methods are
are being
being used,
used, producers need to
producers need to know what their
options are.

Marketing more transparent so that business

information makes the market more
Marketing information business
people can
can make
make informed
informed choices
choices about
about production
production and
andsale.
sale. The
Theillustration
illustration on
on
14 shows how
p. 14 how transparency
transparency will
will differ
differ for each person
person in
in the
the marketing
marketingchain.
chain.
Often, each
Often, each person has information only about the part of the chain
information only chain that
that con-
con-
cerns him Of her directly.
or her directly.The
The producers
producers described
described here are responding relative-
relative-
passively to
ly passively to the
the demands of the market.
market.

There are many types of marketing information that can be useful in busi-
information that
ness decision-making
decision-making (see box on p. 15).
15), Which
Which kind of information is the most
information is
important will
important will depend
depend upon local
local needs and priorities
priorities and the user's position in
the marketing chain.

CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 2 ..
 Transparency in the
Transparency in the marlc:et
market chain
chain
ICnowIedgediffers
'(nowledge differs according
accordingto to position
position

PROVUCER
PRODUCER LOCAL
LOCAL fRAVER
TRADER fRAVE/PROCESSOR
TRADE/PROCESSOR EXPORtER
EXPORTER
lianas that I purchase the lianas
I carry my lianas I purchase the lianas
lianas I purchase
purchase woven
woven
I collect in the forest along
along the
the roadside.
roadside. I I of different
different qualities,
qualities, export. II
furniture for export.
the roadside
to the roadside clean
clean and sort them particularly when buy only the highest
where II sell
sell them to by quality, store they are abundant.
abundant, quality and sell
sell it to
passing trader.
a passing trader He them until the price so I can
so can pay
pay aa lower
lower upscale
buyers for upscale
pays
pays me about
about $1$I seems
seemshigh,
high, bring price. The lowest furniture stores
furniture stores
bunch. IIdo
per bunch. do not them to the market is made into
quality is which sell
sell items
items for
know where he
know sell them for
and sell for baskets
baskets andand mats
mats for $1500. I
$400 to $1500.1
goes with the $ 1.25 and
between $1.25 local sale.
sale. The
The higher
higher generally pay
product after
product after he
he $2.00 per 55 piece
piece qualities are
are used
used to between $60 and
buys it from me. bunch. make
make furniture for $ 150 per piece to
$150
export. MyMy sale
sale which II add
add thethe costs
costs
prices vary based associated
associated withwith
upon market,
market. transport. marketing
transport, marketing
quality.
quality, colour and and
and running the
product. business.

Producers
Producers can be more proactive, learning more
more about what happens to
to the
the
lianas
Hanas after they are sold.
after they they know,
sold. If they know, for
for example,
example, how Hanas
lianas are
are used and
what determines good quality,
quality, they might be able
able to
to improve
improve the
the quality
quality of
of their
their
product and argue
argue for
for aa higher
higher price.
price. Alternatively,
Alternatively, if they know that the price
price
varies according to the time
varies according time of year,
year, they might be able to to organize
organize the
the storage
storage
of the product locally until
until the price rises, thereby gaining more profit for their
efforts .
efforts.

11» ... . .. .................................. ·MARI<ETING INFORMATIONSYSTEMS

MARKETING INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR
FOR NON-TIMBER
NON-TIMBERFOREST
FORESTPRODUCTS
PRODUCTS
 EXAMPLES OF THE KIND OF MARKETING
INFORMATION AN MIS CAN PRO VIDE

MARKETING·,NFORMATION
MARKETING INFORIVIATION MARI<ET
NIARKET INFORMATION
INFORMATION

• Product
Productcharactenstics*
characteristics: size,
size, shape,
shape, • The markets that exist for products
products.
colour,
colour, volume,
volume, qualily
quality and
packaging of various
various products
products for for • The size
size of
of markets
markets.
different markets
different markets.
• Levels
Levels of
of demand and
and supply,
supply,
• Place
Place and channels:
and distribution channels: including seasonal
including seasonal variations
variations.
and schedules
names and schedules ofof markets,
markets,
retailers,
traders, wholesalers, retailers, • Ultimate product
productusers
users.
cooperatives and marketing boards
boards.

• Promotion alternatives:
alternatives: product
product
samples, displays,
samples, displays, fairs
fairs and
and
advertising.
advertising

• Prices*
Prices: various
various products
products atat farmgate
farmgate
/e.g.
(e local traders),
g local traders); retail/e.g. Village
retail (e g village
markets) and
markets) and wholesale outlets (e /e.g.
g
plants); over time
canning plants), time Ito
(to show
show
seasonalily and
seasonality trends) by grades and
and trends)
qua lily.
quality

• Payment
Payment alternatives*
alternatives: barter,
barter, credit,
credit,
cash, labour:
cash, labour

4
A

CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 2 ..
CO
 WHAT IS
WHAT Is A
A MARKETING
MARI(ETINGINFORIVLATION SYSTEM(MIS)?
INFORMATION SYSTEM (MIS)?

A Marketing
Marketing Information
Information System
System (MIS)
(MIS)isisaa structured
structured approach to
to collecting,
collecting,
analysing and communicating
analysing and information about
communicating information about markets
markets and
and marketing.
marketing. It
shoukl increase
should market transparency
increase market transparency for
for users
users and
and enable
enable them to make
make more in-
in-
formed production and
and marketing
marketing decisions.
decisions.
Users who implement a Marketing
Users Marketing Information System
System should
should find
find that they
are better able
able to:
to:

• mal5~
make informed
informed marketing
marketing decisions;
qecisic;ms;,
cl!_. negotiate with others
negQtiate-.~~th in the marketing chain;
o~tl¥rsjt1.th~rnct!l~etit1~. CD"m;,
organize production
·~prgctni:ze and sale;
eI9guctt(m.at1~-. and
sal~;an(L
• facilitate
facilitate group
group discussion and decision-making.
discussi()n(?tnd decision-making.,

Ultimately,as
Ultimately, asusers
users gain
gain more
more information
information and
and learn
learn how to exploit that in-
formation they should find ways to increase
formation increase the
the profitability
profitability of
of their
their enterprise.
enterprise.

8ENEFITS
BENEFITS OF
OFUSING AN MIS
USINGAN MIS

Users of marketing
Users marketing information sys-
information sys- able
able to negotiate
negotiate better
better pnces
prices be-
be-
tems identify
tems identify different
different benefits
benefits de-
de- cause they were informed
informed of
of the
the lar-
lar-
pending on
pending on the nature of the group ger
ger market context and and not so depen-
and the
the marketing
marketing problems
problems they
they dent
dent onon information
information provided
provided by the
face.
face seller. As
seller As one
one participant noted, "The
'The
system helps
system helpsassure
assurethat
thatwe
we dodo not
In Uganda,
In Uganda, handicraft
handicraft sellers
sellers sur- cheat each other"
other."
veyed market
veyed preferences and
market preferences and found
that Ugandans
Ugandans prefer
prefer brighter
brighter colours, Several
Several of
of the groups using
the groups MISs have
using MISs have
while
while tourists selected more muted
tourists selected muted found
found that when
when they
they organized
organized to
to
designs With
designs. With this
this information
information they collect
collect marketing
marketing information,
information, they
were able to segment and targettarget cer-
cer- also found other ways ways toto collaborate
collaborate.
tain
tain portions of the market
market. As aa result,
As result, their
their groups
groups became
became more
dynamic cohesive. For
dynamic and cohesive For example,
example,
In the
In the Philippines,
Philippines, byby monitoring
monitoring while researching
while researching prices
prices inin different
different
pnces in several markets,
prices markets, sellers
sellers were markets, members
markets, members of of aa group in the
able to direct
direct their produce to to mar-
mar- Philippines identified a transport&
transporta-
kets where
kets where prices
prices were
were higher
higher atat a tion As aaresult,
don bottleneck. As result, they
they vvere
were
Even those
given point in time. Even those sellers
sellers able to work out
out aa cooperative system
cooperative system
established relations
with established relations with
with individ-
individ- to transport
transport and
and sell
sell their
their pineapple
pineapple
ual buyers (suki)
ual (suki)found
found that
that they
they were harvest.

e· .............. MARKETING INFORIVIATION

INFORMATION SYSTEMS
SYSTEMS FOR
FOR NON-TIMBER FOREST PRODUCTS
NON-TIMBER FOREST PRODUCTS
 An MIS
MIScan
can organize
organize the
the collection,
collection, analysis
analysis and
and dissemination of many dif-
ferent types of
of marketing
marketing data.
data. This
This is
is particularly
particularly relevant when
when monitoring
monitoring in-
in-
formation that
formation that changes
changes frequently,
frequently, such
such as prices, since this is where local pro-
prices, since
ducers often have the
the most
most difficulty. It isis not necessalY
difficulty. It necessaw to monitor
monitor prices
prices that
that are
are
known to remain stable, although participants may want
participants may want to identify these in
identify these in their
their
initial situational analysis.
analysis.

unlimited possibilities
There are unlimited possibilities for of informa-
for the kind of informa-
tion that can be gathered by aa group
group setting
setting up
up an
anMIS.
MIS. In-
formation collection and analysis
analysis implies certain
celtain costs,
costs, how-
~ ever.
ever. Visiting
Visitingbuyers
buyers and
and interviewing
interviewing them
them about
about prices,
prices,
markets or farther
whether in local markets farther away,
away, takes
takes time.
time. There
also may
also may be costs involved for transport to gather information in more distant
involved for
markets. It is
markets. is therefore very
velY iinportant
important that groups
groups setting
setting up
upan
anMIS
MIS give
give careful
careful
thought to what kind of
of information will
will be most useful to them and focus on
the information that is most likely to increase the
the profitability
profitability of
of their
their enterprise.
enterprise.
This information should
This information should be tailored
tailored to the specific
specific circumstances
circumstances of the the group
that is collecting
collecting it. FOr example, there
For example, there may
may be no use
use in
in collecting
collecting information
information
from a distant market during the rainy season if the state of the roads
roads makes
makes ac-
ac-
cess to that market
market virtually
virtually impossible.
impossible.

Participants in an MIS
Participants in need to
MIS need to take
take the time to think about
about what
what information
information
really needed and
is really and carefu4
carefullyvTeigh
weigh the
the benefits
benefits of
ofhaving
having more
more information
information ver-
ver-
of collecting
sus the cost of collecting it.

When working with

with a group of people
people producing
producing goods
goodsfor
for sale,
sale, itit will
will of-
of-
ten be relevant to start
start with an
an MIS that gathers
MIS that gathers information
information on
on the prices
prices being
paid by consumers
consumers (or
(or traders)
traders) for
for the
the goods
goodsMIS
MIS participants
participants sell.
sell. In most cases,
this kind of information is
this is readily
readily accessible,
accessible, data
data collection
collection isis relatively
relatively straight-
straight-
forward,
forward, and analysis
analysis is
is not
not 'yew
velY difficult. Most important,
difficult. Most important, once the information
information
is gathered,
is gathered, itit can usually
usually be
be put right
right to use and the
the participants
participants can see imme-
imme-
efforts. Such a system introduces the
diate benefits from their efforts. the MIS
MIS concept to the
the
community, demonstrates
community, demonstrates its
its utility
utilityand
and galvanizes
galvanizes interest.
interest. Once
Once this
this has
has been
been
accomplished, itit isis easier
accomplished, easier to
to introduce
introduce greater complexity and to consider gath-
complexity and
ering different
different kinds of information that will help community
community members
members further
further re-
re-

CHAPTER 2··
CHAPTER 2
 fine their marketing
fine marketing strategies.
strategies. The
The Philippines
Philippines case
case described
described in
in the
the text
text boxes
boxes
is an example of
is of this
this kind of
of price
price monitoring
monitoring system.
system.

an MIS
When setting up an MIS with
with traders
traders who intermediaries for
who are intermediaries for goods
goods pro-
useful approach
duced by others, a useful approach could
could be
be to
to start
start by
bygathering
gathering information
information on
preferences. Traders
consumer preferences. need to know what
Traders need what consumers
consumers look
look for
for in
in aa prod-
prod-
uct so they can place
place orders
orders with
with producers,
producers, manage
manage stock
stock and
and set
set prices.
prices. An
An
MISthat
MIS that tracks
tracksthe
the kind
kind of
of goods
goods that are being sold
sold offers
offers a simple
simple introduction
introduction
to the value and
and operation
operationof
ofan
anMIS.
MIS. The text
text boxes
boxes about
aboutthe
theUganda
UgandaMIS
MIS of-
of-
fer an example of
of how
howsmall-scale
small-scale traders
traders established
establishedan
anMIS
MIS to
to collect
collect this
this type
type
of sales information.

Data gathered in an an MIS

MIS can have many different uses, depending on
different uses, on the
the
needs ofof the
the participants.
participants. As
As suggested
suggested above,
above, aacommon
commonMIS MIS activity
activity involves
involves
collecting information on
collecting information on the price of a given
given product
product in
in several
several markets.
markets. Such
Such
information
information can can be collected by volunteers
volunteers from
from the group on aa weekly
weekly basis.
basis.
This
This kind
kind of information
information cancan be used in several
several different
different ways.
ways. It can be posted
posted
in a central place so that each week individual producersproducers can determine
determine the most
profitable outlet for
profitable outlet for their
their goods.
goods. AsAs information
information isis gathered
gathered over
over the
the course
course of a
year,
year, it can be compiled
compiled on on aa price
price calendar.
calendar. This
This permits participants
palticipants to begin
analysing the
analysing the best
best time
time to
to market
market their
their goods
goods and to calculate whether there
calculate whether
might
might be benefits in storing some products while waiting for the price to rise. rise.
When the same kind of of data
data isis gathered
gathered for
for several
several different
different goods, participants
participants
can use the
the information
information to analyse
analyse which product
product provides
provides the
the best
best returns.
returns.
Some other possible uses of of MIS information are listed in the box
MIS information box below.
below.
r
HOW MARKETING INFORMATION CAN SE U8EP
Compare prices in different markets
Compare transport alternatives
Assess processing opportunities
Assess opportunities to improve production efficiency,
grading, quality,
quality, Oa<:l<a(nna
packaging
• Determine the break-even point point for production
• Locate and assess
Locate and assess new
new product opportunities
• Stimulate sales in quantity (bulk)
quantity (bulk)
• Identify
Identify problems/trends like cheap
problems/trends like cheap substitute
substituteavailability
availability
• Determine factors
factors affecting
affecting prices
pricesand
and demand
demand

il) MARKETING INFORMATION

·········MARI<ETING INFORMATIONSYSTEMS
SYSTEMS FOR
FOR NON-TIMBER
NON-TIMBERFOREST
FORESTPRODUCTS
PRODUCTS
 impoitant step in designing
An impoltant designing the MIS
MIS isis determining
determining how to present the
the in-
in-
formation that
formation that is
is collected
collected since
since this will
will influence
influence its
its interpretation
interpretation and use. A
large
large blackboard where price monitors
blackboard where monitors write
write down the price for different
different markets
markets
on a given day each week may be all that is needed for sellers to decide where
to take their produce.
to produce. If the information is to
information is to be used to
to highlight
highlight changes
changes in
prices over time,
prices time, it is generally more effective
effective to draw trend lines
lines reflecting
reflecting ris-
ris-
ing and falling prices. Each
falling prices. Each market
market sUlveyed
suiveyed may
may have
have its
its own
own trend
trend line
line to
to show
how prices in that
that market varied over the year.
year. Later, the lines
Later, the lines can
can be compiled
on a large sheet of paper
paper to
to facilitate
facilitate a comparison
comparison of
of prices
prices over
over time
time in
in differ-
differ-
ent markets.
markets.

s.w 510

CHAPTER 2
CHAFTER 2 ..
411,
Figure 1:
Figure 1: Three steps in
Three steps in the
the development
developmentof
ofarv
an MIS
MIS

STEP

STEP Designing .................

and implementing
implementif1g
the MIS
the MIS ...

Assessing
Assessing the to put
Steps to putan
anMIS
MIS.in place: .
in place.
STEP
local situation • Choose the objectives of the.
Choose the the
MIS
Ways to
Ways collect background
to collect background
information in the
the initial • Select the information the
Selecting the
the MIS
MIS MIS will provide
location and assessment:
assessment.
identifying
identifying the
the MIS
MIS • Frofile
Profile the
the local
local forest
forest and tree Decide which
• Deckle which information
information
participants product economy
product economy sources will
soUrces will be
be used
used
Criteria
Cr itenato
to evaluate
evaluate potential
potential • Assess marketing
marketing knowledge
knowledge an Decide how to organize the
sites:
sites interest
inter est collection and analysis of data

• Is
is there an expressed
there an expressed local
local need
need • Assess organizational Choose how to communicate
and interest
interestinin using
using marketing
marketing structure and management
structure and management the results
information? out an
capacity to carry out an MIS • Design
Designtraining
training activities
activities
• Are there
there producto
products produced
produced • Determine availability of • Establish a monitoring
Establish a ",,,,,;t-A"''';' system
above
above the
the subsistence level?
level? marketing information and
assess
assess its
its quality • Anticipate the MIS
Anticipate the MIS evaluation
p.vallllatiill1
• How
How easy
easyisisititto
to get data
about markets
about ma rkets and
and marketing?
marketing?
• Is there
there an
an organization
organizationthat
that
participate111
can participate in the
the MIS and
how
how cohesive
cohesiveisis it?
it?

Criteria to identify
identify the
the MIS
MIS
target group:
target group.
• Who
Who is involved
involved inin marketing
marketing
NTFPs?
NTFrs?

• Who
Who has
has expressed
expressedananinterest
interest
in
in improving
improvingthe
the marketing
marketing of
of
NTFPs?
• Who
Who lacks marketing
marketing
information and could benefit
most from using
using an MI5?
MIS?
,I,

MARKETING INFORMATION
... ···MARJ<ETING INFORMATION SYSTEMS
SYSTEMS FOR
FOR NON-TIMBER
NON-TIMBERFOREST
FORESTPRODUCTS
PRODUCTS
 Three steps
Three steps in
in setting up
up an
an MIS
MIS
While MISwill
While every MIS willdiffer
differininits
itsdetails,
details,iningeneral
general there
there are
are three steps in
setting up an
an MIS.
MIS.

Step I: '. Select the MIS

Select the MIS location
location clOd
and parti~ipantsj
participants
Step II: Assessthe
II: Assess the I()cal
local situation
situation
Step~W: Design ar1Q.jmpl~D1et1J
Step III: QE:!sign th~~MIS
and implement the MIS

Figure
Figure 1 lays
lays out the three steps
steps and
and notes
notes the
thespecific
specific activities
activities carried out
in each one. It
It summarizes
summarizes the criteria might be used to select
criteria that might select the sites
sites in
Step I,I, lists
Step lists the
the kind
kind of information
information that
that will
will be
be needed
needed in Step II to assess the lo-
situation and lays
cal situation lays out the different
different activities in Step
activities in Step III,
III, the
the design
design and imple-
mentation of the MIS. The figure
MIS. The figure previews
previews the
the information
information that will
will be discussed
in the next three
three chapters
chapters where
where each
each step
step will
will be addressed
addressed in
in turn.
turn. Once
Once these
these
three steps have been
been successfully
successfully carried out, the group
group members
members will
will determine
determine
whether they
they wish to
to expand
expand the
the MIS
MIS or add greater
greater complexity
complexity to the
the system,
system,
issues
issues that are discussed in chapter 6 along with problems that may arise in im-
plementing the
plementing theMIS.
MIS.

time needed to accomplish

The amount of time each step
accomplish each step depends on the partic-
ular situation.
situation. In some cases,
cases, groups
groups will
will self-select; is, they will
self-select; that is, will request help
specific purpose.
for a specific purpose. In such aa case,
case, the
the facilitator
facilitator may
may be able to assess the ap-
propriateness of the group's
group's request
request rapidly
rapidly and
and then
thenmove
movedirectly
directly to
to Step
Step IIII to
to
begin a participatory
participatory assessment
assessment of
of the
the community
community and
and its
its MIS
MIS needs. In
In other
other
cases, the community
cases, may not be aware that
community may that assistance
assistance with
with an
an MIS is even a
MIS is
possibility. In this
possibility. In this case,
case, the facilitator would have
facilitator would have to
to gather quite a bit of
of infor-
infor-
mation in Step I in order toto determine
determine whether
whether aa particular
particular community
community would
would
benefit from MIS activities. The
MIS activities. The facilitator
facilitatorcould
could then
then propose an an MIS
MIS to the
the
group and, if the suggestion were well received, begin working with the popu- popu-
lation to carry
carty out an assessment of needs andand the
the local
local situation.
situation.

CHAPTER
CHAPTER 22 ..
410
 The needs of
of different
different communities
communities will
will vary
vary enormously.
enormously. The
The facilitator
facilitator
should take care not to
to underestimate
underestimate the amount of time that will
will be
be needed at
the beginning to help
help most
most communities
communities get
get an
an MIS
MIS started. In the
the Sta.
Sta. Catalina
Catalina
case in the Philippines,
Philippines, the facilitator and a colleague together estimate that they
facilitator and
spent 50 days working with the community
community during the
the first
first six months that the
the
MIS was being
MIS was being planned
planned and implemented,
implemented .

.. ·MARI<ETING INFORMATION SYSTEMS

MARKETING INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR
FOR NON-TIMBER
NON-TIMBERFOREST
FORESTPRODUCTS
PRODUcrS
 CID

Step I:I: Selecting

Step Selecting the
the MIS Location
Location
and
and Identifying
Identifying Participants
Participants

This section
This section addresses
addresses two
two tasks
tasks that
that must
must be completed before detailed planning
can begin for the MIS: selectingthe
MIS: selecting the site
site where
where the
the system
system will
will be
be implemented
implemented
and identifying
identifying the participating
participating group.

SELECTINGTHE
SELECTING THEMIS
MIS LOCATION
LOCATION

The first
The first step in implementing an MIS
MIS isis to
to decide
decide where the activity
activity will
will
evety community
take place. Not eveiy community will want to participate
participate in an
an MIS
MIS nor would it
from carrying
benefit from carrying out
out this
this kind
kind of market analysis.
analysis. ItIt isis important
important to
to screen
screen
both community interest and the potential
potential benefits
benefits that
that an
an MIS
MIS could provide be-
fore moving ftirther
further in the process.
process.

In some cases, an MIS maybe

MIS may be aa poor
poor use of time
time and resources. Even when
resources. Even when
a group ofof local
local people
people requests
requests marketing
marketing assistance,
assistance, it is necessary to do at at
least a brief appraisal to ensure
ensure that
that the
the MIS
MIS is likely to work well and provide
provide
significant benefits.
significant benefits.The
Thesame
sameisistrue
truewhen
when an
an outsider
outsider proposes
proposes a community as as
an MIS site. Nobody
MIS site. Nobody benefits
benefits from
from doing an MIS in a locale where itit is
MIS in is unlikely
unlikely
to be aa useful
useful exercise.
exercise. The
The FAO
FAO project's experience suggests
suggests that
that for
for an
an MIS
MIS to
be successful the site must
must meet certain
certain prerequisites.
prerequisites. The
The following
following indicators
can be used to
to determine
determine whether
whether itit makes
makes sense
sense to
to begin
begin planning
planning an
an MIS in aa
MIS in
community.

CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 3 ..
411)
Step II
Step

STEP

Selecting the
the MIS
MIS
location and
and
identifying
identifying the
theMIS
MIS
participants
Criteria to
Cnteria to evaluate
evaluate potential
potential
sites:
sites
• Is there an
an expressed
expressed local need
need
interestinin using
and interest using marketing
information?
information?
• Are there products
products produced
produced
above the subsistence level?
the subsistence level?
Howeasy
• How easyisisititto
to get
get data
data
about markets
about markets andand marketing?
marketing?
• Is
Is there
there an
an organization
organizationthat that
participate inin the
can participate the MIS
MIS and
and
how
how cohesive
cohesive is
is it?
it?

Criteria to identify the

to identify the MIS
MIS
targetgrgroup:
target oup.

• Who
Who is involved
involved inin marketing
NM's?
NTFPs?
V
• VVho
Who has
hasexpressed
expressedan
aninterest
interest
in
in improving
improvingthe
the marketing
marketing of
of
NTFPs?
1\11-Fro?

• Who
Who lacks marketing
information and could benefit
11.,./ most using an MI52
most from using MIS?

MARKETING INFORMATION
.... ···MARKETING INFORMATIONSYSTEMS
SYSTEMS FOR
FOR NON-TIMBER
NON-TIMBERFOREST
FORESTPRODUCTS
PRODUCTS
 Is}Jler~~
,~ I~ there an~xp[~ssef!
an expressed MIS can
An MIS can only
only work if it provides reliable, accu-
accu-
local need and
r ." -_._._- - interest
-"~~"",'-:--"-' --, ..., -.-~ --~
rate information and people see
see the
the utility
utility of
of that
that
in using
,ir u~in9 marketing
marketil1 9 information for their business activities.
information activities. Since the
information? -, j information is
information is gathered
gathered by local people, its
its accura-
cy depends entirely
entirely on how
how seriously
seriously they take the
the
collection of good quality
quality data.
data. Without
Without local
local inter-
inter-
est, people will not have
est, have the
the incentive
incentive to
to gather
gather good
good information.
information. This
This rather
quicldy develops into
quicldy develops into a vicious
vicious circle
circle in
in which
which poor
poor information
information has
has no
no use and
people lose interest
interest in the
the whole
whole system.
system. Unreliability leads to
Unreliability leads to underuse and un-
un-
deruse leads to
denise to unsustainability.
unsustainability.
Expressed need and interest can be judged by looking at whether local peo-
ple already tiy use marketing
tly to use marketing information
information (via
(via radio,
radio, television,
television, canvassing
canvassing of
traders or other producers)
traders producers) or
or bring
bring up
up marketing
marketing questions
questions and
and information
information
needs without being
being prompted
prompted in
ininitial
initial discussions.
discussions.

r~QQ~S-,!f1c~~()f11rnl,mit..x
Does the community Where people produce
Where people produce only to meet
meet their
their own
own
g''()c:flJ~~~~~tt~trI9009~
produce certain goods needs and there
there is
is no
no surplus
surplus to be
be marketed,
marketed, the
above the level
ClIJ(),!~Jf1~Jev~r, need for
for marketing
marketing information
information is
is not
not evident.
evident.
s!JP~ist~l'lseZ
of subsistence?
9.( However, there is
However, if there is a potential to increase produc-
tion and enter
enter markets
markets that
that have
have not
not previously
previously
been tapped,
tapped, an
an MIS could be
MIS could be used as one element
in planning the most
most effective
effective strategy
strategy for entering
entering the
the market.
market.
It may take more in-depth research to
to ascertain
ascertain ifif there is
is aa capacity
capacity to
to in-
in-
crease production of existing
crease goods in
existing goods in order to generate a surplus,
surplus, or if
if the com-
com-
munity might
munity might diversify
diversifyinto
intonew
newproducts
products and
and if there
there is
is a market for those po-
tential goods.

How accessible
• How accessible
=-=----::::" --
.t:::=:::...'." "--:CFZ'~~r'.:.- _H y.' -'''~=-~1
If access to information sources and markets
markets is
is se-
se-
are markets
r:-::-:\--/-7"'-::::-::-'';::; .. '77'''''---1
verely limited
verely limitedor
orunreliable,
unreliable,anan MIS
MIS may
may notnot be vi-
be vi-
and sources of market able. The implementation
implementation of
ofan
anMIS
MIS is
is considerably
considerably
information? more difficult when markets
difficult when markets are difficult to reach
difficult to reach
because of great distances, poor transport
transport or
or roads
roads
that are frequently
frequently impassable. The high
impassable. The high cost
cost of
transport must also be considered.
considered.
A community and a facilitator
facilitator considering an
an MIS
MIS should investigate these

CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 3 ...
access issues by analysing the transport infrastructure
infrastructure and access to markets that
would be part
part of
of the
the system.
system. Can
Can local people get
get to
to these
these inarkets? What are
markets? What are
constraints? Can
seasonal constraints? Can goods
goods be transported to
to markets?
markets? (See
(See also
also Peru exam-
ple p. 65)
65)

f
Is there
• Is thereaalevel
--,.,
level
,-~","-- --;;-;c:-;-- ~-;:'-1
The implementation of an MIS requires a certain
MIS requires certain
of community
,otc:omm':!!1 it.x amount of cooperation
amount cooperation and trust
trust among
among users.
users.
Hr~~pI~gti9p/~()9PJ~r'!!iWl
organization/cooperation Tasks
Tasks for
for data
data gathering
gathering areare shared
shared in
in aa group that
that
-
will
will facilitate
facilitate access to
then has access to better
better information.
"p".---=-.~--::~ -,,::y,~~~ "fy-·'"7----c;;-_~> .-::'1
An MIS
information. An MIS does
carrying out an MIS? not work
not work well
well in
incutthroat
cutthroat competitive
competitive settings
settings
where every
evelY producer is out for him
him or herself and
and
is unwilling to collaborate with others. An MIS
unwilling to MIS isis easier
easier to
to put
put in place if there is
is
already a group working together on some
some aspect
aspect of
of business
business activity
activity because
MIS can
the MIS can build
build on these existing activities.
activities. This
This does
does not
not mean that production
production
needs to be
be communal,
communal. In
In developing
developing this
this manual,
manual, an
an MIS
MIS has been used with
with
individual producers or traders
individual producers traders who cooperate in the collection
collection and analysis
analysis of
information that
information that can help them
them as
as individual
individual entrepreneurs.
entrepreneurs.
The degree of social organization
The organization can be assessed by asking the following
questions.
questions. Do community or producer
producer groups
groups already
already exist
exist in
in the
the area?
area? Do
Do local
local
people work collectively to harvest,
collectively to harvest, produce, process, transport or sell goods?
goods?
Are there local leaders who are widely
local leaders widely respected by the potential users of the
MIS who could
MIS who could encourage people's
people's interest
interest in
in the
the system?
system?

....................... ······················MARI<ETING INFORMATIONSYSTEMS

MARKETING INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR
FOR NON-TIMBER
NON-TIMBERFOREST
FORESTPRODUCTS
PRODUCTS
 . i
/".,'. ,",\,

SELECTING THE MIS LOCATIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES

In the Philippines, the initial MIS activi- MIS would be useful for a number of
ties were linked to FAO forestry activi- products including wild rattan, rattan ratt<:\n
ties already under way Discussions /)Arl:"'·c.<·al-
handicraft furniture, gold, banana, al-
were carried out with two villages to maciga resin, bamboo, coco-husk coco-husk
assess their appropriateness for an charcoal, fish, fruit, rice ahdsornetim~
and some tim-
MIS ber species. However, few, ifIf any,
any,pro-
pro-
ducts were
were produced at· more than
at more
In the::firstsite,
the first site, StaSta. Catalina,
Catalina, farmers
farmers subsistence level
subsistence level... For the few
few surplus
surplus
produced crops crops for salesale at the
the road-
road- products
products produced,
produced, transportation to
s;deo,:in
side or in .aanearby
nearbyweekly
weeklyfarmers'
farmers' market was difficult as as the vii/age
village was
market. There was aa dynamic farmers'
market There farmers'· far
far from roads or
orjeep trails.
jeep trails.
association that was very very active,
active, espe-
espe-
cially
cially in
in training farmers from other other vil-
vlJ- In deciding between
between these
these two
twosites,
sites,
lages.
lages A A recently-formed
recently-formed women's as- as- Sta. Catalina
Sta Catalina was
was selected as the initial
sociation
sociation was was carrying
carrying out out its
its own test site
site for several
several reasons: (I) There
reasons (1)
projects. participants in the for-
projects When participants access to
was better access to local
local and regio-
estry
estry project
projectwere wereasked
askedtotoidentify
iclen* nal markets for data
nal markets data collection,
collection, (2)
agroforestry
agroforestryproducts
productsthat that could
could be transport of products
products and
and information
studied in an
studied an MIS,
MIS, they
they identified
identified aa dissemination would be
dissemination be easier,
easier, (3)
(3) aa
wide range of
wide range of goods
goods including herbal greater number of products were pro-
medicines,
medicines, seeds, pineapple, vines
seeds, pineapple, vines duced
duced above
above the level of local
the level local de-
de-
(collected
(collected in nearby forests forests and
and then mand, (4) the site had a strong farmer
made into handicrafts), coconut- organization, (5) there was more local
based
based soap,
soap, bamboo furniture,furniture, rat- knowledge
knowledge of and experience
experience with
with
tan, patjuli
tan, paguli (a (a plant from
from which per- per- marketing, (6) farmers
marketing, and (6) farmers expressed
expressed
fume
fume can can be be extracted),
extracted), cultivated
cultivated more market
a strong need for more market infor-
infor-
root crops,
crops, wild banana
banana stems,
stems, toma- mation.
mation
toes,
toes, citrus
citrus fruits,
fruits, cut
cut flowers and char-
coal. Farmers
coal Farmers alsoalso reported that they they In early tests
tests of
of an MIS, itit isis often
an MIS, often best
informally monitored local
informally monitored local markets
markets to start where conditions are the most most
and radio broadcasts
and radio broadcasts for pnce price infor-
infor- favourable in
favourable order to ensure
in order ensure the the
mation.
mation greatest
greatest chance
chance ofof success.
success IfIf the
the first
first
MIS works
community's MIS works vvell,
well, it can
can
The second site
The site considered
considered for MISMIS serve as
serve asaaworking
working model for other
other vil-vil-
testing
testing was
was aa village
village on
on the
the island
island of
of lages that may
lages may have
have less
less favourable
favourable
Mindanao. Farmers
Farmers there
there felt
felt that an conditions.

CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 3 ..
 SELEC11NG
SELECTING1HE
TilE MIS ~OCA110NS IN
MIS LOCATIONS IN UGANDA
UGANDA
The facilitator in Uganda, aa professor
professor MIS inin order
an MIS orderto
to learn more about
Makerere University,
at Makerere University, found himself
found himself market demand.
demand
confronted with difficult
difficult trade
trade offs
offs as
as
he selected
selected the sites for
the sites trial imple-
for trial imple- Mukono is
Mukono is only one-half
one-half hour from
from
mentation of of the MIS
MIS. He felt that the university. Its
the university Its cooperative
cooperative organi-
organi-
communities selected
communities selected should
should be beclose
close zation, Mukono Butebo
zation, the Mukono Butebo Women's
Women's
enough to to the
the university
university for him him toto Association, isis composed
Craft Association, composed of
give them the the support
support needed
needed in in set-
set- independently-operated craft craft stands
stands.
up the
ting up the MIS,
MIS, but hehe also
also wanted When traders
traders in in Mukono
Mukono discussed
discussed
select sites
to select sites with
with a strong interest in the possibility of an MIS MIS they
they demon-
developing MIS
developing MIS activities
activities. Eventually
Eventually strated
strated little enthusiasm
enthusiasm for participat-
found that
he found that he
he had
had totocompromise
compromise ing in the
the trial.
trial.
these criteria
on these criteria.
The facilitator realized
realized that neither
neither sitesite
He
He decided
decided to focus on people
to focus people in- in- was
was perfect for for MIS
MIS implementation
implementation.
volved inin trading
trading NTFPs
NTFPs. First
First he com- Lukaya was
Lukaya was far from the
far from the university
university
lists of
piled lists of people
people and and groups
groups whowho (and therefore difficult to support) but but
sold handicrafts
sold handicrafts at at roadside
roadside stands
stands. enthusiastic. Mukono
very enthusiastic Mukono was was locat-
locat-
He visited these sitessites toto gather infor-
infor- ed nearby but but only
only marginally
marginally inter-
inter-
about their
mation about theiractivities
activities and their ested
ested in the MIS MIS concept
concept. Pilot
Pilot tests
tests
in MIS
interest in MIS.After
Afterthese
theseVISItS,
visits, he
he were started
started in both both locations
locations using
using
narrowed his his selection
selection to two two sites
sites: somewhat different approaches
somewhat different approaches. It
Lukaya and
Lukaya and Mokono.
Mokono was hoped that that thethe proximity
proximity ofof thethe
Mukono
Mukono site site would permit permit frequent
frequent
Lukaya isis located
Lukaya located about three hours hours reinforcement
reinforcement visits visits to
to compensate for
from the university.
university. AAgroup
group of of handi-
hand- the initial lack
lack ofof enthusiasm
enthusiasm. Similar-
Similar-
craft traders
craft traders isis clustered
clustered along
along thethe ly, it was hoped
ly, hoped that that the
the enthusiasm
enthusiasm
road. They
road They order
order baskets,
baskets, mats
mats and of the
the Lukaya
Lukaya participants
participants would
would
trays from artisans
trays artisans in
in their village and compensate
compensate for for fewer meetings
meetings with
sell
sell them passers by.
them to passers They were
by They the facilitator
facilitator.
enthusiastic about setting up
highly enthusiastic up

MARKETING INFORMATION
.. ·MARI(ETING INFORMATIONSYSTEMS
SYSTEMS FOR
FOR NON-TIMBER
NON-TIMBERFOREST
FORESTPRODUCTS
PRODUCTS
 IDENTIFYING THE MIS
IDENTIFYING THE MISPARTICIPANTS
PARTICIPANTS

Closely related
Closely related to
to the selection of the site,
site, is
is the
the identification
identification of
of the
the MIS
MIS par-
ticipants. In some
ticipants. In some cases,
cases, itit may
may be
be impossible
impossible to
to separate
separate the two since the pres-
pres-
ence of
of a strong,
strong, well-organized group that
that wants
wants to
to participate
participate in
in establishing
establishing an
an
MISmay
MIS maybe
be the
the principal
principal reason for choosing aa particular
particular site.
site. In
In other
other cases,
cases,
however,
however, the facilitator may see great potential for improving the marketing
facilitator may marketing of
of
NTFPs
NTFPs ininaacertain
certainarea,
area,but
but there
there may
may not
not be
be groups
groups in place that are obviously
obviously
canying out the activities.
suited to carrying activities. In such a situation,
situation, the facilitator
facilitator would
would have
to start by considering
considering how
how s/he might help the community
community get organized
organized to un-
dertake MIS activities.
dertake MIS activities.

In most places the MIS

MIS will
willbe
be targeted
targeted to
to one
one specific
specific group
group in the marketing
chain. Philippines, the
chain. In the Philippines, the participants
participants were
were small
small producers
producers who
who wanted
wanted to
to get
better prices and sell their goods more
more effectively
effectively to traders.
traders. In Uganda,
Uganda, the partic-
ipants were not producers but the
the traders
traders who bought
bought handicrafts
handicrafts already made
and then sold them to roadside
them to roadside customers.
customers. In other places, the participants may be
the people who
who harvest
harvest or
or process
process aa ceitain
celtain good. Some groups
good. Some groups may
may decide
decide to
to lim-
lim-
it the group further,
further, according to specific
specific needs Of concerns, such as women's
or concerns,
groups or illiterate
illiterate people. In determining
determining who
who will
will paiticipate,
palticipate, the
the principal
principal ques-
ques-
tions to be considered
considered are:
are:

• Who
-- Who is
is involved
-.~--~-.-
involved in
-
in the
..
thecollection
collectionand
---~ ..
anduse
~-~-
useofofNTFPs
NTFPs
- --- - --- --~.---- -- - - . _ - - - - ' - - - ------_ .. - - j

and who is
is involved (or might
might potentially
potentially be
be involved)
involved),
in
,in marketing
marketing those
those products?
products?

• Who has
1- __
has_expressed an intE?r~st
expressed an interest in
• ~'_
in improving
- - - • _ _ ___ ,

the
the marketing
marketingofofNTFPs?
NTFPs?

• Who lacks
i _ _ -.-.--
marketing
lacks--=--..marketing
____-__-_-___ information
- __ ____--_-.--,

and
aJJ~t~guld. pg most
could be helped byir~tituting.
mo~t "~lfJed an/VIIS?,
by imtituting an MIS?

CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 3 ...
 This field manual
This field manual will
will distinguish
distinguish between
between two categories:
categories: operators
operators and
users.

The operators are the people

people who
who actually
actually make
make the
the MIS
MIS work by their ac-
tive involvement
tive involvement in
in designing
designing the system and collecting
collecting and analysing
analysing informa-
tion.
tion. These people will
will typically be organized
typically be organized into
into some
some sOlt
sort of a group to carry
cany
out the activities
activities of
ofthe
theMIS.
MIS.

The users are the people

The people who
who use
usethe
theinformation
informationgenerated
generatedby
bythe
theMIS.
MIS.
They may
may do
do nothing more
more than glance
glance at a notice board once a week
week in
in order
order
to decide where to
to sell
sell their
their produce.
produce. Users
Users will
will typically
typically be individuals who are
individuals who are
involved with
with NTFPs
NTFPsin
in the
the community.
community.There
There isisno
no need
need for
for them to be formal-
ly organized, although they
they may
may assemble
assemble from
from time
time to
to time
time for
for informational
informational
meetings or training in how to
to use
use MIS
MIS information.
information. In
In some
some cases,
cases, the operators
and the users will
will be the same
same people,
people, while
while in other
other cases,
cases, there may be a
smaller
smaller group
group of operators and aa larger
larger group
group of
of users.
users.

While details
While details concerning
concerning the structure
stmcture of the MIS willbe
MIS will be worked
worked out later in
the planning process, it is important
important to begin
begin toto identify
identify who will will be involved
involved
right from
from the start. The operators, in in particular,
particular, will be fully involved in gather-
ing information
information and planning the system so they must be identified early on. on. In
some cases, the facilitator
facilitator will work with an an existing
existing organization
organization (a (a farmers'
farmers'
group or women's
women's association)
association) which
which provides
provides the
theoperators
operatorsfor forthe
theMIS.
MIS. In
In lo-
lo-
cations where people have
cations have requested
requested marketing
marketing assistance,
assistance, there is is often
often aa local
local
organization that
organization that has
has defined
defined as one of of its
its goals
goals improving
improving marketing
marketing of of the
the
goods produced and/or
and/or traded.
traded. In
In the
thePhilippines'
Philippines' pilot
pilot test
test location,
location, for
for exam-
exam-
ple, the constitution of the
the farmers'
farmers' cooperative
cooperative included
included aa commitment
commitment to to im-
im-
cases like
proved marketing. In cases like this,
this, the
the potential
potential operators
operators will
will be
befairly
fairly evident
evident
from the start.
start.

In some locations, the facilitator may have

facilitator may have to start
start by helping previously un-
organized people involved
involved in
in NTFPs (women who sell
NTFPs (women wild fmits
sell wild fruits by
by the road-
side, for example) organize
organize an
an informal
informal group
group totocarry
canyout
outMIS
MIS activities.
activities .

30 .... .... ............. ........... ................ ................. ... ... ··MARI(ETING INFORMATIONSYSTEMS
MARKETING INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR
FOR NON-TIMBER
NON-TIMBERFOREST
FORESTPRODUCTS
PRODUCTS
Step II: Assessing
Step
the Local Situation
the

The information
information used in Step
Step I to select
select the
the site
site and
and identify
identify the
the participants
participants for
for
MIS isis unlikely
the MIS unlikelyto
to be
be complete
complete enough to
to permit
permit detailed
detailed planning
planningof
ofMIS
MIS ac-
tivities. The second
tivities. The second step is
is devoted to gathering information that will
information that will be
be used to
design the goals, overall structure and
and specific
specific activities
activities of the system.

During the assessment step, itit is

is important
important to
to remember
remember that
that the
theMIS
MIS will be
effective if itit builds
most effective builds on
on the indigenous marketing and
and communication
communication strategies
strategies
already in place.
place. The assessment
assessment should
should focus
focus on what is already being done and
has been
been accomplished,
accomplished, even
even ifif local
local activities
activities appear somewhat haphazard
haphazard or
or in-
in-
formal
formal to the outside obseiyer.
obsetver. In
In the
the assessment,
assessment, the
the facilitator
facilitator will work with local
counterparts to tiy
tty to
to understand
understand the
the local
local experience
experiencewith
withmarketing,
marketing, forestry
forestty and
and
agricultural production.
agricultural production. What
What goods
goods do people
people sell?
sell? Where do they sell them?
them? How
How
do they
they decide when
when to
to sell,
sell, how
how much
muchto
tosell
sell and
andwhat
whatprice
pricetotosell
sellfor?
for? How
How are
are
people organized
organized and
and how
howdo
dothey
theyshare
shareinformation?
information? The
TIle chances
chancesof
ofsuccess
success will
will
greater ifif the facilitator
be greater facilitator shows respect for local
local strategies
stt-ategies and systems
systems already in
place and looks for ways the MIS canbuild
MIS can build on
on and
and complement
complement what
what people are
ah-eady doing.
already

The breadth of information

The to be collected at this
information to will vaty
this stage will vary depending
depending
on the site.
site. In
In some
some cases,
cases, local
local people may
may have
have aa specific
specific problem
problem in in mind
mind
such as how to market
market excess
excess honey that
that is
is available
available during a certain season. If
certain season. If
the facilitator
facilitator isis fairly
fairlyconfident
confident (from
(frombackground
background information
information s/he
s/he has from var-
ious sources) that this is a good place to
to start,
start, itit may
may make sense
sense to
to focus
focus infor-
infor-
mation gathering around this topic. More often, however,
More often, however, the task is more open-
ended. In these cases,
cases, part
part of
of the
the purpose
purpose of
ofthe
the assessment
assessment isis to
to gather
gather infor-
infor-
will enable
mation that will enable the
the local
local people and the facilitator to narrow the focus
facilitator to focus of

CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 4 ....
Step 11
Step II

- ° '-'-----

, ---,,_ STEP
-----,,,,

Assessing the
local situation
Ways to
Ways collect background
to collect background
information in the
the initial
assessment:
assessment.
• Frofile
Profile the local
local forest
forest and tree
product economy
product economy
• Assess
Assess marketing
marketingknowledge
knowledge an
an
interest
• Assess organizational
structure and management
structure and management
capacity to carry
carry out
out an
an MIS
• Determine availability of
of
marketing information and
assess its quality

i 1

NI
w

N....UMW 1

·······MARI{ETING
MARKETING INFORMATION
INFORMATIONSYSTEMS
SYSTEMS FOR
FOR NON-TIMBER
NON-TIMBERFOREST
FORESTPRODUCTS
PRODUCTS
 their MIS activitiesand
MIS activities and choose
choose prociucts that will
products that will benefit the most
most from
from more
more
marketing information. Information
marketing information. Informationwould
wouldthen
thenbe
be gathered
gathered on
on the range of
of
NTFPs available
NTFPs available or produced locally.
produced locally.

WHAT INFORNIATION
WHAT INFORMATION IS
Is NEEDED
NEEDED
TO DESIGN
TO DESIGNAN
ANMIS?
MIS?

In order to
to set
set up
up an
anMIS
MIS (Step
(Step III), several different types of information are
different types
needed:

information on
~,,-iJ1formCljIcm the local
()1'JJhe '9Sl1 forest and tree
for~tancl product economy;
tL~~_RrodLtc~=~con-,()I11Y;i
~ijl1forOli!tion_abgut '
information about marketing knowledge and
m~II~~ti/1glmo"'!l~ge interest;
.ancf_intere~J~
• information
information about
about local
local organizational
organizational capacity;
capacity; and
i~ information about the
inforTCItion~/)out. t"~.quality
quant¥ and availability of
andCl\l.:lilabilitl of data.
data~

This field manual

This field manual covers
covers each
each of these
these subjects,
subjects, notes
notes how the information
will be used in
in the
the design
design of
ofthe
theMIS
MIS and describes
describes activities
activities that can be used
used to
to
gather the information. The fact
information. The fact that
that there is considerable overlap should not
cause concern. The categories are not strict;
categories are they should
strict; they should be used to help struc-
struc-
ture the information and to ensure that
that no
no major
major topics
topics are
are overlooked.
overlooked.

Information on
on the
the local
local forest
forest and tree
product economy
product economy
Information
Information on the local forest
forest and tree product economy
economy is
is needed
needed to:
to:

determine the
•. d.eterJ!lJne objectives of
the.Qbje~!h,f~s of the
t~ce MIS;
MIS~
• decide what information
decide what information will be collected
willf:)e collectedby
by the
theMIS;
MIS; and
• organize the data collection
organi?~theq~tta coll~~tion and analysis.
al1cfanalyst~;

CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 4 ..
 This
This part of the study focuses
focuses on goods that are currently
currently being produced in
in
the area. It looks at how the goods
goods are
are produced,
produced, their
their uses
uses and
and the
the way
way each
each
product is marketed. The resulting analysis
analysis should
should provide
provide aa good overview
overview ofof
the structure and
and sustainability
sustainability of the local
local forest product
product economy.
economy. This
This infor-
infor-
mation is critical in choosing which products can most
critical in most benefit
benefit from
from being
being in-
in-
in an
cluded in anMIS.
MIS.

At this
At this stage,
stage, itit isis often
often useful
useful to
to ask participants to draw
participants to draw a picture that
shows what they know of the production and sale chain for
for each
each good
good produced
community (Figure
in the community 2). This
(Figure 2). This permits systematic examination of each good
good
and each step in
in the
the chain.
chain. These
These diagrams also be used to generate discus-
diagrams can also discus-
sion about the other
other topics
topics that
that will
will be covered
covered in
in the
the needs
needs assessment
assessment (such
(such as
as
marketing knowledge).

Figure 2:
Figure 2: Hand-draW'n
Hand-drawn production
production && marketing
marlc:eting chain
chain for
for cashew
casheW'
From the
From the producers'
producers perspective, Anon, Philippines
perspective, Alion, Philippines
(October
(October 1993)
1993)

Harvesting
Harvesting
(removal of seeds)
(removal of seeds)
for home
for home
oonsumption Pounding
r---------.., consumption
Pounding
(removal ofofhusks)
(removal husks) I Roaolil1g
Roasting

~-----'
r B.",,,,,
Beverages

For
sale
Beverage
Beverage
Oelivered
Delivered Barangay
Barangay Antifolo
Antipolo
Snaoks
>Snacks
Rlza L

l11~~1 agent pick-up

to local agent
(Alton)
~:~:~a:\
Mabatang
piok-up Trader # 2)
Rizal
Faotory
Factory
Candy
Candy
Aoid
Acid
Prioe?
Price? (from the
(from the shell)
shell)

........... ···MARKETING INFORMATION SYSTEMS

MARKETING INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR
FOR NON-TIMBER
NON-TIMBERFOREST
FORESTPRODUCTS
PRODUCTS
 TOE KIND OF ISSUES CONCERNING THE LOCAL TREE PRODUCT
ECONOMY THAT SHOULD OE COVERED IN THE STUDY

PRODUCTION PROCESSING SALES MARKET BARRIERS

Whjch·fQr~~t
Which forest and HtiW~reJh~
How are the Which products \What
Wtlatpr<>Il
problems
'ems
'tr~~prp.d!,lctsar~
tree products are prpq4(:~ .....
products are sold? <tre.currently
are currently
l1al1(~~ted/pr()du- .... processed?
harvested/produ- pn?ce$sed? faced in the
in~"e
ced in the area?
area? . commercia-
lizationof
lization ofNTFPs
NTFPs
How are these
How are these Where are they Where are the (e.g.
(e.g. inadequate
products produced? processed?
processed? products sold? infrastructure,
infrastructure,
administrative
When are they Who processes
Who processes the When are they sold? and legal barriers,
barriers,
produced products? lacl< of
lack of credit)?
credit)?
Who buys the
(seasonality)?
products?
Which of
Which ofthese
these
Who makes
How
How are products problems is is the
the most
decisions on
decisions
transported to the serious?
senous?
financial
financial and labour
selling point?
investments in the How are local
How are
production of
of tree
tree What price
once do
do the people trying
Vying to
products? products bring? solve these
Does it vary? problems?
Who collects,
cof/ects, plants,
plants,
harvests and
harvests and tends do local
What do local
the various forest people
people know about
and tree products? what happens
what happens to
the goods after they
Who uses these
Who uses
are sold?
products?
What are the
used for?
products used
Which products
products
are not sold?
Why are the
Why
products not sold?
not sold?
What isis the potential
to develop markets
markets
for these products?

CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 4 ..
 Information on
Information on marketing
marketing knowledge and interest
Information marketing knowledge
Information about marketing knowledge and
and interest
interest focuses
focuses on
on the
the poten-
tial participants,
tial participants, their
their needs
needs and
and their
their ability
ability to
to make
make use
use of
of data
data gathered
gathered in
in the
MIS. This
MIS. This information
information will
will be used to:
to:

.c:h()9~~~!!I~f (),?j~£ti,,~~ of
choose the objectives m~,MIS;
of the 1'v11~;,
decide what information
c~,ge~1~e"YHCI! infRrll1atL9n)'1!illl>~c;~qJI~H~9!>~~!h~M1S;1 will be collected by the MIS;
• decide
/.:.~'~,
'''' ',', \
which information
which information sources sources will will be
~\- ;7'~"':'_":~'T _-;C~'-0c--:<A"'7<A': A'/_-'~- <--::·,,·::::----=--:~~-:r"':'<-,'> -~~-~_'----,;~~ -_-_'--:'-;:"-~~,"
:"",'-::'7-;
be~- used;
used·
-:.,-=:,,":- -: ./:
-;'/<:> ,"

choose how
• choose how to __communicate
communicate results;
<- _- '>--<
results·
',c, "'.' " --"--- -~---;:;< ~;---- "~ ,',A' __'.' _ - ~----:c -_--:--~;::"0-,' :, 'F ,,::.<,,~.;< --.--;·'1

organize data
.organiz~ collection and analysis;
9C!t~92"ef!ion~~ng and
C!"C!Iy~i~;.and
design training activities.
. ~.··fI·~~{gn!rc,tiJljf1g",C!cti"Ui~~.,

When gathering information about marketing

information about marketing knowledge
knowledge and interest,
interest, itit is
is
important to look at different
impOltant different segments of the community
community since their
their access
access to
to in-
in-
formation and other
other resources
resources isis likely
likely to vaty.
ValY. Women may have different needs

and sources of information than men; large producers

producers are
are different
different from
from small
small
ones, etc. This information helps focus
focus MIS activities on
MIS activities on the
the groups most
most inter-
inter-
ested in participating and that
that will
will benefit
benefit most
most from
from the
the activities.
activities.

The diagrams describing the

diagrams describing the production and sale
sale chain for each
each local
local prod-
prod-
uct can be used
used to
to promote
promote discussion
discussion of
of marketing
marketing knowledge as
as well.
well. It may
be useful
useful to
to discuss
discuss these
these diagrams
diagrams with
with several
several groups
groups to
to determine
determine what
what
knowledge they have about the various
various issues and to pinpoint where information
information
is
is lacking.

While discussing
While discussing the
the marketing
marketing information
information that
that people
people already use, re-
re-
member
member that information may be received
information may received from
from both
both informal
informal (e.g.
(e.g. border
border
guards,
guards, traders,
traders, neighbours)
neighbours) and formal
formal (e.g.
(e.g. radio,
radio, television,
television, newspapers)
newspapers)
sources. Information
sources. Information should
should be gathered about
about all
allinformation
information sources.
sources.

41» MARKETING INFORMATION

··········MARI<ETING INFORMATIONSYSTEMS
SYSTEMS FOR NON-TIMBER
NON-TIMBERFOREST
FORESTPRODUCTS
PRODUCTS
 1HE KIND Of INfORMA110N 1HA1 SHOULD BE GA1HERED
THE KIND OF INFORMATION THAT SHOULD OE GATHERED
A80UT
/NUT MARKETING
MARKETING KNOWLEDGEAND
KNOWLEDGE ANDINTEREST
IN1ERES1
What information do How
How do
do people
people decide
decide What additional
people gather
gather related
related to whom, where and marketing information do
marketing
to the
the sale
sale of
of forest
forest when to sell different people
people thinl<
think they
they need?
need?
and tree products? products?
Where do people Who makes
makes the What products are most
get information?
currently get information? decisions? lacking in marketing
Who collects
Who collects the Whom do they
they consult
consult information?
information? in making these
these Who isis interested
Who interested in
in
is the information
When is decisions? participating
participating ininan
anMIS?
MIS?
gathered? What ideas
VVhat ideasdodo people have
How do
How use the
people use
do people on changing theirtheir approach
approach
information? to marketing?
Is the
Is the information
accurate, complete, timely
accurate,
consistent?
and consistent?

Information about
about local
local organizational
organizational capacity
capacity
The information
The information about local organizational capacity obtained in
in Step
Step II al-
al-
lowed the
the community
community and
and facilitator
facilitator to begin
begin to
to discuss
discuss the
the operation
operationof
ofthe
theMIS.
MIS.
Now more in-depth information will
will be
be gathered with
wid1 the local community about
how business
business activities
activities are organized. This
This information will be used
used to:
to:

choose the objectives of the MIS;

.!c~"O()~~Jf}g_QbJe£tiv~~9Lt"~JYlJ$;.
• decide how to
< ,,"
to communicate
communicate results;
-;:,'-'.-- ,,',
results;
-_------;--_-~---_
and
,·,--,·',-,,--,-,'->-·',·--\<,,-;;-·-'1
~-.;--,-_- __ \---\,-_-_"_ ','- - -".-,--',

design training activities..

.~ desigl'ltr~i"if19ctctiviti~s

An MIS
An MIScan
canbe
beoriented
oriented toward
toward the
the needs
needs of small
small homogeneous
homogeneous groups or
to larger groups with more diverse
diverse interests.
interests. It
It can
can service
service individual
individual producers
who have aa loose
loose affiliation
affiliation as well as highly
highly formal associations.
associations. In order to de-
de-
sign the most
most effective
effective MIS,
MIS, itit is
is essential
essential that the participants and
and the
thefacilitator
facilitator
have a good understanding
understanding of
of the
the strengths
strengths and
and weaknesses
weaknesses of
oftheir
their group.
group.

MISactivities
Wherever possible MIS activitiesshould
shoulduse
use existing
existingnetworks
networks and
and channels
channels
of communication rather than
communication rather than create
create parallel
parallel structures
structures purely
purely to
to carry
carry out
out the
MIS. Thisincreases
MIS. This increases the
the chance
chance that the system
system will
will be sustainable,
sustainable, especially af-
especiallyaf-

CHAPTER 44
CHAPTER ...... .
 ter
tel' the departure
departure of ofthe
thefacilitator.
facilitator. However,
However, itit is
is also
also true
true that
that in
in some
some cases,
cases,
where there
there is
is strong
strong interest
interest among
among producers
producers who
whohave
havelittle
littleor
ornonoaffiliation,
affiliation,
the MIS can help to identify
MIS can identify where local
local people
people might
might benefit
benefit from
from more
more struc-
struc-
t:ured organization
tured organization and
and facilitate
facilitate tearn
team work.

Information about local organizations can be gathered from members of the

organizations can
community as well as from outsiders such as local forestiy
forestly or agricultural
agricultural agents
who know
know the
the community
community well.
well. Formal
Formal and
and informal
informal information
information sources should
purposes of
be accessed. For the purposes ofthe MIS initial
theMIS initial assessment,
assessment, women
women who gather
each morning at the well
well and
and frequently
frequently discuss
discuss the price
price of
of karité
kal'ite nuts
nuts in
in vari-
vari-
ous local markets might be considered a type of
markets might of organization
organization even though they
they
would not necessarily
necessarily define themselves as a "group"
"group" or
or "association." Where
"association." Where
NTFPs are
NTFPs are concerned,
concerned, itit is
is often more common to find this type of
of informal
informal net-
working than to find formal,
formal, well-established groups. (The latter
well-established groups. latter are more com-
agricultural products
mon for major agricultural products that have received years of attention from ex-
tension agents and government
government officials.
officials. ) It is important to identify
identify these infor-
mal networks (as well as any more
more classic,
classic, stnictured
structured types
types of
of associations)
associations) since
they may serve as the foundation
foundation for
for more
more formal
formal structures
structures and
and activities
activities that
as the
are developed as the MIS
MIS is put in place.
place.

THE KIND OF INFORMATION THAT SHOULD DE GATHERED

ADM LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS

Are there formal

formal organiza-
or9ani~a~ Do local people
po pe()ptE! col-
c:ol- Do local people
people share
share
tions, groups, committees lectively produce,
lecfively and discuss informa-
(e.g. farmers associations,
associations, harvest, sell
sell or tion
tion on
on products,
products,
women's groups, church
church transport products prices and markets?
markets?
groups) in the commun-
groups) in the
the area?
area?
ity?
Who is associated with these What products? Which products?
organizations? Who is
is involved? How do they
they get
get the
the in-
in-
What do these
these organizations
organizations How are they orga- formation?
do? nized in the
the collective
collective is the information
How is
Are they involved in any any busi-
busi- activity? passed along?
ness activities
activities /including
(including cre- Who are the leaders in
dit)? these activities?
these activities?
Do any ofof their
their activities
activities in-
NTFPs?
volve NIFFs?
Do any of these organizations
conduct training activities?
conduct training activities?

e······ ....... ·MARKETING INFORMATIONSYSTEMS

MARKETING INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR
FOR NON-TIMBER
NON-TIMBERFOREST
FORESTPRODUCTS
PRODUCTS
 The assessment should not restrict
restrict itself to groups organized around
around forest
forest
product activities since there
activities since there may
may be
be none.
none. If there
there are
are other functional groups
functional groups
in the community, these should be studied in order
community, these order to
to understand
understand what
what makes
makes
them work well.
them well. In some
some cases,
cases, these groups may be interested
interested in
in expanding
expanding
activities to
their activities to include
include an
an MIS;
MIS;ininothers
others they
they may
maybe
be able
able to
to shed light on the
structure aa group
best way to stmcture group so that itit fits
so that fits into
into the
the social
social system
system of that particular
community.

Information about
Information about the
the quality
quality and
and availability
availability of
NTFPprices
NTFP prices(and
(andother)
other) data
data
The last category information isis concerned with markets and price avail-
categoty of information avail-
ability
ability in the area.
area. This
This involves
involves collecting
collecting "information
"information about
about information.
information. "
Once the MIS gets under
MIS gets under way,
way, it will require the
the collection
collection of
of specific
specific informa-
informa-
tion about prices and demand
tion demand for
for NTFPs
NTFPs in area markets.
markets. In
In this
this initial
initial assess-
ment, it is not
ment, it not necessaiy
necessaty to
to find
find out
out actual
actual prices,
prices, but
but rather
rather to
to determine
determine
whether such information
information is
is even available, where itit is
available, where is available
available and
and whether itit
considered reliable.
can be considered reliable. This
This "information
"information about information"
information" will be used
used to:
to:

choose the objectives of the MIS;

'!/'E:~~~~2~~!tcct~,2!>j.~~!~~~~~L!V~3~~!!~~
decide which kind of information the MIS
• .. g~£lfl~J:xJ!!£t~g!$.;n9:Q,t}!J!~!,!,g!!.2.n=,!R~ can realistically
. Ml~J~~nI~,g';.S~;~~"'y
...•......expect to gather; and
~15e.~E~Jgig~Jn~G~M;!2
l"'" R~j~DJJjxl~Y¥mf,.tjD!2.IJn~,t!£?':t~RJ'!f~~.~~.J.'1~}n2~cz ~RBr2p!lat~-;
determine which information sources are the most appropriate.,

When an MIS
MIS isisfirst
firstput
putin
in place,
place, itit isis generally
generallybest
best to
to start
start with
with aa product
product
about which information
information is
is readily available.
available. For example, people
people may
may be
be will-
will-
ing to talk without hesitation about prices of
of widely-sold
widely-sold products, such as mats.
mats.
may be more difficult
It may to get
difficult to get information
information about
about aa product such as game meat,
because trade is not on the
the open
open market,
market, or
or because
because itit isis illegal
illegal and people
people are
are
unwilling to
unwilling to discuss
discuss marketing
marketing with
with strangers
strangers they
they do
do not
not trust.
trust. In
In such
such a case,
case,
the MIS might initially
MIS might initiallyfocus
focuson
on the
the mats
mats and other similar products. It could
could ex-
ex-
pand later to encompass
encompass the more sensitive
sensitive and complicated products,
products, once the
participants have gained familiarity
familiarity and
and experience with the system.
system.

To gather this
To this kind
kind of information,
information, itit is
is necessaty
necessaiy to create an inventory
inventory of

CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 4 ..
 different data sources for
for the
the various
various NTFPs
NTFPs in the
the community.
community. This
This would
would in-
in-
clude, for example, the names of markets where each
each good
good isis sold,
sold, other
other ways
ways
that the good is
is traded and any
any other
other information
information sources such as radio broad-
casts
casts or people passing
passing through
through the
the community.
community. Local
Local people will be able to
to sug-
sug-
gest markets and trading
trading points
points that
that they
theyuse.
use.Forest
Forestservice
serviceofficials
officials Of
or develop-
ment project employees
employees in the area may be able
able to
to add
add other
othersources
sources of
ofinfor-
infor-
mation not known by
by local
local people.
people. Once
Oncethis
this inventory
inventory isis complete,
complete, the
theMIS
MIS par-
ticipants
ticipants and facilitator can visit
facilitator can visit or
or talk
talk to
to aa sample
sample of the places/people
places/people on
onlist
list
and ask a few questions
questions about price
price and
and demand.
demand. This
This should
should begin
begin to
to give
give an
an
idea of how easy
easy itit is
is to get
get that
that sort
sort of
of data.
data. By
By cross-checking
cross-checking with a couple of
of
different sources,
different sources, itit should
should be
be possible
possible to
to assess whether the answers are rea-
assess whether rea-
sonably reliable.

THE KIND
THE OF INFORMATION
KIND OF INFORMATIONNEEDED
NEEOED
A80UT
ABOUT PRICE
PRICEDATA
DATAAVAlLA81L1TV
AVAILABILITY

What
What are
are sources
sources of
of information
information What kind information do
I<ind of information do the
the
prices and demand for
on prices for forest various sources have?
and
and tree
tree products?
products? (See
(See (Seebox
(See boxon onp.l
p.15
5 for a list of the
the
Appendix 1 for list of potential types of information
information that
that might
information sources.) be useful.)
How far
far are these sources located How frequently these sources
frequenty do these
from the
theMIS
MIS site? receive new information?
information?
the
Who can obtain access to the How accurate and complete
complete is
is the
information? information?
the information
When can the information be
obtained?
How willing
willing are
are people
people to talk
talk about
about
prices
prices and
and preferences?
IsIs any
any information
information disseminated via
mass
mass media newsletters, radio
media (e.g. newsletters,
broadcasts)?

40 ............ ·MARI(ETING INFORMATION SYSTEMS

MARKETING INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR
FOR NON-TIMBER FOREST PRODUCTS
NON-TIMBER FOREST PRODUCTS
 HOW
How CAN
CAN THE
THE INFORMATION
INFORMATION NEEDED
NEEDED IN
IN THE
THE
ASSESSMENT STEP BE
ASSESSMENT STEP BE COLLECTED?
COLLECTED?

The assessment
assessment step should not be
be long
long and
and drawn
drawnout.
out.Long
Long delays
delays in
in start-
start-
ing the activities the MIS
activities of the MIS risk
riskcausing
causinglocal
localinterest
interesttotofade.
fade. ItIt will
willnot
not be
be pos-
pos-
sible to have information about every
sible evelY aspect of
of the
the local
local situation
situation right
right at the
the be-
be-
ginning.
ginning. What
What isis important
important isis to
to ensure
ensure that when new and
and relevant
relevant information
information
is collected at a later point, itit is integrated
is integrated into the
the ongoing
ongoing planning
planning process.
process.
Any MIS
MISwill
willhave
havetotobe
be adapted
adapted and refined as it progresses and
and new
newinforma-
informa-
tion is taken into consideration.
consideration.

situations, the
In most situations, the information
information needed
needed at this
this stage
stage can be gathered in
about three to
to five
five days.
days. The same technique can often be used
used to
to gather
gather infor-
infor-
mation on several
several different
different subjects.
subjects. A skilful facilitator can
skilful facilitator can use
use a discussion
about the marketing
marketing of forest products to gather information about marketing
marketing
knowledge and interest,
interest, possible sources of
of market information and community
organization as well as other
other topics
topics of
ofinterest.
interest.

There are many techniques that may

may be used
used to
to collect
collect information
information on the
the
subjects outlined
subjects outlined in this
this section.
section. The
The participants
participants and
and facilitator
facilitator should
should choose
choose the
the
technique that they feel most comfortable with and
comfortable with and that they think
think would be
most effective
effective in a given situation. Some may
situation. Some may prefer to conduct a series
series of
of focus
group discussions
discussions and individual
individual interviews with different members of the com-
com-
munity. Others
munity. Others may
may prefer using a more diverse range of tools to
to gather
gather infor-
infor-
mation such as those
such as those offered
offeredby
byRapid
RapidRural
Rural Appraisal.
Appraisal. Appendix 22 lists some re-
sources that describe
describe various
various techniques
techniques for
for information
information collection
collection (discussion,
(discussion,
observation, survey,
community observation, survey, rapid appraisal and library
libralY Of
or book-based re-
search) that may be useful.

The participatory
participatory and
and visual
visual aspects
aspects of
ofRapid
Rapid and
andParticipatory
ParticipatoryRural
Rural Ap-
Ap-
praisal methods make them particularly
praisal well suited to gathering the kind
particularly well kind of
of in-
in-
formation needed
needed in
in an
anMIS
MIS assessment.
assessment. Many of the tools
tools used
used in
inRRA,
RRA, such as
mapping, matrices
matrices and Venn diagrams,
diagrams, could
could be
be adapted to
to the
the needs
needsof
ofan
anMIS
MIS
assessment. These tools are discussed
discussed briefly
briefly in
in Appendix
Appendix 3.
3.

CHAPTER 4
CHArTER 4 ..
CO
 Local people
Local people should be integrally involved th~ process of
involved in the of gathering
gathering infor-
infor-
mation and be very
very clear
clear about what
what kind
kind of
of information
information is being collected and
why. They will be much
much more
more forthcoming
forthcoming in
in providing
providing information
information themselves
themselves
if the purpose of
of the
the exercise
exercise is
is clear
clear from
from the start
start and will
will be able
able to
to guide
guide the
the
facilitator to other
facilitator to other information
information sources
sources ifif they
they are
are knowledgeable about the goals
goals
assessment.
of the assessment.

In order to
to get
get good,
good, complete
completeinformation
information from
from any
any method,
method, itit isis essential
essential
to plan the
the approach
approach with
with care
care and
andtotouse
usethe
thetools
toolsthoughtfully.
thoughtfully. Random,
Random, scat-
scat-
tered questions
questions will
will rarely result in coherent
coherent information.
information. Before
Before any
any interview
intelview or
or
activity
activity (whether in a group
group or
orindividually),
individually), the
the MIS
MIS participants and
and facilitator
facilitator
should prepare aa guide
guide of
of question
question topics
topics that
that will
will be covered
covered in
in the
the discussion.
discussion.
This guide
This guide should
should be used flexibly (i.e. itit does
flexibly (Le. does not
not have
have to
to be followed
followed in order
and interesting comments
comments not
not related
related to
to the guide list
list should be pursued as they
arise),
arise), but it will help ensure that
that all
all the
the major
major points
points are
are discussed.
discussed. Careful
Careful notes
should be kept
kept to
to ensure
ensure that
thatinformation
information is
is not
not lost
lost or
or forgotten.
forgotten.

Throughout the assessment,

assessment, an effort
effort should be made
made to
to
gather information
gather information with
with and
and from
from people
people who represent
different
different social
social categories
categories (e.g.
(e.g. men
men and women, wealthi-
er and poorer,
poorer, landed and
and landless,
landless, older
older and
and younger)
younger)
and who occupy
and occupy different niches within
different niches within the
the production
production
chain (e.g.
(e.g. producers, dealers,
dealers, buyers,
buyers, transporters).
transporters). This
This
will serve to cross-check information
information and to make itit more
more complete.
complete. ItIt will
will also
also
identify
identify potential
potential conflicts
conflicts between
between different
different interest
interest groups
groups that
that may
may have
have to
to be
addressed in the
the MIS implementation. The
MIS implementation. The earlier
earlier this
this kind
kind of information
information can
can be
be
gathered, the
the less
less likely the project will
will be faced
faced with unpleasant surprises in the
surprises in
process .
implementation process.

42 ............ .. ... MARKETING INFORMATION

INFORMATION SYSTEMS
SYSTEMS FOR
FOR NON-TIMBER
NON-TIMBERFOREST
FORESTPRODUCTS
PRODUCTS
 ASS&SStNG
ASSESSINGTH&LOCALSI1UAfION:TH&
THE LOCAL SITUATION: THE PHILIPPINES
PHILIPPINES

The Philippine
The Philippine participants
participants. and facilita-
facilita- range of
vestigated a iange ofissues
issues on-site
on-site with
with
tor used community
community. observation,
obseNation, field field farmers, they
farmers, they went on
on to
todiscussions
discussions
semi-structured. inteNiews
visits, semi-structured interviews and with key
with key informants
informants involved
involved in
in other
otheras-
as-
meetings In
community meetings their needs
in their needs as- as- pects of market for
of the market forNTFPs
NTFPs. These
These in-
in-
sessments prior
sessments prior to
to designing the the MISs
MISs. cluded traders
traders and
and women who actually
women who actualfy
. Each
Each assessment
assessmenttook took five
five days
days in the
in the the goods
sold the goods in
in local
local markets
markets.
I field. Before
field. Before going
going to the the sites,
sites, they
they
drew up
drew upa list of
a list of open-ended
open-ended questions
questions Following
Following these these individual
individual interviews,
inteNiews,
each subject
for each sUbject. They
They centered
centered almost
almost the participants
participants and and facilitator
facilitator got to- to-
all of
all of their
their discussions
discussions around
around the the pro- gether withwith thethecommunity
communitytotodiscuss discuss
duction of ofNTFPs
NTFPs in the area area since
since this the preliminary
the preliminary findings
findings ofofthetheneeds
needs as- as-
easiest way
was the easiest way to
to get
get started. Infor-
started Infor- sessment
sessment. Men Men and and women
women came came to- to-
mation on on the
the other
otherthree
threesubject
subjectareas
areas gether from
gethei from diffetent
differentgroups
groups in in the
thecom-
com-
seemed
seemed to to flow naturally from there there. munity.They
munity They began
began by by reviewing
reviewing the the list
list
of market
of market barriers
barriers that hadhad beenbeen iden-iden-
One of
One ofthe
the first
first activities
activities was visiting the
the in the
tified in theassessment
assessment. These
These included
included
farms of several
several producers. This made itit
producers This lack of information
their lack information about how how the the
easier to
easier discuss the
to discuss production and
the production and market worked,
worked, high costs costs that
that limited
limited
marketing of the
marketing the various
various items
items being
being market access
market access and and the shortage of of trans-
trans-
grown
grown. When
When theythey learned
learned that
that aa portation alternatives
portation alternatives. This
This led
led directly
directly toto
number of
number offarmers
farmers had made
made thethe costly
costly discussions of
discussions of alternative strategies that
alternative strategies
decision
decision toto change
change their crop mix mix be-
be- might reduce
might reduce the barriers
barriers. At
At this
this point,
point
cause
cause they
they did see any market for
did not see they were
they were ready
ready to enter
enter the
the design
design stepstep
coffee, they
coffee, they followed
followed up by by exploring
exploring oftheir
of theirMIS
MIS.
barriers to
the barriers to sales.
sales When they had in- in-

ASSESSING THE LOCAL SITUATION: UGANDA

Information ab,Ot:ltl6caL
Inf9rmation. about local needs
needs waswas time) charaderisticsbuyers
time) and characteristics buyers look
look for
gathered in Uganda cluing
gathered.inUgpnda dUringdiscussions
discussions in the product.The
the product Thesame
sameissues
issues were
weredis-
dis-
held over the course
coorse of three days
days (per cussed on·
cussed on other
other products,
products, including
including
Site). The
site) facilitator made
The facilitator made an appoint-
appoint- non-timber forest
both non-timber forest products
products grown
ment ensure that
ment to ensure thataarepresentative
representative on the
on the farms
farms and those
those made from raw
group of of potenlial
potential users
users could
could attend.
attend A materials
matet fatsgathered
gatheredinin the
the forest.
forest
list of questions
list questions waswas compiled
compiled in in ad-
ad-
vance.
vance For last meeting,
For the last meeting, the group
group used
used
charts
charts and graphs created
and graphs created during
during the the
At the fiist
first meeting,
meeting, discussion
discussion centered first two meetings
meetings toto discuss
discuss information
on products
products (baskets,
(baskets, trays, mats, stools)
stools) sources for products
sources products and markets
markets. Were
Were
and aa participant
participant kept
kept aa list
list on
on aablack-
black- there untapped informationsources?
untapped information sources? Did
board
board thethe facilitator
facilitatorhad
had brought.
brought The The they record
record sales
sales information?
information? How
How did
group discussed
group discussed thethe products in terms of they find sources
sources of raw materials
materials or de-
which sold
sold the most,
most, which sold sold least
least termine
tei possible new
mine possible products to
new products to sell?
sell?
consumer preferences
and consumer preferences of of product
size, shape,
size, shape,colour
colour and
and weight. Based
weight Based Through the
Through the three
three discussions,
discussions, the
the group
group
on this
this discussion,
discussion, they ranked
ranked the im- im- covered all information
information gathering needs
needs.
portance
poi tance of the products.
products facilitator asked
The facilitator asked the participants
participants to
prepare aa list
prepare list ranking
ranking the waysways they
they
The second
second day,
day, the facilitator chose a wanted to to improve
improve their
theirbusiness
business (e
(e.g.
g
highly-ranked
highly-ranked product
product to begin discus-
discus- increase profits
increase item, increase
profits per item, increase mar-
mar-
sions on
sions on the production andsales
production and sales chain
chain. kets,
kets, increase
increase sales
salesVOlume). Based on
volume) Based
This included the
This included: the source and cost
source and cost of that information,
that information, theythey would
would be pre-pre-
raw matenals,
materials, pricing (how prices
pricing (how prices are
are pared
pared to choose
choose the objectives
objectives of
of their
set and
set they might
and how they might change
change over
over MIS.

CHAPTER
CHAPTER 4
4 ..
Step III:
Step III: Designing
Designing
and Implementing
and Implementing thethe MIS
MIS

Steps II and II selected the site for the MIS

Steps and gathered
MIS and gathered background information
needed to
to customize
customize the MIS for a particular
the MIS particular locale.
locale. Now,
Now, in
in Step
Step III,
III, that
that infor-
infor-
mation will be used in
in discussions
discussions with the
the MIS users to
MIS users to design the system that
will be
will be most
most appropriate
appropriate for
for their
their needs and resources.
resources. There are eight parts in
the design of the MIS. In each
MIS. In each part,
part, the
the users
users must
must decide
decide how they want to or-
ganize the MIS. The facilitator's
MIS. The facilitator's role
role at
at this
this stage is just that: to facilitate.
facilitate. It is a
matter of helping the community
community review its options for each part and
and of
ofensuring
ensuring
all the information
that all that could
information that could contribute
contribute to making a good decision has been
been
considered. The facilitator
facilitator may
may be
be able to provide information
information from previous ex-
ex-
periences to
periences to help
help the
the users
users come
come to
to aa decision,
decision, but
but s/he
s/he should
should not be
be the
the one
to make the design
design decisions. is essential
decisions. It is that the
essential that the users assume
assume that responsi-
bility so they feel that the
the MIS
MIS isis their
their own.
own. Special care should be taken
Special care taken at
at this
this
stage to avoid imposing the facilitator's
stage facilitator's notion of
of aa "standard"
"standard" MIS on the com-
MIS on
munity.

In Step III, the users

users will:
will:

choose m~()bjec!ives
• .~IJ~ose the objectives ofof the
the MIS;
MIS;
select the information
• select the information the MIS will provide;
MIS will
• de~ic:fe
decide wl]ic:h
which information
infQrmatiqJ1 sources
sources willwill be us~d;,
be used;
decide how to
• d~c:ic:l~~ to organize the collection
org?nize the collectio'Jandand analysis
aflalysi~__of
Qf data;
d,!~a;,

I
• choose how
~
how to
'C'-,-'";~~-
to communicate
communicate the
::----"
the results;
"_"_:'"~"-:--'"
results;
--~- -._.-. ----~.-- - - - -.- .~-- ---

identify any
• identify any training
trainingactivities
activities needed
needed in inthe
theMIS;
MIS;,
• establish
establish aa structure
structure to monitor
- ---
monitor the the MIS;
MIS; and ---

--.~-.-
think about
• think about how
howto
-----~~
toevaluate
evaluate
- ..
their
--their
-
MIS.
MIS.
---,_. -
---'-_., ----~- --~ -,

CHAPTER 5"
CHAPTER 5 45
 Step
Step III
III

STEP

Designing
and implementing
the MIS
Steps to put an MIS In place:
Choose the objectives of the
MIS

Select the information the

MIS will provide

Decide which information

sources will be used

Decide how to organize the

collection and analysis of data
Choose how to communicate
the results
Design training activities
Establish a monitoring system
Anticipate the MIS evaluation

r 11

1, ····MARKETING INFORMATIONSYSTEMS
MARKETING INFORMATION SYSTEMS .FOR
FOR NON-TIMBER
NON-TIMBERFOREST
FORESTPRODUCTS
PRODUCTS
 In this section,
section, each
each of
of these
these parts
parts isis addressed
addressedininturn,
turn,pointing
pointing out
out how
how the
information collected
collected in Step IIII should
in Step should be
be used
used in
inthe
the design
design decisions
decisions that
that need
need
to be made
made in Step III. These
Step III. These parts
partsfollow
follow an
an approximate
approximate order
order that
that will
will make
make
sense
sense for
for most
most users,
users,but
but need
neednot
not be
be followed strictly ifif another
followed strictly another sequence
sequence makes
more sense.
sense. Sometimes
Sometimesthey
theyare
areautomatically
automaticallycombined.
combined. For example, ifif there is
For example,
only one
one place
place to get the information, aa decision
decision about what data
data will be gath-
will be gath-
ered
ered will automatically determine
will automatically determine the
the source
source to be
be used.
used. In Uganda,
Uganda, once the de-
was made
cision was made to
to gather
gather information
information on buyer preferences, the primaly
preferences, the primaiy infor-
source was
mation source was clear
clear -- buyers
buyers themselves.
themselves.The
Thegroup
groupstill
still had
had to
to decide,
decide, how-
how-
ever,
ever, how
how many
many people
people itit would contact
contact and
and how it would
would get
get the
the information.
information.

THE SIZE
1HE SIZE ANP
AND COMPLEXltV OF TilE
COMPLEXITY OF THE MIS
MIS

As
As decisions
decisionsare aremade
made in in each
each stepstep ofof There areare no
no standard
standard guidelines
guidelines fOr for the
the MIS
MIS design,
design, special
special attention needs
attention needs optimal cost,
optimal cost, number of ofparticipants,
participants,
to be paid to the the scope
scope and complexity scope of
and scope of an
an MIS
MIS because
because this will will
of the undertaking
undertaking.Wherever
Whereverpossible,
possible, vary greatly. However; participants
greatly However,
in the
the initial
initial stages
stages of
of the
the MIS
MIS it is
is best
best toto should be
should be'aware
aware'thatthat the
theconstraints
constraints
reduce
reduce and simplify simplity as much
much as as possi-
possi- that most
that most often
often sabotage
sabotage thethesuccess
success of of .
ble, focusing on on the
themost
mostessential
essential ele-
ele- such a venture
such venture are are people's
people's time,
time, the
ments AA small,
ments. small, simple
simple system
system that that monetary costs
monetary costs of implementing
implementing the thesys-
sys-
works well can always be expanded lat- tem and the the capacity to manage
manage the the ac-
ac- .
er.
er ItIt is
is much moremore difficult
difficult to
to salvage
salvage a tivities of the MIS
tivities MIS. Users
Users should be be en-
en-
complicated system
complicated system thatthat has
has fallen
fallen couraged to
couraged toaddress
address these
these issues
issues frank-
apart.
apart ly with one
one another
anotherand andtotobe beas asrealis-
realis-
tic asas possible
possible about constraints
constraints that that
The initial
The initial enthusiasm
enthusiasm for for aa new ven-
ven- they face as as individuals
individuals and as as a group.
group
which isis sometimes
ture, which sometimes fueled
fueled by the They should also also be
be prepared
prepared to recon-
facilitator's vision and expectations, may may sider decisions
decisions they
they make
make in in the design
lead people to overestimate
lead people overestimate the the time phase as
phase as implementation
implementation gets gets under
and resources
resources they
they can
can devote to imple- way since it isis often
way often difficult
difficult to
to predict in
menting the MIS MIS. A
A participant
participant may
may ea-
ea- advance
advance how how things
things wiff
will work
work out in
gerly
gerly offer monitor pnces
offer to monitor prices at seven
seven practice.
practice
market stalls each
market stalls each Friday,
Friday, but
but wiff she be
will she be
able to meet this commitment
commitmentvveek week af-
ter week given all
week given all the other
other demands
demands
on her
hertime?
time?

CHAPTER 5··
CHAPTER 5
CHOOSING THE OEUECTIVES
CHOOSING THE THEMIS
OFTHE
OBJECTIVES OF MIS

The goal of any MIS

The MIS isisto
to increase
increase market
market transparency
transparency so
so that
that the
the producer
will
will have
have the information to make informed sales decisions and to
to increase
increase mar-
mar-
ket leverage.
leverage. The objectives focus the MIS
objectives focus MIS onon specific
specific products
products and pieces of of
information. The users will need to
marketing information. to decide
decidewhether
whethertheir
theirMIS
MIS will
will fo-
fo-
cus
cus on increasing
increasing the price
price they
they receive
receive for their products,
products, whether they
they are
are
seeking to
seeking to expand the number
number of
of markets
markets they use, whether they
they want to
to change
change
the kind of good they
they produce
produce so
so that
thatititsells
sells more
more quickly,
quickly, etc.
etc.

The information needed to

to narrow
natmw the
the objectives
objectives of
of the
the MIS
MIS was collected in
Step II.
Step II. ItIt is
is likely
likely that
that many
many possible
possible objectives
objectives surfaced
surfaced during discussions.
discussions. In
any enterprise, are multiple
enterprise, there are multiple avenues
avenues for
for improving
improving profitability.
profitability. The task at
this point is
this is to
to prioritize
prioritize the
the possibilities
possibilities and
and to
to focus
focus on
on those
those that are likely to
likely to
generate the highest returns
returns for
for the
the users.
users. As
As aa starting
starting point,
point, identify
identify several ar-
eas in which local businesses might
local businesses might be
be improved
improved and then consider
consider how readily
readily
information isis available
information available to
to increase
increase the
the transparency
transparency of
of this
this part
part of the
the business.
business.
Specifically,the
Specifically, thefacilitator
facilitatormay
maywant
wanttoto orient
orient the
the discussion of objectives
objectives around
four key questions.

1. What W~Clt are

ar~ the principal
prjncipal problems
prol>h~m,s users face in
LI~ers fi='ce in thei~
their
f\jTf P enterpri~«:~?,
NTFP enterprises?
What do they need to know to overcome these
,'l, •.. . Wl1i='t~Qt'1eY"fJ~e~c;ctJl,I<J1o""Joc9x.~r5QI11,~ .t!l~~eproblems?
g~l>I~fTls?,
3. What
WhC'it kind
kind of
of.information
inforflla!ionca" b~.most
can be mostreadily
rea,dilyaccessed
Clccessed by
byusers?
users?,
4. What kind
kind of
ofinformation
~
informationcan
, " '
canusers
,
users use
",'
use in
" '
in their
"
theirbusiness
",
business
" " "", " ,'" , , ' ")

,!~ci~JQ'1-mClI~1ng?,
. __decision-making?
Questions
Questions 1 and 2 can best
best be
be addressed
addressed using
using the
the marketing
marketing chain
chain dia-
dia-
grams
grams that
that were
were prepared during
during the
the assessment
assessment step. As users
step. As users compare
compare the
the mar-
mar-
keting chains
keting chains (see
(see Figure 3) for
Figure 3) for different
different products
products and
and examine each marketing
individually, they
chain individually, they will
will begin
begin to
to identify
identify the
the bottlenecks
bottlenecks and constraints that
constraints that
causing difficulties.
are causing difficulties.

····MARKETING INFORMATION SYSTEMS

MARKETING INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR
FOR NON-TIMBER
NON-TIMBERFOREST
FORESTPRODUCTS
PRODUCTS
Figure 3:
Figure 3: Uganda
Uganda mar'<eting
marketing chain
chain

Papyrus
Papyrus
from swamp
from swamp
Sold
Sold to
to tourists
tourists
especially:
especially:

Dye fibres
Oye So
$ fibres Bought by locals
Ought by locals • baskets
baskets
:======:;::::='~:::: for women foto
for women • trays
trays
from market
from market • mobiles
mobiles
produoe baskets
produce baskets

Sisalawood
Sisala wood
~~=====:=~ Ought
Bought byby locals
locals Sold
Sold wholesale
wholesale Sold
Sold to locals
to locals
from forest
from forest for women foto make
for women make for household use
for household use
mats and
mats and mobiles
mobiles toto traders
traders
and
and wedding
wedding gifts,
gifts,

for retail
for retail :===~ especially:
especially:
Banana
Banana fibres
fibres • trays
trays
from plantations :=::====:;:=::::=::: Ought
from plantations Bought byby locals
locals sale
sale by by male
male • baskets
baskets
for women
for women and
and female
female
• mats
mats
to make
to make trays
trays • brooms
brooms

Wood
WoodSo$ straw
straw traders
traders

from bush
from bush
:==::===:;:==i 0ought Bought by
by locals
locals Sold to traders
'------.---"-----/ for men
for men tofo make
make for
rssale
L°Id In urbann
tat titnutla

brooms
brooms
centres So$ export
centres export,
especially:
especially:
• baskets
baskets
• trays
frays

Once these problems are

are identified,
identified, the users
users can
can list
list the kind
kind of
of information
information
they will need (question
(question 2)
2) to
to find
find solutions.
solutions. This
This might
might include:
include: better
better informa-
informa-
product demand
tion on product demand or
or purchasers'
purchasers' preferences;
preferences; insight
insight into what truckers do
with the products and how much
much profit
profit they eam;
earn; and price
price levels for
for goods
goods sold
in area markets
markets and transportation
transportation options
options for
for reaching
reaching those
thosemarkets.
markets.

Question 3 then asks

asks to
to assess
assess the
the difficulty
difficulty of obtaining
obtaining the information
information
identified as potentially useful.
useful. Some
Some information might
might be useful but would re- re-
quire too much work to to collect
collect and
and analyse.
analyse. InIn the
the example
example above,
above, itit might
might be
be
quite easy
quite easy to
to conduct
conduct a survey
survey of buyers'
buyers' preferences
preferences among
among people
people who pass
by on
on the
the road.
road. ItIt might
might be
be considerably
considerably more
more difficult
difficult to
to gather
gather information
information from
further markets if the
the cost and time
time of
of transport
transport are
are real
real constraints.
constraints.

CHAPTER 5 ..
CRAFTER
CIO
 Question 4 simply asks
asks the users to be realistic
realistic about what information
information they
will use People
People operate
operateenterprises
enterpriseswith
withdifferent
different levels
levels of
of sophistication
sophistication and
have different personal constraints.
constraints. The objectives
objectives of the MIS should be
MIS should be in
in line
line
with the nature
nature of
of the
the enterprise
enterprise and
and the
the users'
users' situation.
situation. A
A group
group ofof young, un-
un-
married men might be willing
willing to
to put
putthe
theextra
extraeffort
effortinto
intovisiting
visitingfar-off
far-off markets
markets
profits, they could reorient their busi-
because if they find ways to improve their profits, busi-
ness in that direction.
direction. A group of mothers involved in a similar business might
similar business might
decide that itit is
is entirely
entirely impractical
impractical to spend long
long days
days away
away from
from the
the village
village and
and
conclude that there is no use even exploring
exploring that option.

light of the discussion

In light discussion of these four questions,
questions, the users should prioritize
prioritize
their objectives, focusing on
objectives, focusing on the
the option that is likely to give them the best return
return
for their investment
for time and resources. It is often useful to compile
investment of time compile aa list
list of
of
advantages
advantages and disadvantages for each option being considered. One way to fa-
disadvantages for fa-
cilitate
cilitate aa discussion
discussion that
that prioritizes
prioritizes people's
people's interests is to list all
all the options on
on aa
piece of paper. Collect
Collect aa pile
pile of stones,
stones, and ask the group to to prioritize
prioritize the op-
tions by putting
tions putting more
more stones
stones next
next to
to the
the ones that they consider more
more viable
viable and
and
fewer stones next to those that
that are
are lesser
lesser priorities. As they
priorities. As they place
place the
the stones,
stones, peo-
ple will explain another. At this
explain why they think one idea is better than another. this point,
point, they
are deciding how
how they
theywill
will focus
focus the
theinitial
initialactivities
activities of
oftheir
theirMIS.
MIS. At
At a later time,
they may be able to expand their
may be their objectives to cover
objectives to cover other
other products
products or other
problems they have identified.
identified .

50 MARKETING INFORMATION
..... ···MARKETING INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR NON-TIMBER FOREST
SYSTEMS FOR FOREST PRODUCTS
PRODUCTS
 CH009IN&
CHOOSING OlJECTIVES
OBJECTIVES ANDDETERMININ&
AND DETERMINING
INFORMATIONNEEDS:
INFORMATION NEEDS: THE
THE PHILIPPINES
PHILIPPINES
participants in-
village, participants
In one Philippine village, The participants set criteria
cntena for determin-
itially
itially wanted
wanted to to investigate
investigate the entireentire products would
ing which products would bebe included
included .
production
production and and sale
sale chain
chainfor each of
for each in the
the MIS stUdy. They
MIS study They decided
decided to in-
their agroforestry
agroforestry products.
products They They soon
soon clude a product only if (1)
clude (l) itit were
were al-
al-
realized
realized that
that such
suchan anundertaking
undertaking would
would ready being produced
produced locally,
locally, (2)
(2) people
be far too vastvast and complicated for the
and complicated the significant marketing
felt that they had significant marketing
resources
resources they they had
had available. They deci-
available They problems with
problems with that good,
good, and (3)(3) the
the
ded instead
ded instead to focus
focus on on monitoring
monitoring product could be measured
measured and quan-
prices in
prices in local markets for a more limi-
local markets easily, so
tified easily, soititwould
would be possible to
be possible
ted
ted range
range of products
products. They They felt
felt that collect comparable
collect comparable price pnce data
data without
they could always move further
always move further into the much difficulty
too much difficulty. The
The goods
goods that met
that met
marketing chainchain asas the
the assessment
assessment pro- these criteria
criteria and wereselected
and were selected for
for fur-
fur-
gressed.
gressed stUdy were:
ther study wholecoconuts,
were whole coconuts, black
black
pepper, ginger, cassava,
pepper, cassava, two varieties of
two varieties
bananas and eggplant
bananas eggplant.

CH009IN&O'~ECTIV~9ANDDETERMININ&
CHOOSING OBJECTIVES ANO DETERMINING
INFORMATIONNEEOS: U&ANPA
INFORMATION NEEDS: UGANDA

I Immediately following the

Immediately theassessment
assessment more about
they knew more about consumer
consumer pref-
pref-
phase, the facilitator requested the pop-
phase, erences, perhaps
erences, perhaps they
they could target the
the
ulation to review
review the
the results
results of
of the
the as-
as- more effectively
demand more effectively.
sessment
sessmentand andtoto decide
decide how felt
how they felt
their
their businesses could be
businesses could be best
best im-
im- They
They decided
decided to focus on three of the
to focus
proved. They did this
proved. They this in
in his
his absence
absence. principal handicraft items
principal items produced in
Upon his return they told him that they area: mats, stools and baskets
the area. baskets. They
They
thought the
thought the purpose
purposeofofthe theMIS
MIS should
should thoughtofofall
then thought alJthe
thecharacteristics
characteristics of
be to increase sales
salesand
andthe the number
number of these products
these products that might might affect con-
affect con-
markets for
markets for handicrafts
handicrafts that
that were being sumer preferences
sumer preferences. The list was long, long,
produced inin the
the area.
area. but eventually
eventually theythey decided
decided to limit
limit
inquiry to
their inquiry to four
fourquestions,
questions, asking
asking
He then
He then asked
asked them
them to think
think about
about consumers about their preferences
about their preferences con-
what information
information they needed
needed to im-im- cerning ((I)
1 )size,
size, (2)
(2) colours, (3) weav-
colours, (3)
prove
prove the marketing
marketing of handicrafts
handicrafts. Af-
Af- patterns, and
ing patterns, and (4)/4) the
the type
type of raw
ter some
some reflection,
reflection, they decided
decided that if used.
material used

CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 5 ..
11,
 ORGANIZING DATA
ORGANIZING DATA COLLECTION
COLLECTION AND
AND ANALYSIS
ANALYSIS

Once the users are clear on the purpose

purpose of
of the
the MIS
MIS and have decided more
specificallywhat
specifically what kind
kind of
of information
information they
they want
want to
to gather,
gather, the next task is to or-
or-
ganize the collection
ganize the data and decide
collection of the decide how
how itit will
will be
be analysed.
analysed.

This involves
This involves decisions
decisions about
about who will
will collect
collect the data, where itit will be col-
col-
lected, how it will
will be recorded, and what will be done with
with itit once
once itit is
is gathered.
gathered.
Two key considerations
considerations are that
that the
the system
system provide
provide information
information that
that is
is both
both ac-
ac-
curate timely and
curate and timely and that
that itit not
not pose
pose too
too great
great aa burden on the people
people who
who vol-
vol-
unteer their time as data collectors.
collectors.

designing the data collection system,

In designing system, four
four questions
questions need to be answered.
answered.

What data are needed and how often

does it have to be
does
~>o..";'7P-;C~
be collected?
collected?
-_/::-:'_~~'" - - "'W _'_' ~ --r'___ -;;-~. -- __ -~ _ -- _"/'-_~:_' ____________" __ -=-~!'(

2. Where are data to bebe collected?

collected?
V---/'--""'-;"-""7,C"- ',--v ,_____ " v,, _'M"O"'_V ,_,,_,,~;<p_~_" . , . N ' V " " __, ____ v ' _ _ •____ " _ ,

3. Who is
is available to collect
collect the
the data?
data?
~v __ -- ",-'"""·~-::-;:-;;:_::-;c;:-v-~ ,: ><;:/c:-::~:"':;':';;;:~~;c~_;<.-- v - --\"T"\7::;:C'T;::'?_~7':0~;:; -;;::_V::<;T"';'_~'7i

4. When do users
/, -v,
need to
users need to have
have the
the information?
-"----:::-::::~_.~-_'--c;:
information? .,,"_v--_-,-.~ _;-~=;---:=-77~c:T'- '~--v--"" ~'" _ '·<:--77~:'.~-::::-3

The first question can

first question can be
be answered
answered in part by the
the work
work that
that was
was already
already
done in
in establishing
establishing objectives
objectives (Step
(Step I).
1). This
This will have clarified
clarified whether
whether the
theMIS
MIS
is looking
is looking at prices,
prices, consumer preferences,
preferences, transport
transport options,
options, etc.
etc. How often in-
formation is collected depends
depends in
inpart
parton
onhow
howvariable
variablethe
theinformation
informationis.is.PfiCeS
Prices
for certain perishable products may change almost daily depending on a host
host of
of
supply and demand
demand factors.
factors. It
It will
will be necessary
necessary to
to gather
gather information
information on
on prices
prices
for this
for this type
type of good
good much more often than for
for a non-perishable good that has a
fairly stable price.
fairly stable price. Other information,
information, such
such as
as the costs of transport options, may
few times
change only a few times aa year
year depending
depending on the season.

The data collection

collection system will be designed in part
part around
aroundhow
howdifficult
difficult itit isis
to access
access the sites where data are
are available
available (question 2).
2). The system design de-
pends on whether all
all the
the information
information can be gathered
gathered in
in aa local
local market
market that
that is
is
widely frequented by the
the MIS participants or
MIS participants or whether
whether it is
is necessaty
necessary to
to send peo-

•• MARKETING INFORMATION
·····MARI(ETING INFORMATION SYSTEMS
SYSTEMS FOR
FOR NON-TIMBER
NON-TIMBERFOREST
FORESTPRODUCTS
PRODUCTS
 pie farther
pIe away to
farther away to gather information. In the
information. In the first
first case,
case, many
many people
people may
may par-
par-
ticipate by
ticipate by each
each gathering
gathering prices
prices for
for one
one or two
two items
items from
from one
one or two sellers. If
sellers. If
market is
the market is farther
farther away,
away, itit may
maymake
make more
moresense
sense to
to send
send just
just one
one person
person to
to
all the
gather all the information
information but
but take
take turns
turns making
making the
the trip
trip so
so that
that the burden does
not fall
fall too heavily
heavily on any one person.
anyone person.

Question 3 assesses the interest

interest and
and willingness
willingness of
ofMIS
lVlIS participants to con-
con-
tribute their
tribute their time
time to
to gather
gather data
data that
that will
will be
be used
used by the group or
or the
the communi-
communi-
ty at large. is also
large. It is also important to have information
information on collectors' schedules and
alternative
alternative activities
activitiesso
so that
that the
the data collection system meshes well with their
their time
time
constraints. The
constraints. The more
more convenient
convenient the system is,
is, the more likely that people will
will
continue to
to participate.
participate.

77&YIN,"

In selecting data collectors,

collectors, knowledge, enthusiasm
enthusiasm and
and reliability
reliability will
will be
key considerations. The MIS
considerations. The MISoperators
operatorsshould
shouldbe
bepeople
people who
who intend
intend to
to use
use the
the
information since they are most likely to feel a personal investment
information since investment in
in making
making
the system work properly.
properly. Certain
Certain people may be "natural" choices as data col-
"natural" choices
lectors. If a price information
lectors. information system
system isis being
being created
created to
to gather data from differ-
differ-
ent market
market places, data
data collectors
collectors should be chosen
chosen wherever
wherever possible
possible from
from
among people who already
already frequent those markets. this can
markets. If this can be arranged,
arranged, the
information will
costs of gathering information will be
be minimized,
minimized, and
and the collector may already
know people that
that s/he
s/he can
can use
use as
as sources
sourcesof
ofinformation.
information.

CHAPTER 5 ..
CHAPTER
4 ID
 becomes clear in the design stage that the demand
If it becomes demand for
for information
information is
higher than the
the willingness
willingness of
of participants
palticipants to
to contribute
contribute to
to its
its collection,
collection, itit will
will be
be
necessary to reconsider some of the earlier
earlier decisions
decisions concerning the typetype and
and
amount of information to be gathered. In such
such cases,
cases, itit may
may be
be necessary
neceSSalY to
to scale
scale
the objectives
down the objectives from
from those that
that were
were initially
initially established.

Finally, in designing
Finally, in designing the
the system,
system, think
think about
about when the information
information is need-
ed. If participants
participants always market their
always market their products
products on Saturday, they will
Saturday, they will need
need to
have information about the prices
prices being
being paid
paid in
in area
area markets
markets by
byearly
earlyFriday
Friday so
so
they can plan
plan their
their activities
activities accordingly.

Once all this information

all this informationisisininhand,
hand, the
the system
systemcan
canbe
be designed
designed to
to be
be as
as ap-
propriate as possible to local needs and
and resources.
resources. The
The design
design should
should specify
specify
who will
will collect the information, where they will
information, where will go
go to
to get it, when they
they will
bring it back, what they should
should do with it and to whom to report
report in
in case
case of
of dif-
dif-
ficulty. If
ficulty. If any
any financial
financial costs
costsare
are involved
involved (such
(such as
as paying
paying fares
fares to collect prices
in distant markets)
markets) the
the design
design should be clear
clear on how
how people
peoplewill
will be
be reimbursed.
reimbursed.
In many cases, MISs rely entirely
MISs rely entirely on
on volunteers
volunteers to collect the information
information and
manage the system.
system. It is
is also
also possible
possible to devise
devise a system
system in which members
members pay
dues (either a fixed sum or a percentage of
of their
their sales) that are used to
to compen-
compen-
sate people who contribute
contribute especially
especially large amounts of time to the activities of
activities of
the MIS or to
MIS or to cover
cover other
other necessalY
necessary expenses. It will often be possible
possible to
to collect
collect
once the
fees once the MIS
MIS has proven itself
itself to the community.
community.

41» MARKETING INFORMATION

···MARKETING INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR NON-TIMBER
SYSTEMS FOR NON-TIMBER FOREST
FOREST PRODUCTS
PRODUCTS
 DATA COLLECTION: THE PHILIPPINES
DATA COLLECTION: THE PHILIPPINES
In
In aa Philippines
Philippines village, participants
village, participants Each
Each data collector visited
data collector visited the
the as-
as-
decided
decided to monitor
monitor prices
prices for
for six
six dif- signed market once aa weekweek and
and gath-
ferent products (see
ferent products previous Philip-
(see previous Philip- ered price information from five differ-
from five
pines
pines text box)box): coconuts,
coconuts, pepper,
pepper, ent traders
traders. They
They were expected
expected to
ginger, cassava, bananas
ginger, cassava, bananas and and egg- turn in their
their price
price information to the the
plant. Nowthey
plant Now they had
had to decide wherewhere record
record keeper
keeper no later thanthan Saturday
Saturday
they would gathergather thethe information
information. morning so
morning so that
that pnce
price information
information
They considered
They considered aa largelarge number
number of could be
could be updated,
updated, compiled,
compiled, and and
possible sites,
possible but eventually
sites,but eventually ruled
ruled out posted
posted before
before farmers
farmerswent went toto the
many of of them
them because
because of of the
the costs
costs in- markets to sell
weekly markets sell their products
products
volved in travelling
volved travelling to get get the
the infor-
infor- on Sunday
Sunday.
mation.They
mation Theysettled
settled on five markets
onfive markets:
roadside market
a roadside market in in the village,
village, the collectors had
The data collectors had a form they
they
local community market
local community market and three
and three used
used to record
record thethe information
information (see
(see
markets in different
markets different nearby cities.
nearby cities. Appendix 44 for
Appendix for aa copy
copy of
of the
the data
data col-
col-
They
They also
also decided
decided to to monitor radioradio lection sheets).
sheets). Because
Because thethe data col-
television reports
and television reports to get an idea idea lectors reported some suspicion
howlocal
of how localprices
prices compared
compared vvith with among the
among the people
people they contacted for
the national fi0ures.
national finures. information,
information, it was decided that they
wearspecial
should wear special vests
vests that identi-
identi-
Ten
Ten people volunteered to serve as
to serve as fied their
fied their function.
function. Once
Once their
their role
role
data collectors.
data collectors. They
They were divideddivided was carefully explained to the the traders
traders
teams of two, with
into teams witheach
each team
team re-
re- they wore
and they wore thethe vests
vests that
that were
were
sponsible for one of
sponsible of the markets
markets that provided them,
provided them, theythey encountered
encountered
would be
would bevisited.
visited. InInmost
mostcases,
cases, thethe fewer difficulties
difficulties in their data
data collec-
collec-
volunteer already
volunteer already hadhad activities
activities in the tion activities.
activities.
market
market to which
which she she was
was assigned.
assigned.

DAl'A~CO(LtCTION:U&ANPA·
DATA COLLECTION: UGANDA
~ In Uganda,
l/Qflnda,the MIS activities were
theMIS were fo- using the
In addition to using forms, data
the forms, data
cused
cused on consumer
consumerpreferences,
preferences, ..ra-
ra- collectors were to
collectors to survey
survey customers'
customers'
therthan
ther prices. The
than prices. The participants de- de: preferences. At
preferences first the
At first the data
data collec-
collec-
vised a
vised system to
a system to collect information tors were reticent to botherbother thethe custo-
custo-
the kinds
on the kinds of of goods
goods that
that were
were sold
sold mers
mers. They
They soon
soon found,
found, however,
however,
different handicraft
in different handicraftstores/markets
stores/markets. people didn't
that people didn't mindmind answenng
answering
They
They asked
asked the the clerk
clerk who sold the
who sold questions and
the questions this proved
and this proved to be
goods to fillfill out
out aa short form for for each
each another useful source of information
another useful information.
sold. The
item sold Theformform(see
(see Appendix
Appendix 4) 4J Direct interviews
Direct interviews with with consumers
consumers
spaces to
had spaces to note
note down whatwhat waswas were particulatly
particularly useful
useful inin getting in-
sold and
sold and its characteristics (size,
as characteristics (size, formation on potential
formation potential new product
colour, and material)
colour, material). The
The data
data collec-
collec- lines (what people
lines people mightmight be beinteres-
interes-
tors collected
tors collected the forms forms on a regular in buying
ted in buying inin the
thefuture)
future) since
since this
this
basis and
basis and submitted them to to the
the MIS
MIS information could
information could not be be obtained
obtained
Secretary
Secretarywho who keptkept them
them until they
they the actual
from the actualsales
sales data
data.
were analysed
were analysed atat the the end
end of thethe
month.

CHAPTER
CHAPTER 5
5 ..
DESIGNING RECORD-KEEPING
DESIGNING RECORD-'{EEPING SYSTEMS AND ANALYSIS
SYSTEMS AND

Once the data have been

been collected,
collected, itit is
is essential
essential to have aa record-keeping
record-keeping
system that can
system that can keep
keep track the information
track of the information and
and ensure
ensure that
that itit does
does not become
lost or confused. Record-keeping
Record-keeping and
and analysis
analysis are
are closely
closely related.
related. Sometimes
Sometimes this
this
is referred to as turning "data"
is referred into "information.
"data" into "information. """Data" are the
"Data" are the rows
rows and rows
of raw nuinbers
numbers that are turned
turned in
in by
by the
the data
datacollectors.
collectors. "Information"
"Information" results
when
when these
these numbers
numbers are
are organized,
organized, compiled
compiled and
and presented
presented inin aa way
way that
that isis use-
use-
ful the MIS
ful to the MIS participants.

Record-keeping starts
Record-keeping startswith
with the
the data
data collectors,
collectors,as
as noted
noted in
in the
the preceding sec-
sec-
tion. It is generally easiest if the data collectors record the
tion. the information
information on
on forms
forms
that they then give to the record-keeper.
record-keeper. It
It is
is also
also possible for each data
data collec-
collec-
tor to keep a notebook
notebook in
in which s/he
s/he jots
jots down
down the
the prices.
prices. The
The data collector
collector
then submits the notebook to the record-keeper
submits the record-keeper who will transfer the prices
transfer the prices to
to
his or her own
own notebook
notebook and
and return
returnthe
theoriginal
original to
to the
thedata
datacollector.
collector. ItIt isis im-
im-
portant
p01tant that the data
data collectors
collectors keep neat
neat records
records soso that
that itit is
is clear
clear what
what each each
nuinber means.
number means. The worth of the whole MIS MIS depends on the the accuracy
accuracy of the in- in-
formation is gathered and recorded by
formation that is by the
the data
data collectors.
collectors.

The next task is for the record-keeper to record all

all the information
information that has
been collected
collected from the different data collectors. The system
collectors. The system will
willdepend
depend on
on the
kind of information that isis being
information that being gathered,
gathered, the number of products that are be-
be-
ing followed
followed and the
the number
number of
of markets
markets visited.
visited. It may make sense, for example,
for the record-keeper to have a separate notebook for each product so that that all
all
the information about mangoes is is in one book
book and
and all
all the
the information
information about ba-
ba-
nanas is in another.
another. The record-keeper should be sure to record all the informa-
informa-
tion available: the date
available: the date the data were collected,
collected, where it was collected and what
information was obtained.

At this
At this stage,
stage, the
the record-keeper may find it useful to begin summarizing
summarizing the
data in aa way
way that
that will
will be
be more
moreuser-friendly.
user-friendly. This
This isis really
really the
the start
start of
ofanalysis.
analysis.
In the Philippines case, for example,
example, each week more
more than
than 300
300 prices
prices were
were col-
col-
lected (six products in five markets, with 10
five markets, sellers in
10 sellers in each
each market).
market). Instead
Instead of
recording all 300 prices, which
300 prices, which would be unwieldy
unwieldy and not
not terribly
terribly useful,
useful, the
the

... ························MARI<ETING INFORMATIONSYSTEMS

MARKETING INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR
FOR NON-TIMBER
NON-TIMBERFOREST
FORESTPRODUCTS
PRODUCTS
 record-keeper might average
average each good in each
each market.
market. In
In aa given
given market
market s/he
s/he
will
will be presented with 10
10 prices for coconut. One way to summarize
summarize the price
for that market would be to eliminate
eliminate the highest
highest and lowest
lowest price, and
and then
then av-
av-
erage the remaining
remaining eight prices (add them
them all
all and
and divide
divide by
by eight).
eight). S/he
S/he would
would
do the same
same for
for coconut
coconut prices
prices in
in the
the other
otherfour
four markets.
markets. In
In this
this way,
way, MIS users
MIS users
would be able
able to
to compare
compare the
the average
average price
price for
for coconut
coconut in
in each
each of
of the
the five
five mar-
mar-
kets (see Table
Table 1).
1).

Table 11:= Price

Table Price of
of coconuts
coconuts in
in five
five markets
marlcets
March 20, 1993
March 20, 1993

MARmA
MARKET A MARme
MARKET 13 MARmc
MARKET C MARmO
MARKET O MARmE
MARK ET E

seller
seller 11 3.00
300 3.50
350 3.00
300 3.00
300 3.50
350

seller Z
seller 2 32{r~
320 3.50
350 3.00
300 _~.otr
5 00 3.50
350

seller 3
seller 3 3.00
300 3.70
370 3.Z0
320 3.10
310 ,3,6(},'
360

seller 44
seller 3.00
300 3.20
320 320
320 3.20
320 3.50
350

seller
seller 55 3.00
300 3.20
320 3.20
320 3.20
320 3;40
3,40

seller 6
seller 6 ,,k8Q-/
280 3.20
320 3.20
320 _.3:6{r·
350 3.40
340

seller
seller 7
7 3.00
300 .,3JlO~
300 _.3:40/
340 3.20
320 3.50
350

seller
seller 8g 3.00
300 3.50
350 3.00
300 3.20
320 ,,3.28"
.3 20

seller
seller 9
9 3.00
300 3.50
350 1.gO/
280 3.20
320 3.40
340

seller 10
seller 10 3.10
310 _3:70'"
_378 3.00
300 3.10
310 3.50
350

Average 24J -+ 8=
241 g~ Z7.3 -+ 8=
27.3 g~ Z4.g
248 += g=
8= 25.2 g~
252 -+ 8= 24.7 -+ 8=
247 g~
price
crice 3.01
301 3.41
341 3.10
310 3.15
315 3.46
346
., tHarket
ni market

CHAPTER 5 ......
CHAPTER
 Figure
Figure 4:
4: Bar graph showirvg
Bar graph price of
showing price of coconuts
coconuts in
in five markets
five marlc:ets
March 20, 1993
March 20, 1993

4.00
400

346
3.10 3.15
3.01
3.00
300

z.oo00

1.00
loo

oo
MARKHA
MARKET A MhRKH e
MARKET MARKH e
MARKET C MARKETE MARKET E

Once the data have been recorded, recorded, some thought needs to to be
be given
given to
to the
the
best way to present it. it. In
In some
some cases,
cases, aa table
table with
with neatly
neatly labelled
labelled coMmns
columns and
rows
rows may
may be the fastest
fastest way way to
to present the information.
information. ItIt isis also
also aa good ap-
when space
proach when space isis limited.
limited. Sometimes
Sometimes rows rows and rows of numbers can can be
be con-
con-
fusing, however. Data
fusing, however. Data can also be presented
presented withwith visual
visual diagrams,
diagrams, suchsuch as
as bar
bar
graphs and trend
trend lines,
lines, which make the meanings meanings of the numbers
numbers moremore clear.
clear.
Bar graphs
graphs are generally
generally used to compare two two kinds
kinds of
of information.
information. They could
be used, for
for example,
example, to to show
show how prices for
howprices for coconut
coconut valy
vaty inin different markets.
different niarkets.
In this
this case, prices are
case, prices are put on the the vertical
vertical axis the graph (see Figure 4),
axis of the 4), and
the different
different markets are on the the horizontal
horizontal axis.
axis. By
By looking at the height
height of
of the
the
block, it is
block, is easy to see which market has the best best price
price for
for aa given
given item.
item .

Clo ............ MARI<ETING INFORMATION SYSTEMS

MARKETING INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR
FOR NON-TIMBER
NON-TIMBERFOREST
FORESTPRODUCTS
PRODUCTS
 Trend lines
Trend lines (see Figure 5) show how things (like price or quantity
Figure 5) quantity
time. In this case,
sold) change over time. case, time
time is
is put on the
the horizontal
horizontal ax-
is
is and the variable
variable that changes
changes (price
(price or quantity
quantity sold)
sold) isis put
put on the
vertical axis.

It is up to
to the
the MIS
MIS participants
participants to decide how
how itit will
will organize
organize to
to
analyse the
analyse the collected data. Some
collected data. Some may
may want
want to
to meet
meet weekly
weekly or
monthly to review
monthly to review the
the data
data as
as aa group
group and determine how it can be
presented and used
used in
in an
an interesting
interesting way. In
In other
other cases,
cases, they
they may
may
want to delegate one or more members of the group to compile the
information and
information and then post it for others to use.

Information that
Information that has
has been recorded and
and collected
collected should
should always
always be stored
stored
somewhere safe. Data about prices
safe. Data prices should
should not be thrown out
out the
the week
week after
after itit is
used, for example, because at some
some later
later point the
the MIS may need to look at how
MIS may
prices have changed. The old data
data will prove very
velY useful in such a case.

Figure 5:
Figure 5: Trend
Trend line
line for
for price
price of
of coconuts in market
coconuts in marlc:et A
A (1993)
(1993)

PRIC~
PRICE
5.60
360 350
5.50 350
5.50 5AO
340 340
5AO
340 3 20 320
5.20
320 310 310 310
300
5.00 301
5.00
300
280
no
280 4,---
2.60
260
2.40
240

i t I II e' i I I i- 4-
a 4

CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 5 .. ......................................................................................•
 RECORP"KEEPING: tHE PHILIPPINES
RECORD-KEEPING: THE PHILIPPINES

In the Philippines,
Philippines, the data collectors
collectors submitted
submitted their
theirsheets
sheets byby Saturday
Saturday
morning tothe
morning to therecord-keeper
record-keeper.The Therecord-keeper,
record-keeper, as as described in the
the text,
text
would average
would average thethe prices
prices that
that were
were collected
collected for
for the
the goods
goods inin each
each market
market.
She
Shewould
would then, in turn,
turn, record
record these
these average prices
prices on on a form.
form AA space
space on the
the
bottom of
of the
the dated
dated recording
recording sheets
sheets left room for
for her
her to
to note
noteany
anyspecific
specific
comments from the data data collectors
collectors or issues
issues she
shenoted
noted in in compiling data.
compiling the data

INFORMAtiONRECORDING
INFORMATION RECORPING ANP
ANO ANALYSIS: UGANPA
ANALYSIS: UGANDA

The data collectors

collectors visited
visited each
each of
of the
the roadside
roadside handicraft
handicraft stands
stands that
that were
were
recording
recording sales
salesinformation
information and
and brought completed forms
brought the completed forms totothethesecretary.
secretary.
At the end of of the month,
month, the
the secretary
secretary tabulated the information on each
month's sales
sales for
for each
each shop or sales
sales outlet
outlet (see
(seeAppendix
Appendix 4).
4) This information
information
was then presented in bar charts charts to show the volume
volume of
ofsales
sales for
for products
products with
with
different characteristics. Using these
characteristics Using these visual
visual aids,
aids, the MIS
MIS members
members held held aa
meeting at the end of of each
each month
month to todiscuss
discuss the findings and thethe implications
implications
their business
for their business ventures
ventures.

HowTO
CHOOSING HOW TOCOMMUNICATE
COMMUNICATERESULTS
RESULTS

analysed and transformed

Once the data have been compiled, analysed transformed into
into useable
useable
ne}..'! step
information, the next step is to communicate
communicate this
this information to the
the MIS
MIS partici-
pants so
pants so that
that they
they can
can act on it to improve
act on improve their
their business
business ventures.
ventures. The
The whole
whole ef-
is in vain
fort is vain ififthe
the information
information isis not
not communicated
communicated effectively
effectively to the
the potential
potential
users; hence, itit makes
users; hence, makes sense
sensetoto put
put considerable
considerable thought
thought into the design of
of the
the
communication system.
communication system.

Discussions about
Discussions about alternative
alternative communication strategies
strategies should
should focus
focus on at
least four questions.
questions.

1. Who
Who is is the
the MIS MISta targeting
. . rg~tiI19w.
, .. _-
with information?
jt.h.c.t.n.c.1QLrIJ
-_.
. at.iQ"-Z
2. What kind of of information information will will, be
-be transmitted?
transmitted?
- . {

3. When
__________ ---=---___
is
is the information
information
_-=---___-:. .- __
needed?
__ __
.:....::..--:~~"_::~-'----- ~
needed?
-_-~-_.:.-~~_--::_3

What communications options are available?

60 .................. ···MARI<ETING INFORMATION SYSTEMS

MARKETING INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR
FOR NON-TIMBER
NON-TIMBERFOREST
FORESTPRODUCTS
PRODUCTS
 The first
first of these questions, identification
identification of
of the
the MIS
NIlS constituency,
constituency, is often
the most controversial.
controversial. ItIt isis here
here that the decision must be made about
about whether
whether
the system will
will be inclusive, which allows any interested person
person access
access to
to infor-
infor-
wheth~r itit will
mation, or whether will be
be exclusive,
exclusive, limiting information to members of a par-
par-
ticular group. This
ticular group. This is
is an important factor
factor in
in choosing how information will
will be
be
communicated since some types of communication (radio, public notice boards)
are more inclusive
inclusive while
while others (private
(private meetings,
meetings, word
word of mouth between mem-
bers, notice boards in
in private
private areas)
areas) are
are more
more exclusive.
exclusive.

often good
There are often good reasons
reasonsfor
forfavouring
favouring either
either an
anexclusive
exclusive or
oran
aninclusive
inclusive
MIS; neither option
MIS; neither option isis inherently
inherently more
more appropriate
appropriate than the other.
other. While an ex-
clusive system can
clusive system can help
help equalize the balance of power inin aa trading
trading system,
system, it also
can antagonize those involved in trading
trading who
who do not have access
access to the
the informa-
informa-
tion. In deciding
tion. deciding with
with whom to
to share
share information,
information, itit is
is important
important to
to assess
assess
whether the
the benefits
benefits of
of limited
limited access to information would be worth the risk
information would risk of
antagonizing another,
another, more powerful trading
trading player.
player. In the
the Philippines,
Philippines, for
for exam-
exam-
ple, when
when traders
traders felt
felt threatened by
by the
the information,
information, they erased data and spread
spread
rumours about the data's
rumours clata's unreliability.
unreliability. The possibility
possibility of this
this type of
of reaction
reaction
needs to
to be
be considered
considered when
whendeciding
decidingwhich
whichtype
typeof
ofMIS
MIS is
is more appropriate.
appropriate.

It is also important to think about the

the characteristics
characteristics of the target population
in selecting the mode of
of communication.
communication. If the users are mostly
mostly illiterate,
illiterate, posting
on aa bulletin
a table of numbers on bulletin board
board will
will be
be ineffective.
ineffective. If
If they are broadly
broadly dis-
dis-
persed, posting
posting information in a central place may not meet their needs. If If the
MIS users are
MIS users are too
too poor
poor to own radios, then broadcasts
broadcasts will not be useful.
useful. If they
come from
come from different
different ethnic
ethnic groups,
groups, they
they may
may not
not understand
understand an
an announcement
announcement
made in
in just
just one
one language.
language.

The second issue

issue concerns
concerns the
the type
type of
ofinformation
information toto be
be transmitted.
transmitted. If
If the
the
is velY
information is very simple,
simple, communications
communications strategies
strategies will
will be
be different
different than if the
information isis more
information complicated. IfIf ~here
more complicated. ;here are
are only
only three
three prices
prices to
to be transmitted
(say for
(say for mangoes
mangoes in
in three
three different
different markets)
markets)then
then itit may
may be
be enough
enough to
to rely
rely on
on
word of
of mouth
mouth among
among the
the members.
members. IfIf there
there are
are many
many prices
prices to
to be
be communicat-
communicat-
ed for many different
different goods, then aa more
more formal
formal presentation
presentation of
of the
the information
information
may make more sense.
sense. The
The more
more complicated
complicated the
the information,
information, the more
more impor-
impor-

CHAPTER 5 ..
CHAPTER
4110
tant it is
is to use clear visual
visual aids
aids that will
will help
help people understand
understand the
the message
message be-
be-
ing conveyed.
conveyed. (Some possible methods for
for visual
visual presentation
presentation of
of information
information
were covered in the preceding section.
section. )

Question 33 asks
Question asks the
the group
group to
to think
think about
about when
when,the
the
information isis needed, as this
information this will
will also affect the way itit
is communicated.
is communicated. IfIf the
the information
information isis required
required on
on a
~ weekly basis for marketing purposes, itit is
is important
important for
for
users to receive
users receive itit on time without having to spend too
having to
much time getting the information. notice board in aa
information. A notice
public place
public place or a short announcement on
on aa local
local radio
radio programme
programme might
might be
be ef-
ef-
fective in
fective in this
this case.
case. If information
information isis to
to be used to
to diversify
diversify product lines, it may
not need to
to be
be communicated
communicated as
as often,
often, but
but itit may
may require
require more
more discussion
discussion and
explanation. A meeting,
explanation. A meeting, once
once aa month
month or
or once
once every
every two
two months,
months, would
would be
be a
better way to communicate this kind of
of information.
information.

reviews the information

Question 4 reviews information gathered in the
on possible
assessment step on possible communications
conul1unications methods.
methods.
There are many
many options,
options, and
and itit isis unlikely
unlikely that
that all
all will
will
be found inin any
any given
given community. There are techno-
community. There
logical ways
logical ways of communicating,
communicating, such
such as
as radio
radio and tele-
broadcasts, as
vision broadcasts, as well as more local methods such
as posting information
information on blackboards, making announcements at
at religious
religious gath-
gath-
erings and passing information through
through local
local farmers'
farmers' or
or women's
women'sorganizations.
organizations.
The possibility
possibility of
of using
using informal
informal communications
communications channels, such as
channels, such as women
women pass-
ing information
ing infOrmationamong
amongthemselves
themselvesatataacentral
centralgathering
gatheringplace,
place,should
should not
not be
be
overlooked.

As with all
As with all the other parts
parts of
of the
the MIS,
MIS, decisions
decisions
about communications
communications systems should be made on-
systems should on-
ly after considering the resources
considering the resources available to the
available to
giv'e
ti:, group and whether the the expected
expected returns
returns warrant
warrant in-
in-
vesting
vesting resources
resources in the system.
system. It is
is best to start out
modestly, increasing the
modestly, increasing the scope
scope of the endeavour on-
its utility.
ly after it proves its utility. Some forms
forms of communi-

.......................... MARKETING
MARI<ETING INFORMATION
INFORMATIONSYSTEMS
SYSTEMS FOR
FOR NON-TIMBER
NON-TIMBERFOREST
FORESTPRODUCTS
PRODUCTS
 cation may be veiy
velY expensive (buying radio time, for example).
time, for example). If the
the benefits
benefits of
of
having the additional information provided by the radio broadcasts
information provided broadcasts are
are only
only mar-
mar-
ginal to the MIS
ginal group, it may
MIS group, may not be worth
worth investing
investing in
in this
this form
form of
of communi-
communi-
cation.
cation. Perhaps there could
could be
be similar
similar benefits
benefits from
from using
using aa less
less expensive
expensive form
form
of communication such as a community
community bulletin board.

In some cases, members may even be willing to pay (in the form of dues to
MIS group)
the MIS group) for
for the
the selvices
seivices they
they receive
receive since
sincethey
theylmow
know that
that they
they earn
earn higher
higher
profits
profits because
because of them.
them. This
This money could be used to
to pay
payfor
for radio time, ifif that
radio time, that is
is
felt
felt to be the
the most
most effective
effective way
way of
ofcommunicating.
communicating. Realistically,
Realistically, however, itit is of-
of-
difficult to
ten difficult to predict what
what the
the level
level of
ofbenefits
benefits will
will be
befor
forMIS
MIS paiticipants.
pmticipants. This
This is
is
another reason to start
stalt slowly and modestly, building the complexity and sophisti-
sophisti-
cation of the MIS
MIS in
in relation to the benefits it provides.

MIS users are

MIS users are often
often tempted
tempted to
to create
create new commu-
nications channels
nications channels such as printed leaflets
leaflets or newsletters
that are devoted to
to information
information about
about the
the MIS.
MIS. Groups
sense that this will give them
will give them a feeling
feeling of pride
pride and ac-
complishment. While
complishment. While this
this sense
sense of ownership is
is impor-
impor-
tant, establishing
establishing new
new communication
communication mechanisms
mechanisms
should be done with
should with great
great caution.
caution. They often prove to be time-consuming
time-consuming and
expensive. It is generally better to start by using existing
expensive. existing communication chan-
nels. New systems
systems should only be put in
in place
place when
when existing
existing systems
systems are found
found
to be inadequate.
inadequate. Even
Even then,
then, new
new communications
communications networks
networks should
should be
be attempt-
attempt-
ed once the MIS
MIS isis well
well under
under way,
way, has
has proven
proven its
its usefulness,
usefulness, and
and the
the users
users are
are
confident that
confident that the information
information itit generates
generates is
is accurate
accurate and valuable enough to
to
justify the cost involved in establishing the new
justify the new communications
communications network.
network.

CHAPTER 5 ..
CHAPTER

•••••
40
i I

COMMUNICAtiNG RESULtS: tHE PHILIPPINES

COMMUNICATING RESULTS: THE PHILIPPINES
In
In the Philippines,
Philippines, the MISMIS group
group de- tonal
tional notice
notice boards
boards so so that
that users
users
cided
cided that the
the most
most effective
effective way toto would not havehave to go so far to get
communicate information was
communicate information was with information.Several
the information Several corkboards
corkboards
centrally-placed blackboards
centrally-placed blackboards. Initially, were installed
were installed in places
places where peo-peo-
blackboard was
one blackboard was painted
painted with
with the ple congregated
congregated. TheThe local
local FAO
FAO pro-
names
names of of the products
products and the mar- mar- ject staff
staff agreed
agreed toto provide
provide weekly
weekly
kets where
kets where prices
prices were
were being
being moni- sheets from
price summary sheets infor-
from the infor-
tored
tored. When
When the therecord-keeper
record-keeper re- re- mation provided
mation provided by by thethe record-
record-
ceived the prices
prices from the data collec- keeper. These
keeper. Thesewere
were posted
posted onon the
the
tors,
tors, he calculated
calculated an average
average pnce
price corkboards.
corkboards
for each
each good in in each
each market
market and
and
then entered
entered the information
information in the The record-keeper
The record-keeper also also drew
drew trend
appropriate space on the blackboard
blackboard. lines toto show
show how how prices
prices had
had
changed in the the different
different markets
markets dur-
By the
By the second
second month
month of
of operation,
operation, ing the year
ing year. While
While this
this was
was of only
only
farmers from outlying
farmers from outlying areas
areas had
had modest interest in thethe first
first year,
year, by the
learned
learned of the
the system
system. They
They request-
request- second year users
users could
could begin to to use
use
ed
ed that
that aasecond
second blackboard
blackboard be be lines to
the trend lines to predict
predict price
price cha
chang-
ng-
placed where they
placed where they could see it on
could see on es
es in
in different
different markets
markets and and toto adapt
their way to the market
market since they did their marketing strategy
strategy accordingly
accordingly.
pass through
not regularly pass through the center During the
the April evaluation,
evaluation, forfor exam-
exam-
of the Village.
village With the cooperation of ple, one woman said
ple, said that sheshe had
had
of the
one of the village
village elected
elected officials,
officials, this
this ginger ready for harvesting
harvesting but was was
second blackboard was installed
installed. going to wait
wait until
until August
August since
since the
trend line from thethe previous
previous year indi-
As people gained interest in
As in the price cated that
cated that prices
prices were
were higher
higher in that
information, demand grew
information, demand grew for add-
addi- month.
month

COMMUNICAtiNGRESULTS:
COMMUNICATING RESULtS: UGANDA
UGANDA
Choosing the
Choosing the method for for communi-
communi- In the other village,
In village, the group decid-
decid-
cating
cating results proved to
results proved to be highly
highly ed to post
post results
results asas well
well as share the
controversial
controversial inin the Ugandan
Ugandan villages
Villages information in
information in monthly meetings
meetings of
where MISs were tested.
MISs were tested Both com- com- their group.
their group While
While some were
some people were
munities had problems with the the ques-
ques- initially reluctant
reluctant to to publicize
publicize the
the infor-
tion of sharing
tion infoimation with
sharing information with the mation on
mation on the
the community
community bulletin
bulletin
whole village or limiting
village or limiting it to people board, they eventually
board, decided that
eventually decided
in the MIS group In
MIS group. In one
one village
village the this
this was aa sound
sound strategy
strategy because
because
participants decided
participants decided to to post thethe re-
re- store owners were
store owners were much more will- will-
sults publicly.
sults publicly In thethe end,
end, however,
however, ing to participate
ing participate in thethe data
data collec-
collec-
the board
board was
was never
never putput up. Instead
up. Instead exercise ifif the
tion exercise the information were
results
results were
were discussed
discussed privately
privately with- made
made available
available to to whomever
whomever was in-
in the group. terested. They
terested. Theyfound
found that
that they could
obtain
obtain better and more complete complete in in-
formation if they were were willing
willing to post
it in a public place.
place .

.. ·······MARI<ETING INFORMATIONSYSTEMS
MARKETING INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR
FOR NON-TIMBER
NON-TIMBERFOREST
FORESTPRODUCTS
PRODUCTS
 The problems uncovered by by monitoring
monitoring maymay be small
small or
or large.
large. Perhaps
Perhaps
when the
the sun
sun shines
shines on
on the
the blackboard
blackboard the
the results
results are
are hard
hard to
to read.
read. A
A very
velY mi-
nor adjustment,
adjustment, such as shifting
shifting the blackboard placement or building an awning,
may solve the problem.
problem. Larger
Larger problems, such
such as
as users
users misinterpreting
misinterpreting the
the infor-
infor-
mation provided by the system,
system, may call for
for a more complex solution,
solution, such as a
new or
or expanded
expandedtraining
training programme.
programme.

ANTICIPATING THE
ANTICIPATING THE EVALUATION

It may seem premature

premature to
to think
think about
aboutthe
theevaluation
evaluationbefore
beforethe
theMIS
MIS isis fully
fully
under way, but itit is
is impoitant
impOltant to
to programme
programme regular
regular evaluations
evaluations right from
from the
start. Evaluations,
start. Evaluations, along
along with
with regular
regular monitoring,
monitoring, are critical to
are critical to ensuring
ensuring that the
MIS
MIS isis meeting
meeting the
the needs
needs of the participants.
participants. Because the evaluation measures
changes that take place place as as aa result
result ofofthe
the MIS,
MIS, it can be helpful
helpful toto collect
collect data
data
about users
users before
before the
the MIS is implemented.
MIS is implemented. If, for example,
If, for example, the purpose of of the
the
MIS
MIS isis to
to increase
increase sales,
sales, information
information on on the rate of sale before
before the
the project
project starts
starts
can be recorded.
recorded. IfIf the
the objective
objective is to increase
increase the price
price sellers receive,
receive, then data
on what
what they
they are
are getting
getting before
before thetheMISMIS starts will be useful when itit comes
comes time
time
to evaluate changes
changes in in sales
sales price.
price. Much
Much of of this
this information
information isis available
available from
from the
assessment that was done done inin Step
Step II.
II.

As noted above, monitoring is a regular activity

As that focuses
activity that focuses on
on the specific
specific
activities
activities carried
carried out in the MIS
MIS and any problems in
in implementing
implementing those
those activi-
activi-
ties. The evaluation takes a broader look.
ties. look. ItIt starts
starts by assessing
assessing whether the
the initial
initial
goals and objectives continue to
objectives continue to make
make sense
sense in relation
relation to
to the needs of the users.
it looks
Then it looks at whether the system that has
system that has been put in place
place is
is effective
effective in
how itit might
meeting the goals and how might be
be improved.
improved. ItIt is
is also
also important
important to
to evaluate
evaluate
whether the
the system
system is
is progressing
progressing toward
toward being
being locally
locally sustainable.
sustainable. It
It will
will un-
doubtedly receive a certain
certain amount of
of assistance
assistance in the beginning
beginning while
while the
the fa-
fa-
cilitator provides
cilitator provides technical
technical guidance, system should progressively
guidance, but the system progressively move
toward being independent.

CO ..... MARKETING
MARKETING INFORMATION
INFORMATIONSYSTEMS
SYSTEMS FOR
FOR NON-TIMBER
NON-TIMBERFOREST
FORESTPRODUCTS
PRODUCTS
 At this stage
At this stage in the design, the following
following issues should be
be discussed.
discussed.

1. What kind
kind of
ofissues
issues will
will be
be addressed
addressed in the
the evaluation?
evaluation?
b~7i'2?A~"",,;,30iJH4~,;:g~?i;g?fg'8"~-,y!0;:0:0"'~"Z:Gd2J.)27'J;h""\'S8CC-??<-i6"j'2Sf!GK;J:ZtB'!i//7!!:;;~"'FJ!,wz'dJ!f!(:;;:::zg::"':C--':!3J§;",,-''';;s''3;S:::;:;4;;:J:3ff±."?!f1!iY22>"''?-:;~~E-;;;I2'''':?-''>'~

2. What kindkind of
ofinformation
informationisisneeded
neededas as aa baseline
baseline record
record
~~~~'f[fjJ§J?{",:;{?;Ji£e;:y~"",~~~~jlr'2?J2Z:Th"?!!I452J+£Oj!f0!:rgj;fg;(f!J:~~'ii0i;:+~%J7YL'>$:;3S3tF?!i75F7i;:'!H;;::;i2":;;,"";:;;':C4;;\" ',Z::')'7::T"Y'%XT]

of how things were before the project got started?

rJbjS",~~~<2:!sw~2:~1!J!!!!lg~¥':a{~!~wg~!~'~,,!11~'%.e!2j.~~t921,l!gr1~9,?
3. Who will do do the
the evaluation?
evaluation?
f)ffiji~V::;;;&){;Sk:Xf!!!~~Z<:*"if!)J!J;:fjZ!x?%;'ft.,3P~~/fy5:;Y;;&~12-~-:::?iiZ-."7T'S{)j[§{3f;~";.:;P27fs.YJ;J

When will the evaluations take place?

i~~_~!l~2'l2P~llLt~~X~~gt!2!l~£Pt~!~~ke!~~~Z

decision should
A decision should be
be made
made on when evaluations will be
evaluations will be carried out. The
carried out. The
first evaluation
first evaluation should be soon
soon after
after the
the operation
operationof
ofthe MIS is regularized,
theMIS regularized, prob-
within the first
ably within first six
six months.
months. Thereafter,
Thereafter, evaluation
evaluation should
should take
take place
place at stan-
dard inteivals,
intelvals, such as once aa year.
year.

The evaluation should be

evaluation should be done by a team that includes those
those who work with
MIS and
the MIS and have
have been
been involved in its implementation,
implementation, as
as well
well as
as those who have
have
had regular
not had system. It is
regular contact with the system. is often useful
useftil to
to have
have at
at least
least one
one out-
sider on the team,
team, such as an extension
extension agent
agent or
or aa project
project official who isis not from
official who from
the village. They may
village. They may notice
notice things
things and
and add a perspective that local
local people will
not have.
have. The
The team
team should
should gather
gatherinformation
informationfrom
from members
members of
ofthe
the MIS
MIS group,
from users not in the group (if
(if there are
are any)
any) and
and from
from non-users
non-users who were
were giv-
giv-
en the opportunity to use the
the system
system but chose
chose not
not to.
to. ItIt is
is important
important to
to include
include
non-users because
non-users because one
one purpose of the evaluation is to
evaluation is to understand
understand why
why people
people do
or do not use the
the system how (if
system and how (if this
this is one
one of
of the
the objectives)
objectives) it might
might be ex-
panded to a larger
larger population.
population. (This would not be relevant
(This would if the
relevant if the group
group has
has de-
cided to make its
its MIS exclusive to
MIS exclusive to the
the group.) Generally,
Generally, the evaluation
evaluation will
will try
by
to assess
to assess who
who has
has (and
(and has
has not)
not) benefited
benefited from
from the
the MIS
MIS and
and what
what the
the
nature/magnitude
nature/magnitude of the benefits have been to
benefits have to the
the users.
users. Appendix
Appendix 5 reviews
reviews
some of the checklists and tools
checklists and tools used in the Uganda
Uganda and Philippines evaluations.
evaluations.

CHAPTER 5"
CHAPTER 5
 ISSUES
ISSUESTO
TO8E
DECONSIDERED
CONSIDEREDININAN
ANMIS
MIS EVALUATION
EVALUATION
issues included
The issues included in
in an
an MIS
MISevaluation
evaluationwill
will depend
depend greatly on the nature
nature of
ofits
its
objectives. The
objectives The following
following list
list includes
includes broad
broad areas
areas of
of interest that
that the evaluation
system can
system assess.
canassess

Physical
Physical Level of
Level of Utility and
Utility and Sustainability Achievement
structure awareness quality of the of the
the system
system of objectives
and frequen- data and goals
cy of use
IsIs the
the system struc- Who isis aware
aware of
of IsIs the
the information
information Ne there future
Are future fi-
fi- Has market trans-
tured well to ga- the system and as
its accurate?
accurate? Ap- nancing prospects
nancing prospects parencyin-
parency in-
thers process and purpose? propriate?
propi late? for the
the system?
system? creased?
infor-
disseminate infor-
mation? Who is using the IsIs enough
enough informa- IsIs there
there local enthu- HasHas awareness
awareness of of
!Tom
information from tion provided? siasm for the
theMIS?
MIS? and interest in mal mar
Ne collectors
Are the collectors the MIS
MISand
andhow
how keting information
doing their
doing their jobs? often? IsIs the
the information
information Can/should the increased?
helpful? Rele-Rele- system
system be be institutio-
Is the equipment
Is equipment How
How are they vant? nalized? IsIsthe
the information
information
sufficient?
sufficient? using the informa- being used as in-
tion? IsIs the
the information
information tended?
Was training
Was training of timely enough in in
users, collectors
users, terms of
terms ofusers'
users' Ne
Are users
users more
more in-
and analysts
and analysts ade- needs, harvesting formed than non-
quate? market
schedules, market users?
users?
days, product per-
days,
ishability?
ishability?
Ne
Are users
users more
more in-
formed than they they
profit mar-
Have profit mar- were before imple-
gins and/or in-
and/or in- mentation of of the
come of of use5
users in- MIS? (Compare cur
MIS?
creased?
creased? rent knowledge to
information gath-
ered in in Step
Step II.)
II.)

MARKETING INFORMATION
·············MARI<ETING INFORMATION SYSTEMS
SYSTEMS FOR NON-TIMBER
NON-TIMBERFOREST
FORESTPRODUCTS
PRODUCTS
 EVALUATING THE MIS: THE PHILIPPINES
EVALUATING THE MIS: THE PHILIPPINES

In the Philippines, thethe first MIS site I/I(as

first MIS was The sample
sample questions werewere first tested
evaluated after four
four months.
months. The The eval-
eval- with the data
with the datacollectors (see Appendix
collectors (see Appendix
uation assessed
assessed overall
overalloperation
operation and and 5 for the evaluation questionnaire that that
management, areas
management, areas forfor improvement was used)
was used). The
The questionnaire
questionnaire was was
lessons that
and lessons that might
might help when when ap- then administered
administered to the datadata collec-
collec-
plying the
the MIS
MIS to other
other sites
sites. The
The eval-
eval- tors,
tors, the record- keeper and members
uation team included the facilitator,
uation facilitator, of the
the local
local population
population (including
(including a
FAO consultant, representatives
an FAO representatives of of cross section
cross sectionof of people
people living
living both
social forestry
the social forestry project in the the area
area near and
near and far from
from the road)
road). The
The re-
re-
members of
and members ofthe
the local
local farmers'
farmers' as-
as- port from the evaluation outlined op-
evaluation outlined
sociation
sociation whowho had beenbeen involved
involved in portunities for improvement
portunities improvement and ex- ex-
MIS
MISdesign
designand
and implementation.
implementation The system.
pansion of the system
evaluation involved visits to farm
evaluation farm
households and
households and a survey
survey of of the
the farm-
farm- A second evaluation
evaluation waswas held the fol-
er/users and
er/users and volunteer
volunteer data data collec-
collec- lowing year
lowing year using
using more
more qualitative
qualitative
tors.
tors techniques
techniques such such as
as Rapid Rural
Rural Apprai-
Apprai-
sal.
sal ToTo determine,
determine, forfor example,
example, wheth- wheth-
The evaluation first reviewed the goals er the group
er group waswas becoming
becoming less less de-
de-
objectives of
and objectives of the
the MIS
MIS and consid-
consid- pendent on the
pendent the facilitator,
facilitator, a matrix
matrix
ered feedback received
received during
dui ing month-
month- was
was used
used to compare
compare the the role
role each
each
ly meetings
meetings andand through other infor-infor- played in
played in planning/design and imple-
mal
mal mechanisms
mechanisms. The The team
team devel-
devel- mentation during different
mentation different time pen- peri-
oped
oped aa survey
survey to determine
determine how ods. Participants divided
ods Participants divided 10 I 0 stones
stones
participants' knowledge
much participants' knowledge of the among
among the "group" "group"and and"facilitator"
"facilitator"
market
market had increased,
increased, their
their aware-
aware- boxes to
boxes to indicate
indicate which
which had played a
ness of
ness of the system
system and and their ideas
ideas for more
more important role. role. From
From the exam- exam-
how the
how the system
system could be be improved.
improved. Sta. Catalina
ple in Sta. Catalina (below), evi-
(below), itit isis evi-
dent that the the group
group felt
felt itit was
was taking
taking
increasingly-important role, particu-
an increasingly-important
larly
larly in
in project design.

Goup(f~cilitator
Doug/facilitator G FO
(} FO(} FO
F (} FOF
F (} F
Planning/Design
Planning/Design 3
3 75
5 56
5 6 48
4 8 28
Z 8 ZZ
~~,d.AV _'AhA

Implementation
Implementation
A~A'dAA~AM_~'~

8 288 28
Z 8 29
Z 9 14
1 4 66

CHAPTERS
CHAPTER 5 ..............................................................................................................................................................................................................•
 "
·····;'·$~·:·t~~f«A;ii~1~t·~lj~~~j&~ji~~··:.
EVALUATING THE MIS: UGANDA

Thepurpose~f theUgClnrj~
The purpose of the eV~18~-Jt6eMls,~}\~rriparihg
Uganda evalua- the MIS By comparing the
the diagrams
diagrams
tion was to examine changes in mar-
wastoexamine.£hanges.iomar-:·· totho~¢thattJEld;jjeen
to those that had been made made dunng
during
ket knowledge
knowledge and andtransparency,
transparencYiand..
and . the assessment step MIS, it was
step of the MIS,
assess the
to assess the impact MIS on
impact of the MIS on the easy to
easy to see
see how
how knowledge
knowledge of the the·
activities;
users' business activities. market had
market had changed
.changed. TheThe market
market
chain diagrams of of project participants
The evaluation
evaluation took
took three
three and
and a half also were
also were compared
compared to to diagrams
diagrams
days in each village and employed
days employed aa drawn by handicraft
drawn handicraft traders
traders who
range ofRapid
range of Rapid Rural
Rural Appraisal tools in- were notnot part
part of
ofthe MIS.These
theMIS These tech-
tech-
semi-structured interviewing
cluding semi-structured interviewing. niques permitted
niques permitted bothboth before/after
before/after
semi-structured interview,
For each semi-structured interview, a comparisons
compansons and participant/non-
question
question guide waswas prepared
prepared to en-en- participant comparisons.
participant comparisons
sure that all
sure al/ the topics
topics were
were covered
covered
(seethe
(see theexample
exampleinin Appendix
Appendix 5).5) A To gather information about about the
the bene-
bene-
numberof
number ofvisual
visual techniques
techniques were
were also
also fits of the
fits MIS, a list of
the MIS, of possible
possible bene-
used
used to help
help people
people express
express their
their fits
fits was
was compiled
compiled by group members
members.
opinions on the project.
project They
They then ranked
ranked those
those benefits
benefits in
terms of how important they thought
terms thought
To get information
To information on
on participants'
participants' they were
were toto their
theirbusiness
business and ac- ac-
knowledge of ofmarket
markettransparency,
transparency, cording to whether they
cording they felt
felt the pro-
pro-
people were asked
asked to
to draw the mar-
mar- ject had
ject had helped
helped inin delivering
delivering them
them.
keting chain
keting chain for products included
included in

e· . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ················MARI<ETlNG INFORMATIONSYSTEMS
MARKETING INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR
FOR NON-TIMBER
NON-TIMBERFOREST
FORESTPRODUCTS
PRODUCTS
Issues That
Issues That Arise
Arise Once
Once
the MIS is Operational
MIS is Operational

most effective
The most effective MISs
MISs start
start with
with modest objectives
objectives and a fairly
fairly simple structure.
Once the system is
is running smoothly
smoothly and
and there is a demonstrated interest and
commitment among participants, the MIS can expand gradually to meet the ad-
MIS can ad-
ditional needs of
of its
its users.
users. However, even the best
best planned
plannedMISs
MISs are likely to en-
during implementation.
counter problems at some point during implementation. In many cases,
cases, these
these are
relatively minor and
relatively minor and can be overcome
overcome by small
small adjustments.
adjustments. In other cases,
cases, the
problems require more
more complex
complex solutions.
solutions. This
This last
last section of the field
field manual
addresses the issues of expanding the scope
scope of
of the
the MIS as the need arises
MIS as arises and
dealing with some of the most
most common
common problems
problems that
that occur
occur during
during implemen-
implemen-
tation.

EXPANDING THE
EXPANDING THE SCOPE
SCOPEOF
OFTHE
THEMIS
MIS

While evelY
While evety MIS will be
MIS will be different,
different, itit is
is advisable for all MISs to have
MISs to have limited
scope in the
the beginning.
beginning. Participants
Participants should start start with
with modest
modest expectations
expectations of of
what the MIS can accomplish
MIS can accomplish and
and then focus focus on meeting those goals. goals. This ap-
proach is far more rewarding thanthan starting
starting with high
high expectations
expectations andand then
then fail-
fail-
ing. During the planning stage
ing. stage itit isis crucial
crucial to
to prioritize
prioritize the
the objectives
objectives and
and activi-
activi-
MIS, starting
ties of the MIS, startingwith
with those
those that that promise
promise the
the greatest
greatest rewards
rewards and are the the
most likely to succeed.
likely to succeed. Once those are are accomplished,
accomplished, and and the
the participants
participants gain
gain
experience with the system, it is reasonable to take
take on
on more
more ambitious
ambitious objectives
objectives
to add
and to addactivities.
activities.

There are several ways in which the MIS

MIS can expand. The categories below
indicate developments which may be appropriate
appropriate as
as the
theMIS
MIS demonstrates
demonstrates its val-
effectiveness. ItIt should
ue and effectiveness. should always
always be
be kept in mind,
mind, however,
however, that
that expansion

CHAPTER 66 ...
CHAPTER
CO
should take place
place only
only if
if there is a demonstrated
demonstrated need
need for
for additional
additional information
information
or activities.
activities. If aa small, simple !VIIS
small, simple MISmeets
meetsthe
the needs
needs of participants,
participants, it may
may be
most appropriate to keep itit that
that way.
way.

--
L'J_crea~ir!9,
Increasing MIS operations do
MIS operations do not necessarily
necessarily need to change
change
the magnitude
,tI1~. maglJitud~ substantially while
substantially while increasing
increasing the
the number of
of loca-
loca-
of
of the
the MIS
r "- , '"
"
MIS
'
while
' " ~,' '_l
tions where information is collected and dissemi-
tions dissemi-
continuing to gather
,<:Qf1tinuilJg10 gi:!!h~~ nated or
or increasing
increasing the
the list
list of products that
that are
are sur-
sur-
the same
!
same kind - --.:::-::'~- -~'-j
veyed. However, participants must
However, participants must be
be prepared to
of information
r
respond to
to the
the greater
greater management
management demands
demands of
of aa
,in
in the
th~ same way.
sC1m~waY·j more
more complex
complex system.
system. Depending upon the
Depending upon the
changes made, it may be necessaty recruit and
necessaiy to recruit and train
train additional
additional data
data collectors.
collectors.
The MIS group should
MIS group should review
review the system that is
is used to collect,
collect, analyse and dis-
tribute information
tribute information to
to ensure
ensure that it can accommodate
accommodate the increased burden.

l<inQ
Changing the.. kind
rC::h~tlgjng.tt!~ Once the system is functioning,
functioning, itit can
can be adapted
of information
r;-- - - -
~_--
to collect
---'--~'-'1
collect different kinds of of information.
information. Perhaps
Perhaps itit
being .gatherecf.
I?eing gathered. began
began by by collecting
collecting only
only simple
simple price
price data.
data. Later,
Later, itit
might add information about the quality quality of goods
how prices
being sold, noting how prices vary
vaty for
for different
different grades or levels
levels of processing. It
might also
also track
track changes
changes in
in the
the quantities sold during
quantities sold during the
the year
year in order to un-
derstand demand patterns. The group may
derstand may decide
decide to
to move
move further
further into
into under-
under-
standing the marketing chain, rather than
than limiting
limiting the MIS
MIS to
to the
the relationship
relationship with
with
local traders. An expansion of this kind may require recruiting
traders. An recruiting more data
data collec-
collec-
tors or demand that
that existing
existing collectors spend more time on the
the project.
project. ItIt may
may re-
re-
additional training both in data
quire additional data collection
collection and
and analysis.
analysis.

Using the same data

rUstlJ:9th~.~am~-,c:fataj A third possibility
A possibility for
for expanding the MIS
MIS would
would be
different types
for J:f.i.fferent typ~~ to
to keep the
the same
same data,
data, but to
to analyse
analyse it in new
new
,of Clnalys!~.j
of analysis. ways. Price
ways. Price data
data used
used to
to compare
compare the daily rate
rate be-
tween markets
markets could
could also
also track
track changes over the
year in a given market.
market. This
This would
would not
not usually
usua4 involve
involve any
any changes
changes in
in data
data col-
col-
lection,
lection, but record-keepers and
and analysts
analysts might
might require additional
additional training.
training. It might
also be necessaiy
necessaty to train
train users
users so
so that
that they
they can
can take
take advantage
advantage of
of the
the new
new in-
in-
formation.

MARKETING INFORMATION
·············MAR/(ETING INFORMATION SYSTEMS
SYSTEMS FOR
FOR NON-TIMBER
NON-TIMBERFOREST
FORESTPRODUCTS
PRODUCTS
 ~~PJ!I'1f'1'J9.H~~·~~
Expanding users The natureofofthe
The nature theinformation
information
thatthat is collected
is collected and and
capacity to exploit
.cc!R~~1t¥7!C:>·~~R'.Rj~ analysed does not necessarily
analysed does need to change
necessarily need change in
in
information,
information.
1'- "~, ~'\-
order to expand
expand the
-, - - ' - " .•••,. ", • '0
the MIS.
MIS. Expansion
''',
focus on
Expansion can focus
training users
users in different ways
ways to use information
that is already being collected and disseminated.
disseminated. Perhaps users already know
how to
to utilize
utilize price information to select the best marketing
marketing outlet. The next step
may be to train
train them to
to use
use price
price information
information to
to calculate
calculate profit
profit margins and de-
cide whether they should sell
sell their goods or
or store
store them
them in
in anticipation
anticipation of
of higher
higher
prices .
prices.

Using information
.Y§;n9;[lJ9t~i'!i~;>n MIS may
The MIS may identify
identify new
new ways
ways of using informa-
in different ways.
Jv~~i{fe~~'Jl.'rJt~'i~·. tion to benefit the community.
community. Instead of just pro-
information to
viding information to individual
individual users,
users, for example,
the group may
may be able
able to
to encourage
encourage changes
changes in
inthe market. IfIfquality
themarket, quality standards
standards
have been vague, perhaps thethe producers
producers can
can work
work with
with buyers
buyers toto establish
establish clear
clear
criteria for grading
criteria for grading products.
products. IfIf certain
certainpeople
people in
in the
the market
market chain
chain are
are found
found to
disregarding existing
be disregarding existing standards or
or otherwise
othelwise unfairly
unfairly exploiting
exploiting producers, sys-
producers, sys-
tematic reporting of these practices may encourage local authorities
tematic reporting to enforce
authorities to
the rules.
rules. This type of
of MIS activity requires
MIS activity requires aa higher level of organization in the
the
user group, but
but itit may
may have
have aasignificant
significant impact
impact ifif itit empowers
empowers producers
producersrelative
relative
marketing chain. It may require training
to others in the marketing training in new skills
skills such
such as
as ne-
ne-
gotiation and conflict
conflict resolution.
resolution.

Just as
just as the
the planning
planning of
ofthe
theinitial
initial MIS
MIS was done in
in aa gradual
gradual and
andsystematic
systematic man-
man-
ner,
ner, any expansion of goals
goals and activities needs to
activities needs to be undertaken with equal
care.
care. The steps of the initial design process
initial design process should
should be followed
followed when there is
is
any significant expansion in the MIS
significant expansion to ensure that all
MIS to all the
the potential
potential implications
implications
of the changes have
have been
been considered.
considered. Any
Any expansion
expansion must
must be
becarefully
carefully thought
thought
out to ensure
ensure that
that the
the benefits
benefits of
ofincreasing
increasing information
information outweigh the costs
costs in
in
time and money of of obtaining
obtaining that
that information.
information.

CHAPTER
CHAPTER 6··
6
 MIS EXPANSION IN THE PHILIPPINES

.. ·lhe'St~YtataUba<ryiISexpa~81?(j.aldng
The Sta Catalina MIS expanded along
severaliclimensions
sE:v(2raJ dimensions ast/Jeexpetience
as the experience
Wh~rY
When the
team.
'. .. '.. /f~~seva/UClteditne
project
> was evaluated, the
seVercjl~k:ldi9onalrec()!U-·
mClde several
team made additional recom-
fJr<?gressed:Starting
progressed. Starting with one black-
with one bla{:k- mendati(1)s
mendations for how how the system could
thesystem coUJ.d
board, thethe MIS eventually posted infor-
MIS eventually be expanded to'
be expanded complement what
to complement
.. mation
m21tion·in inseven
seven locations
locations in in response
response participants
participantshad had already
already done.
done They
to farmers'
farmers'.requests
requests. FarmersFarmers also also particularly
particularly identified
identified how participants
how participants
asked
asked for for price
pnce informCltion
information about ad- might be trained
trained to to make
make more
more effec-
effec-
ditional products, especially
especially near har- hCl[- tive
tive use.
use ofof the
the information
information being gen-gene
vest
vest time. Fresh and
time Fresh and processed
processed pine- era ted by the
erated the MIS
MIS. The
The evaluators
evaluators also
also
apple were added, for example, in re- re- that information
noted that informationrrom the MIS
from the MIS
sponse
sponse to to such requests No
such requests. As time
time went
went might be used used to identify how how value
value
on, participants
participants realized
realized that they
that they could be added through through processing
processing.
could use the system system to to gather other
types
types of of useful
useful information,
information They They be- In
In another Philippines site,
another Philippines site, aagroup
group of
of
gan sharing information
gan sharing information about trad- trad- upland farmers using
upland farmers using anan MISMIS to col-
to col-
ers (their names
ers (their names and locations),
locations), the lect
lect price information from different
price information different
amount of produce being demanded markets
marketsrealized
realizedthat
that itit could
could earnearn
in different markets,
markets, and and quality and more
more by by sending
sending their
their product to aa
. packaging requirements.
requirements Traders,Traders, who who distant urban centre
centre. They identified
had initially been suspicious
suspicious of of the
the ac-
ac- transport
transport asasaamajor
majorimpediment.
impediment So, So,
tivity,
tivity, realized
realized that
that itit could
could be useful to decided to study
they decided study the the transport
transport
them as as well.
well They identified potential market
market and seek ways
and seek ways to to decrease
decrease
suppliers
suppliers by by telling the data collectors
collectors their costs. Eventually,
their costs Eventually, they deter-
they deter-
what they they needed
needed. The The data
data collec-
collec- mined
mined they could benefit
benefit by by sharing
sharing
tors
tors announced the the traders'
traders' requests
requests costs of transport and marketing
the costs marketing.
on the MIS MIS blackboards
blackboardswhich which facilitat-
facilitat- They
They began
began using
using the
the community bUl- bul-
ed contact between
ed contact between producers
producers and letin
letin board
board not only forfor price
price informa-
suppliers.
suppliers but to
tion but to allow
allowfarmers
farmers to to indicate
indicate
they had produce
when they produce to transport
transport.
In
In this
this way farmers
farmers could
could find others
others
interested
interestedinin sharing
shanngthe the cost
cost of of a
transportation.
transportation

e· MARKETING INFORMATION
·.. ···· .. ·· .. ·MARI(ETING INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR NON-TIMBER
SYSTEMS FOR NON-TIMBER FOREST
FOREST PRODUCTS
PRODUCTS
 PROBLEMS THAT COMMONLY
PROBLEMS THAT COMMONLY OCCUR
OCCUR
IN IMPLEMENTING
IN AN MIS
IMPLEMENTING AN MIS

of problems
A number of problems often
often plague
plagueMIS
MIS implementors but, in
in almost
almost all
all cas-
cas-
es, it is possible to find creative solutions.
solutions. The
The key,
key, as
as discussed
discussed in the monitor-
monitor-
above, is
ing section above, is to catch the problems early so solutions can be found be-
be-
fore the problems become
fore become so
so large
large they
they challenge
challenge the
thecredibility
credibility and
and viability
viability of
of
the system. The following
system. The following list
list notes
notes some
some of the
the difficulties that have
difficulties that have been
been en-
countered by MIS groups to
MIS groups to date.
date. ItIt does
does not attempt to be comprehensive,
comprehensive, nor
does it prescribe solutions since standardized
standardized solutions
solutions rarely
rarely fit real problems.
problems. It
does, however, note some
some of
of the
the solutions
solutions that
that MIS
MIS groups have found for
for their
their
own situations.
situations.

• .~S~B!,~.t~ng~~gJ!~~ R~~iC!9~..sizes
Lack'of standardized . package ~j!~~'C~l1SL.9'~~.!.!!XSio9!~g~~
and quality grades
It will sometimes
sometimes be difficult to gather
difficult to gather information
information on
on product prices
prices be-
cause they are sold in irregular
irregular measures
measures and/or with a mix of goods that vary
valY in
quality. There
quality. There are several solutions to this
this problem.
problem.

ffT Find out what measuring system traders/purchasers use to determine price.
rrf This system can
This system can be used by
by data
data collectors
collectors and taught
taught to
to producers.
producers. Simply
Simply
learning the
learning the standards
standards may
may be a step toward rendering the
the market
market more
more trans-
trans-
parent for producers.

Jf.
4IfIf it isis impossible
impossible to identify a single price, list a range for
for aa given
given product.
product.
19("Mangoes
("Mangoes sell
eO", sellfor
forbetween
between53
53and
and72
72per
per box
box in
in X
X market
market depending
depending on
how ripe they are.
are. ")
")

Over time,
time, work with producers and traders to develop
develop standards
standards for
for pack-
pack-
aging, quantities and grades
aging, grades for
for various products.

Difficulty obtaining sensitive data

MIS data
MIS data collectors
collectorsare
are almost
almost always
always users
users who
who have
have volunteered to collect
collect
information. They
information. They have
have no particular
palticular status or credibility
credibility with
with traders
traders or other peo-
peo-
ple from whom they
they collect
collect information.
information. This
This may lead to
to suspicion
suspicion and
and resis-
resis-
tance. Philippines, one group of
tance. In the Philippines, of traders
traders thought
thought data
data collectors
collectors were sent
sent
by the government to locate illegal fuelwood and charcoal producers. Another
illegal fuelwood
group of traders suspected that
that the
the data
data collectors
collectors were
were agents
agents sent
sentby
byforeigners.
foreigners.

CHAPTER
CHAPTER 66 ...
 In planning training
training activities, there are three key questions.
activities, there questions.

,!;~~"!/n~t~t~S!!1~~.9mH~n~n!~~tJf]~200~·.Y'!tJj,~!:l.o~~.HMi[~
What are the components of the MIS which require
some. !t~jnln~T9f!!l~gaJ:BsjR~IJ!~.?'
",?~~~m~ training of the participants?
Who are.. !!I~"R~gI?J~Y'!1]2J!~~~.
• ?~h2.~J~ the people who need to be trained?
t()R~!tC!iD~JJcc?'
What training resources ..are
,~ ,"~b~!,ltf11n~n9F!~~,Q.~.[~~~s available?
~r~.~K~j/~!2~.~Z

In determining the training

training programme,
programme, the first
first question is exactly what
kind of
of training
training is needed
needed totomake
makethe theMIS
MIS functional.
functional. This
This will
will vary
valY greatly de-
pending onon the
the complexity
complexity ofof the
the MIS
MIS and what people in in the
the community
community al-
al-
ready know how
how to
to do.
do.Many
Many meeting
meeting and
anddecision-making
decision-making skills
skills will have been
been
acquired in the process
process of
of designing
designing the
the MIS. The best
MIS. The best way
way to
to focus
focus this
this question
and to be sure that
that no
no major
major components
components are
are overlooked
overlooked probably
probably will
will be to
to re-
re-
view, one by one, each
view, each of
of the MIS activities
the MIS activitiesthat
thathave
havebeen
been proposed
proposed in
in the pre-
vious design steps. Begin
Begin by
by thinking
thinking about
about how
howthe
theMIS
MIS will
will be
be structured.
structured. Is
Is
there an
an association
association that
that will
will manage the
the system,
system, or
or an
an individual?
individual? In some com-
com-
munities,
munities, people have ample
ample experience
experience with
with committees
committees and
and group
group activities.
activities. In
others, where there
there isis less
less experience,
experience, basic
basic training
training in
in such
such skills
skills as
as managing
managing
meetings
meetings and making decisions
decisions in a group may be needed.
needed.

Next review the

Next review the data
data collection
collection procedures
procedures that
that are
are to
to be
be put in place. There
is almost certainly going
almost certainly going to
to be
be some training
training required at this stage,
stage, even if it is
only to standardize
standardize the terms
terms and procedures that are are used,
used, to
to ensure
ensure that
thatcom-
com-
parable data are
are collected
collected by
by all
all the
the participants.
participants. Training
Training may,
may, similarly,
similarly, be re-
record-keeperCs). ItIt isis also
quired for the record-keeper(s). also likely
likely that
that at
at least
least some
some training
training will
will be
be
required to teach people
people how
how toto average
average figures
figures or
or how
how totoanalyse
analyse data.
data. This
This
task may be more or less
less complex
complex depending
depending onon the
the system
system that
that isis put
put in
inplace.
place.
In some communities, people will
communities, people will need help in in putting
putting information
information into bar bar
graph form;
form; in others they will
will know how to to do
do this
this already.
already. Instead,
Instead, they
they may
may
need help
help in
in some
some more
more complicated
complicated calculations,
calculations, such as as determining
determining the
"break-even point" so that the selling
"break-even point" selling price covers
covers all the costs
costs of
of production.
production.

the communications
If the system does
communications system does not resemble
resemble something already
already being
practised
practised in the community, some training
community, some also may
training also may be
be required at this stage.
This
This might
might involve
involve showing
showing people to prepare
people how to prepare effective
effective visual
visual presentations

- ..
. .. ······MARJ(ETING INFORMATIONSYSTEMS
MARKETING INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR
FOR NON-TIMBER
NON-TIMBERFOREST
FORESTPRODUCTS
PRODUCTS
The Philippine MIS
MIS issued
issued vests
vests and, ultimately, identification
and, ultimately, identification cards
cards to
to data col-
lectors in an effort to clarify
lectors clarify their
their role.
role. There
There are
are alternate
alternate approaches.
approaches.

~Ask
Ask a respected group or individual
respected in the
individual in the area to endorse the
the activities
activities of
the MIS and help
MIS and help spread information about its goals.
goals.

Vg,5Meet
_",:;'Meet directly with the
directly with the people who will be asked to supply
supply information
information to
explain the system and introduce the
- explain the data
datacollectors.
collectors.

Train the data

Train the data collectors
collectors to
to explain
explain what
what they
they are
are doing
doing and
and why
why they
they are
asking for information.

,~Ask
§A Askparticipants
participantswho
whouse
usethe
theinformation
informationtotomention
mentionthe
theMIS
MIS to
to traders
traders and
and
. explain the purpose of
ofthe
the activity.
activity.

Attempts to discredit the system

In many cases,
cases, the purpose of
of the
the MIS is to
MIS is to change
change the power relationship
between the producers
producers and
and others
others higher
higher in
in the
the marketing
marketing chain.
chain. The
The more
more suc-
suc-
cessful the MIS,
cessful the MIS,the
the more
more likely
likely itit will
willprovoke
provoke those
those who
who resent the increasing
increasing
power of the producers.
producers. If
If the
the MIS threatens the information monopoly held by
MIS threatens by
traders, for
traders, for example,
example, the traders may attempt to discredit
discredit the
the information
information collec-
collec-
tors and the entire
tors entire MIS system. This
MIS system. This happened
happened in
in the
the initial
initial steps
steps of
ofan
anMIS
MIS that
was established for fruit sellers in Brazil.
Brazil. Traders,
Traders, who
who felt
felt threatened
threatened by the sys-
spread rumours
tem, spread rumours that
that the
theMIS
MIS information
information was
was unreliable
unreliable and
andfalse.
false. System
System
operators responded by making sure that the information
operators information they provided was ab-
solutely flawless,
solutely flawless, thereby
thereby maintaining
maintainingthe
the trust
trust of
of users.
users. Over
Over time
time the
the traders
traders re-
alized that
alized that the information
information service
service could
could help
help them
them too.
too. They
They began using
using the
system to get information
information about
about what
what producers wanted to sell and were able to
to
expand the
the number
numberof
ofproducts
productsthey
theytraded
traded(Schubert,
(Schubert,1983).
1983),

If this
this problem is encountered several
several strategies
strategies can be
be used.
used.

m Overcome rumours
that the
the information
information provided
providedby
bythe
wrong. Take
rumours by proving them wrong.
theMIS
MIS isisflawless.
special pains
Take special
flawless.
pains to
to ensure

I.0rrvOvercome
Launch aa counter campaign
Launch campaign with
with the
the support of
of influential
influential people in the
the
09 community
a0% community..

......... ·············MARI<ETlNG INFORMATION SYSTEMS

MARKETING INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR
FOR NON-TIMBER FOREST PRODUCTS
NON-TIMBER FOREST PRODUCTS
 ~Find
Find ways to give the MIS status such
MIS status such as
as providing vests
vests and identification
1: cards like
cards like those used in the
the Philippines.
Philippines.

ri Point out that while the MIS

"_Point may have
MIS may have producers as its primaiy clientele,
its primaly clientele, itit
can also provide benefits to others in the
the marketing
marketing chain.

Lack of government support

Government support can

can facilitate
facilitate an MIS, and government opposition can
MIS, and can
ruin it. In some cases, governments will
will oppose
oppose the
the implementation
implementationof
ofan
anMIS
MIS if
they fear that itit will
will aid illegal
illegal efforts or reveal
reveal market
market irregularities.
irregularities. In
In the
the Philip-
Philip-
pines, the government
government requested that
that price
price data not
not be
be gathered
gathered for
for charcoal
charcoal and
and
fuelwood. It feared that the provision
fuelwood. provision of
of this
this information would encourage ille-
gal collection from forest
collection from forest reselves.
reserves. Governments
Governments also
also may
may have
have problems
problems with
with aa
system that publishes data indicating that guaranteed minimum
minimum producer
producer prices
prices
are not being
being enforced.
enforced.

Where possible, wnrk with sympathetic

sympathetic government officials in the
officials in the design
design
of the system so that it meets local needs while conforming
conforming to government
government
concerns.

Misuse of information by outsiders

The MIS
MIS isis generally
generally intended
intended for
for aa particular
particular group of users, such
such as
as pro-
pro-
ducers of NTFPs
NTFPs in in aa given
given area.
area. However,
However, the information it provides is often
available to anyone, particularly if the information is disseminated in aa non-ex-
available non-ex-
clusive way such
clusive way such as
as a public blackboard or radio broadcast.
broadcast. Often this will
will not
pose any problems.
problems. In some cases, though, non-participants
non-participants can exploit the in-
in-
formation and
formation and perhaps even use
use itit to
to the
the detriment
detriment of
of the
the intended
intendedbeneficiaries.
beneficiaries.
Traders who have
Traders who have access to the boards might use the information
access to information to set a price
lower than vsrhat theyothelwise
what they otheiwisewould
would have
have paid.
paid. The
The risk
risk of this
this happening is
greatest when the MIS users have
MIS users have access
access to
to few
few traders
traders or market outlets.
outlets. If this
this
becomes a problem, there
there are
are several
several possible
possible solutions.
solutions.

flit Change the means of of information

information dissemination
dissemination (e.g. post information
information forfor
'~shorter
,IIChange
shorter periods of time, limit
limit access to information by posting
posting itit indoors).
indoors).

CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER ..
 Organize the
tW0rganize the producer group so that
that it is better able to negotiate
negotiate with buy-
I. \ ers.
_.,-:t!Search
. Search for
~
for alternative
alternative market
market options
options..

Misuse of the system by operators

MIS
MIS operators to distort
ny to
operators may sometimes tty distortinformation
informationininhopes
hopesof of gaining
gaining
leverage in the market.
market. In
In Thailand,
Thailand, an MIS published higher prices
MIS published prices than were
actually being paid because the operators thought
actually being thought that
that ifif they
they published
published the
the real
real
price, this
this would lead traders
traders to
to lower
lower their
their offering
offering price
price (Schubeit,
(Schubett, 1983). While
1983). While
this may give
give producers a short-term advantage,
advantage, it is not a viable strategy in the
will severely
long term and will severelyerode
erode the
thecredibility
credibilityof
ofthe MIS. Incorrect
theMIS. Incorrect information
information
is unlikely to improve the prices
prices farmers
farmers receive,
receive, and itit will
will decrease
decrease their
their abili-
abili-
ty to bargain with
with traders
traders and
and*risk creating hostility
'risk creating hostility and
and suspicion on all
all sides.
sides.
There are some suggestions
suggestions to combat
combat this
this problem.
problem.

~ Emphasize and re-emphasize

re-emphasize the importance
importance of
of reliability and the risks re-
reliability and
FtEmphasize
/III Ilated misinformation.
lated to misinformation.

Monitor data collection by performing spot checks in

in various
various markets.
markets.
biMonitor

~Appoint
Appoint data controllers
controllers who periodically check data
periodically check data that is
is collected
collected and
J:: information that is disseminated to users.
users.

Oversupply as a result of MIS information

MISplanners
MIS planners are
are often
often concerned
concerned that the information distributed by the sys-
sys-
tem will But, problems
will not be used. But, problems also
also can
can arise
arise from
from overuse.
overuse. When producers
producers
use the information
information to
to locate
locate the
the most
mostlucrative
lucrative markets,
markets, they
they sometimes
sometimes flood
flood mar-
mar-
kets and cause prices
prices to
to drop.
drop. A
A similar
similar problem may occur when producers use
the MIS to plan
MIS to plan hatvests
hawests of NrFPs
NITPs or cropping patterns for the next year. Eveiyone
Evetyone
tries
tries to
to move
move into
into the product with the highest price.
price. But,
But, when many people use
use
the same logic, will increase
logic, supply will increase so
so much in the following that price
following year that price may
be driven down. In
Inthis
this circumstance,
circumstance, there
there are
arevarious
variousalternatives.
alternatives.

e·
41) ..................................... MARKETING INFORMATION
INFORMATION SYSTEMS
SYSTEMS FOR
FOR NON-TIMBER
NON-TIMBERFOREST
FORESTPRODUCTS
PRODUCTS
 • Coordinate sales and
Coordinate sales and production decisions.
decisions. Help individuals
individuals plan their
go strategies in
strategies in cooperation with
with other group members so that oversupply
oversupply of
is avoided.
the market is avoided.

1ftWhen increased production is planned, work to find new markets.

When increased production is planned, work to find new markets.

~ Train group members in the principles

principles of
of supply, demand
demand and
and risk
risk man-
man-
loTrain
..I agement.

As
As problems arise, it is important to keep
keep the
theobjectives
objectives of
ofthe
theMIS
MIS in
in mind
mind
difficulties. As
and search for creative solutions to overcome the difficulties. As groups
groups plan
plan and
and
their MISs
implement their MISsand,
and, equally
equally important,
important,determine
determine how
how to
to solve
solve the prob-
lems that inevitably arise,
arise, they will build valuable skills
skills in both marketing
marketing and
and
community organization.
organization. These
These skills
skills are
are essential
essential for
for increasing
increasing the
the leverage
leverage of
small-scaleproducers
small-scale producers and
and traders
traders in the complex markets for non-timber forest
forest
products.

CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 6 ....
• •••
Appendix
~P.P.~.~.~.~~. .O
.O. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Information sources
Information sources
for different
for different kinds '<inds of of data data

INFORMATION SOURCE TYPE OF INFORMATION POTENTIALLY

AVAILABLE
Traders/Buyers Wholes/retail prices
Volumes demanded
Products demanded
Processing Companies
Companies • Volumes demanded
- • Grades, packaging
Grades, packaging preferred
• End product
End product produced
produced
• Existing market
Existing market structure
structure
GovernMent Mlnls1;ries/Departmen1;s
Governmen1; Minietriee/Departments • Statistics on
Statistics onpiproduction,
eduction, trade
tradeand
and employment
employment
Information
Informa1;ion Services
Services • Wholesale/retail prices
prices
(Planning, Agriculture,
(Planning, Finanoe, Forestt>',
Agriculture, Finance, Forestry, • Credit
Credit opportunities
opportunities and
and rules
rules
' NaturalResources,
Natural 'rade, Commerce,
Resouroes,Trade, Commeroe, ; • Export/import regulations
Export/import regulations
Bureau of Statlstlos,
Bureau of Statistics, Marketing
MarketingServices)
SBivioes) • Existing and
EXisting and planned
plannedInfrastructure
Infrastructure

Exportere Volume exported and demanded

End user characteristics and preferences
Wholesale/retall prices

International Organizations
In1;erna1;ional Organiza1;lons F'roducts produced
• Products produced
(Technical divisions -- marketing,
(Technical divisions marketing, forestry,
forestry, • Statistics
Statisticsononproduction,
production,trade,
trade,consumption
consumption
forest/agricultural products/industries/enter-
productsllndustrles/enter- (mostly
(mostly national, some regional,
national, some regional; mostly
mostly commodities)
prises, community
prlses, communityforestry,
forestry, agroforestry)
agroforestry) Existing market
• Existing market structure
structure
(production surveys, country studies)
surveys, country studies) Location characteristics
• Location characteristics

U niversity Departmen1;s/Librarles
Universi1;y Departments/Libraries Productionstatistics
• Production statistics
• Information on lesser-known
lesser-known products
products and
production processes
processes
• Structure
Structureand
andexistence
existence of
of local
local markets
Mass Media Wholesale/retail (?) prices
Radio, television, newspapers Harvest forecasts

Retailers Volumes demanded (by product)

Retail pi ices
Grading and packaging preferences
_
Marketing Boarde Statistics on production, processing and trade
Marketing Administrations ' Volumes demanded
Existing marketing information services
L.

Cooperativee `L Volumes produced and sold

(production, processing,
("lrn,I'Jl:tl,>tL processing, sale) : Market outlets
Quantities and qualities demanded
t,
Value-added opportunities
_ -
Institutes for enterpriee development Existing market structure
, Value-added opportunities
Credit alternatives
Local Pr-oducers Supply patterns
Cost of raw materials
F'roduction processes

APPENDIX II
APPENDIX .
(lb
Appendix. . O
~P.P.~.~.~.~~ .~. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
Resources about how
Resources about how
to collect information,
to information,
and monitor
and monitor and evaluate
evaluate
projects
projects

Casley, D. J.J. and Lury,

Casley, D. LDlY, D. A.
A. 1981.
1981. Data
Data Collection
Collection in
inDeveloping
Developing Countries,
Countries.
Clarendon Press, Oxford.
R. ,, Pacey, A.
Chambers, R. A. and Thrupp,
Thrupp, L.
L. A. eds. 1989.
A. ,, eds. Farmer First. Inter-
1989. Farmer
mediate Technology Publications, London.
* Davis-Case, D. 1990. The
Davis-Case, D. The Community's
Community's Toolbox.' The Idea,
Toolbox: The Idea, Methods
Methods and
and
Toolsfor
Tools forParticipat01)!
Participatog Assessment, Monitoring,and
Assessment, Monitoring, and Evaluation
Evaluation in
Community
C011ununity Foresby.
Forest1)!. Community
Conununity Forestry
ForestlYField
FieldManual
Manual2.2. FAO,
FAO, Rome.
Rome.
* Davis-Case, D. 1989.
Davis-Case, D. 1989. C01n11nmity
Community Forest1]!:
Foresby: Pa11icipat01)l
Padicipatog Assessment,
ASSeSS11'lent, Mon-
itoring, and
andEvaluation.
Evaluation.Community
CommunityForestry
ForestlYNote
Note2.2.FAO,
FAO, Rome.
Rome.
* Forests,
Forests, Trees and People
Trees and People Newsletter No. 15/16.
Newsletter No. 15/16. 1992. Forests, Trees and
Forests, Trees and
People Programme. IRDC, Swedish University
Programme. IRDC, University of
of Agricultural
Agricultural Sciences,
Uppsala.
* Freudenberger, K.
K. S.
S. 1994.
1994. Tree
Tree and
andLand
LandTenure:
Tenure:Rapid
RapidAppraisal
AppraisalTools.
Tools.
Community Forestry
ForestlY Field
Field Manual
Manual 4.
4. FAO,
FAO, Rome.
• Gueye, B.
B. and Freudenberger,
Freudenberger, K.
K. S.
S. 1991.
1991. Introduction aa la
laMéthode
Methode Ac-
célérée Participative WARP):
dteree de Recherche Participative (MARP): Quelques
QuelquesNotes
Notes Pour
PourAp-
Ap-
puyer
puyeI' une
une Formation
Formation Pratique.
Pratique. IIED,
nED, London.
London.

APPENDIX 2
APPENDIX 2 00
* Molnar,
Molnar, A.
A. 1989,
1989. Community
Community Foreshy:
Forestl)!: Rapid
Rapid Appraisal.
Appraisal. Community
Community
Forestty Note
ForestlY Note 3.
3. FAO,
FAO, Rome.
Rome.
P. A. C.
P. A. T. 1989,
C. T. Participatory Evaluation:
1989. PaJticipatOl)! Evaluation:AAUser's
User'sGuide.
Guide.PACT,
PACT, New
NewYork.
York.
Schönhuth, M
Schonhuth, M and
and Kievelitz,
Kievelitz, U.
U. 1994.
1994. Participatoly
ParticipatOlJ!_Learning
Learning Approaches:
Rapid Rural Appraisal and
and Panicipatoly
Participatol)!Rural
RuralAppraisal.
Appraisal. G.
G. T.
T. Z.
Z. ,
Rossdorf,
Rossdorf, Germany.
Thies. J. and Grady,
Thies. Grady, H.
R. 1991.
1991. Participatory
ParticipatoJ)! Rapid
Rapid Appraisal
Appraisal for Community
Community
Development. IIED,
lIED, London.
* Warner, K. 1995.
1995. Selecting Mee
Tree Species
Species on the Basis of
ofCommunity
Community Needs.
Needs.
Forestly Field
Community Forestry Field Manual
Manual 5.
5. FAO,
FAO, Rome.

* Available through the Community Forestly

Available through Forestry Unit,
Unit, Forestty
Foresty Policy
Policy and
and Plan-
Plan-
ning Division,
Division, Forestry Department, FAO,
FAO, Viale
Viale delle Terme
Tenne de
de Cara-
Cara-
calla, 00100 Rome, Italy.
Available through
• Available through the Sustainable
Sustainable Agriculture Program, IIED,
lIED, 33 Endsleigh
Endsleigh
St,
St, London WC1H
WCIR ODD,
ODD, United Kingdom.

MARKETING INFORMATION
INFORMATION SYSTEMS
SYSTEMS FOR
FOR NON-TIMBER
NON-TIMBERFOREST
FORESTPRODUCTS
PRODUCTS
Appendix. . O
t\P.P.~.~.~.~~ . o.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Rapid appraisal
Rapid appraisal tools
tools that
that are
are
useful for
useful forMIS
MIS assessments
assessments

Rural Appraisal
Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA)
(RRA)isisaaparticipatOlY
participatow research
research methodology that
that is
is es-
es-
pecially useful for gathering information at at the
the community
community level.
level. Several
Several tools
tools
RRA are
of RRA are particularly
particularlywell
wellsuited
suitedfor
for gathering
gathering thethe kind
kind of information need-
ed in the assessment
assessment step
step of
of an
an MIS. Three of these tools will
MIS. Three will be briefly pre-
sented here.
here. There
There are
are many
many other
other REA tools, and
RRA tools, and readers
readers are
are encouraged to
consult the literature
literature on
on REA for more
RRA for more extensive
extensive information
information on the correct
correct
use of the methodology
methodology and and its
its various
various information
information gathering techniques.

I. Participatory mapping

In participatory
participat01Y mapping, community members sketch maps to to elicit
elicit in-
in-
formation and provoke discussion
formation discussion on spatial issues. The
spatial issues. The maps
maps are
are not intend-
intend-
ed to provide
provide accurate
accurate cartographic
cartographic information,
information, but rather to display approx-
imate information
imate information that
that can
can be
be used to generate discussion. Ideally, the
discussion. Ideally, the maps
maps
should be drawn on the the ground
ground so
so that
that there
there is is plenty
plenty of
of room
room toto expand
expand the the
scale of the drawings as the activity progresses. They
activity progresses. They can
can also
also be
be drawn
drawn on
large sheets
large sheets of paper,
paper, blackboards,
blackboards, etc.
etc. ItIt isis useful
useful toto have
have aa group of people
(rather than a single individual) participate in
individual) participate in the
the mapping so that many peo-
ple contribute their knowledge and the the information
information can be be cross-checked
cross-checked by by
several sources.

In gathering information for an MIS,

information for MIS, itit would
would be particularly useful
useful to
map where area 'markets are located
markets are located and to use this to get information about
transportation options, size of the market,
market, etc.
etc.

3
APPENDIX 3
APPENDIX ...
 of information, or training
information, or training them in how to
to prepare
prepare clear
clearinformation
information for
for trans-
trans-
mission on the radio.
radio.

Finally, what
Finally, what skills
skills do
do people need
need to
to use
usethe
theMIS
MIS information
information to
to improve
improve
activities? This
their business activities? This may
may involve
involve training
training in
in financial
financial analysis
analysis such
such as
as de-
termining which
termining which transport
transport option offers
offers the
the most
most advantages
advantages given
given the
the price
price of
transport, the
transport, the size
size of the
the vehicle and the selling
vehicle and price of the good to be trans-
selling price trans-
ported in
in various
various markets.
markets. Or,
Or, itit might
might demand
demand training
training in
in aa cettain
celtainhandicraft
handicraft ac-
ac-
tivity ifif the
tivity the MIS
MISdetermines
determinesthat
thatpeople
people could
could earn
earn more
more money
money by producing,
producing,
for example,
example, baskets instead of mats.
mats. Some training needs
Some training needs may
may not
not be evident
until after
after the
the MIS
MIS gets under way.
way. Design
Design of
oftraining
training activities
activities will
will continue
continue
throughout the implementation
implementation of
ofthe MIS.
the MIS.

As each
As each training
training need
need is
is identified,
identified, the
the number of people who
who will
will need
need
training
training and their characteristics
characteristicsshould
shouldbe
be noted.
noted. InIn order to increase
increase the prob-
ability
ability of sustainability, most MISs
sustainability, most MISsshould
shouldstart
startas
as aa small
small system,
system, perhaps
perhaps 10 to
20 participants.
20 participants.The
Thenumber
number of
of people
people involved
involved will
will help
help determine
determine the
the kind
kind of
training that will
will be appropriate.

The characteristics of the

characteristics of the people
people to be trained
trained will
will also be important
important in de-
signing the most effective Are they literate?
effective training. Are literate? What
What kind
kind of schedules do
they have and when
when do
dothey
theyhave
havetime
timetotoparticipate
participateinintraining?
training? What
What language
language
do they
they speak?
speak? Are
Are they more comfortable
comfortable in single
single or
or mixed
mixed gender
gender groups?
groups?
What kind of educational/training background dodo they
they have?
have?

If people are
are to
to participate
participatefttlly,
fully, itit isis critical
critical that
that training
training activities
activities are sched-
uled at aa convenient
convenient time
time for
for the
the participants.
participants. This
This will
will determine the the best
best sea-
sea-
son for the training
training (when people are not too too occupied
occupied inin the
the fields,
fields, for exam-
ple)
ple) as well
well as the
the optimal
optimal time
time of day.
day. It will
will also
also be aa factor
factor in
in deciding
deciding
whether the training should take place over several days,
days, a few hours at a time,
or be concentrated
concentrated in one
one or
ortwo
twolonger
longersessions.
sessions. Similarly, if people
Similarly, if people are
are to ab-
sorb the information,
information, the training must take into
into account
account their
their educational
educational back-
back-
their social
grounds and their social and
and cultural
cultural needs.
needs. Because
Becausethe
theturnover MIS opera-
turnoverofofMIS opera-
great, it is
tors may be great, is important
important to
to create
create an approach to
to training
training that will
will allow
allow
relatively
relatively easy training of new
new recruits.
recruits.

CHAPTER 5 ..
CHAFTER
Figure 6:
Figure 6: Example
Example of
of aa participatory
participatory map
map

To capital
To capital
approx. 200
approx. km
200 km
2r coots 1500
coete 150B

Local market B
Regional market
Regional market (costs 200)
(coete20B)
approx50
approx 50 km eometimee get
care sometimes
village
from village etuck In mud
stuck in
(coots 60B)
(coete 600)

<>There
+ There isIe aa bank
bank
in
in the regional
regional capital
capital

Taxi etand
Taxi stand sometimes
care
for cars impassable
to regional market, during rainy
capital season

o
_

roadside market dirt road

shopkeeperoff
ehopkeeper ere credit
offers credit

matIke WI!WJEI
VILLAGE
market;
/,//Crossroads
traders
tradere
etop here
stop here
Several
Several houre
hours
horse cart
by horee cart

Local
market A
/approxl
approx 1hour
hour by
by road
(bush
(bueh taxi
costs 250)
coete25B)
<>shopkeepers In
+ehopkeepere in thie
this town
town offer
offer credit
credit

......................... MARKETING INFORMATION

INFORMATION SYSTEMS
SYSTEMS FOR
FOR NON-TIMBER
NON-TIMBERFOREST
FORESTPRODUCTS
PRODUCTS
 Information that was gathered in the assessment
Information that assessment step
step about
about the
thecharacteris-
characteris-
tics
tics of the community and how it is organized will also be useful in designing
training programmes. There
training programmes. There may be organizations already in place, for example,
that have the confidence of the local population and would
would be
be effective
effective sponsors
for community training activities. These or other organizations could also spread
activities. These spread
the word among
among their
their members
members about
about training
training opportunities.
opportunities.

The next task in designing training

The is to
training is to review what training resources are
training resources are
available. Some information
available. Some information was
was gathered
gathered in
in the assessment step; as the training
training
needs become clearer,
clearer, people may
may come up with
with new
new ideas
ideas about
about possible
possible train-
train-
ing resources. Training may
resources. Training may take
take many forms,
forms, and the list
list of training resources
as inclusive
should be as as possible.
inclusive as possible. ItIt may
may include
include formal
formal training
training situations,
situations, such
such
as using university instructors and
university instructors and extension
extension workers
workers to prepare short courses,
courses,
but it also may include less
less formal
formal learning situations, such as
as visits
visits to other
other vil-
vil-
lages which have had interesting
interesting marketing
marketing experiences.

Once all these questions

all of these have been considered, a training
questions have training plan can be put
put
together. If
together. If the
the training
training needs
needs that have been identified
identified seem
seem overwhelming,
ovelwhelming, it
may mean that the proposed
proposedMIS
MIS is too ambitious
ambitious given the
the characteristics
characteristics of the
community. This may suggest that some revision
community. This revision of
of the
the objectives
objectives and
and activities
activities
is called
is for, at
called for, at least
least to
to get started. The training
training plan should begin with those
those
needs that are essential
essential to
to getting
getting the MIS under way. As time goes on and
the MIS and inter-
inter-
est in the system
system grows, additional training activities can always
activities can always be
be added.

It is
It is impossible
impossible to
to propose any
any specific
specific recommendations for training that
would be applicable
applicable to
to all
all the
the different
different kinds
kinds of
ofMISs
MISs and communities
communities that
that will
will
use them. However, two general recommendations
recommendations are
are broadly
broadly applicable.
applicable .

MARKETING INFORMATION
.... ·MARKETING INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR NON-TIMBER
SYSTEMS FOR NON-TIMBER FOREST
FOREST PRODUCTS
PRODUCTS
 £ Training activities should be
activities should be as pmctical,
practical, appJied
applied and hands-on
hands-on as
as pos-
• sible. If
sible. If training is
is to
to be provided in data collection, at least some pait
palt of the
should involve
experience should visits to markets to collect data. If people are
involve visits are to
to learn fi-
learnfi-
skills, they
nancial skills, they should bring information about their
their own
own NTFP
NTFP activities
activities and
and
practise applying what they
they learn
learn by
byanalysing
analysingthose
thoseactivities.
activities.

rfTWhen
~ When possible, people
possible, who
people whohave
haveexperience
experiencewith
withananMIS
MIS andand have
have
I B \ backgt'ounds
backgrounds similar to the
the trainees
trainees should
shouldbe
beused
usedas as trainers.
traine1·s.Ex-
Ex-
perience suggests that often the most
most effective
effective trainers
trainers are not academics,
academics, but
peers who are
are able
able to
to establish
establish a rapport with
with the
the people
people being
being trained.
trained.

Village women
Village women who begun using
who have begun using an
an MIS
MIS in their own activities
activities may
may be
the best trainers for
for women
women from
from a second village who are
village who are about to begin col-
lecting data.
data. The
The village
village shopkeeper
shopkeeper who has been
been doing
doing effective
effective record-keep-
ing may be the
the best
best model
model for
for the
the person
personwho
whowill
willtake
takethat
thatrole
roleininthe
theMIS.
MIS. As
As
one participant
participant from the Philippines
Philippines noted, "it
"it is easier for a farmer to learn
learn from
from
farmer. " Teaching
another farmer. Teaching others also reinforces
reinforces and develops the
the trainers'
trainers' skills
skills
and promotes
promotes greater
greater self-confidence.
self-confidence.

CHAPTER 55
CHAPTER ..
41,
 THE TRAINING PROGRAMME: THE PHILIPPINES
The
The initial
initial trainirig requirements for op-
training requirements op- dn· board were the pnces
on the board prices the trader
erators
eratorswerewere kept
kepttoa minimum in th
to a miniml:jm the12 \II!()uld
would pay payJor tl1 12 goods
for the gOd(jS (the
(the wholesale
Philippines by selecting data
Philippines data collectors
collectors price),
price), which
which were
were lower than than the pric-
who· already had
who already had some
sQme knowledge
knowledge of es
es inin the market
market (the
(the retail
retail price)
price).
markets and
markets marketing. These
and marketing volun-
These volun-
teers helped
teers helped design the information col- col- As
As the
the MIS
MIScontinued,
continued, participants
participants identi-
identi-
lection forms and therefore had no no prob-
prob- fied new.areas
new areas where
where training
training would
would be
lems using
lems using them.
them As As additional
additional people
people useful. Many people
useful Many peopleexpressed
expressed an inter-
volunteered, they
volunteered, received an orienta-
they' received orienta- est in learning methods
methods for for calculating
calculating
from the
tion from the experienced
experienced data
data collec-
collec- the
the costs
costs of
of production.
production They They knew
knew of
tors, and
tors, and thetherecord-keeper
record-keeper explained
explained one farmer in the areaarea who already did
how to
how to use
use the
the data
data collection
collection sheets,
sheets. such calculations.
such organized
calculations The group organized
session in
a training session in which
which thethe farmer,
farmer;
Discussions
Discussionsinin monthly meetings were
monthly meetings with the
along with the facilitator,
facilitator; taught
taught differ-
differ-
used as
used as informal
informal training opportunities
opportunities. ent approaches to calculating costs costs and
asked the data
The facilitator asked data collectors
collectors determining profits
determining profits.
why they
why they thought
thoughtprices
prices had
had changed
changed
over previous month
over the previous month and
and helped
helped In
In the first
first Philippine
Philippine MIS
MIS site,
site, most
most of
understand the
them understand the reasons
reasons that pric-
pric- the training was done by by the
the facilitator
facilitator.
es might
es might change.
change SheShe also
also brought pub- But,
But, as
as new
new sites
siteswere
were developed,
developed, they they
lications related
lications related to
to marketing for
for MIS
MIS op- were able to learn from the the experiences
experiences
erators and users
users. the first
of the village. Data
first village Data collectors
collectors andand
analysts
analysts from
from Sta. Catalina (the first
Sta Catalina first site)
site)
In retrospect,
retrospect, itit isis clear
clearthat
that the
the need
need to travelled
travelled to the new villages to
newvillages to discuss
discuss
the users
train the users of of the
the MIS
MIS information
information role of
the role of the
the data
datacollector,
collector, describe
describe
underestimated. There
was underestimated. There waswas no for-
for- some
some of the lessons
lessons they learned
they had learned
mal training
mal training ofof users
users at the beginning
beginning and offer helpful hintshints for
for approaching
approaching
some misunderstandings
and some misunderstandings occurred occurred traders.
traders. They
They did role playing
did role playing to illus-
illus-
as result. Some
as a result. Some users, users, for example,
example, experiences the data col-
trate different experiences col-
complained that the prices prices on the board lectors
lectors had
had with traders
traders andand then dis- dis-
lower than
were lower than those those inin the
themarket.
market. cussed the scenarios.
cussed scenarios.
They did not
not understand
understand that that the
theprices
prices

SETflNGUP
SETTING UP fRAINING:
TRAINING,: UGANDA
UGANDA

In Uganda,
Uganda, most
most of the
the training
training took
took initially
initially itit was
was done
done as
as aa group
group soso that
place
place during
during the monthly meetings
meetings or-OF, everyone
everyone could learn the
could learn the procedure
procedure ..
ganized
ganized byby the MIS
MIS group.
group TheThe facilita-
facilita- The
The facilitator
facilitator showed
showed people
people how
how to
tor helped
tor helped participants
participants with
with each activi-
each activi- compile
compile the sheets and
the data sheets and took the
ty, encouraging
ty, encouraging themthem to take more
to take more of of lead in actually processing
processing the
the numbers
numbers
the lead as they gained
the lead gained experience
experience. during
dunng the first first few
few months. Over time,
months Over time,
the secretary
secretary took on more more responsibili-
responsibili-
The group designed
The designed its its data
data collection
collection for this
ty for this task until eventually she couldcould
forms and met before they began using do it herself.
herself At At the
the meetings, the
the facilita-
to make
them, to make sure
sure they agreed on on and
and led aadiscussion
tor led discussion about the informa-
informa-
used common terms
used terms to to describe
describe differ-
differ- tion that had been gatheredgathered that month
ent objects
ent objects and
and their
theircharacteristics
characteristics. so that users
users could
could begin
begin to get a better
idea
idea of the the usefulness
usefulness of the informa-
informa-
eventually the
While eventually the secretary ex-
secretary was ex- tion and how how itit could
could be
be applied to their
be in
pected to be in charge
chargeofofdata
dataanalysis,
analysis, businesses
businesses..

. ... ......... ..... ............ ......... ··MARI{ETING INFORMATIONSYSTEMS

MARKETING INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR
FOR NON-TIMBER
NON-TIMBERFOREST
FORESTPRODUCTS
PRODUCTS
 ESTABLISHING THE NiONITORING
ESTABLISHING THE MONITORING SYSTEM
SYSTEM

At this point
At this point in the design
design process,
process, aa community
community has all
all the
the elements
elements in
in
place for a successful
successful MIS. However, there
MIS. However, there are
are still
still two
two more
more systems
systems to be put
put
in place:
place: a mechanism for
for monitoring
monitoring the
the MIS
MISon
onan
an ongoing
ongoing basis
basis and
and aa plan for
for
periodic evaluation of the programme.
programme.

is nearly impossible to design an

It is an MIS that can be implemented
MIS that implemented without
without
problems. There are always unexpected factors
problems. factors to be taken
taken into
into consideration
consideration as
as
the activity
the. progresses. The
activity progresses. The purpose
purpose of the monitoring is to catch problems as
monitoring is
they arise
arise and adapt these
these unanticipated
unanticipated situations
situations into the system.
system.

Monitoringshould
Monitoring should be
be done on a regular,
regular, ongoing basis to assess the design
and implementation choices and to check
check whether
whether the
the system
system isis running
running smooth-
smooth-
ly and efficiently. Particularattention
efficiently. Particular attentionneeds
needs to
to be
be paid to the
the quality
quality and
and consis-
consis-
tency of the information
information that is being
being collected
collected since
since this
this is
is the
the fundamental
fundamental
building block of
of the MIS.
the MIS.

In deciding how to monitor

monitor the
the MIS, several key
MIS, several key questions should be con-
con-
sidered.

What elements of the MIS need to be monitored?

What is the..most
?:j~"?2[lX!11~1is,J!!~ efficient way to keep track of these elements?
~-2.~.t~!t!9~nti~i',YJ2)$~~eY1!:g~!<gt!U~~.~~~~.ID~n!£
Who will be responsible for the monitoring?
'~';"!3.• ~t!.2.;;~!lLB~'~~i~Re.':1.~L~!~J9ri!t!~.m~nit2ri.D9,1,
What will be
jZ:'d3.J~l!gt~t!! . ~.~.done when problems are identified?
~~D~i.Y't!!~DR!g2!~m~j1r~J5!~Q!!fi~f!~

The monitoring
The monitoring system
system need
need not be complex,
complex, but it should be
be systematic.
systematic.
Just as
as the
the training
training needs
needs for
for each
eachstep
stepininthe
theMIS
MIS were
wereclearly
clearlyidentified,
identified, so
so aalist
list
showing each activity
showing to be
activity to be monitored
monitored should be established
established from the start. The
group needs to
to decide
decide who
who will
will be
be responsible
responsible for
for monitoring
monitoring each
each of
of the
the items
items
on the list.
list. One way to do this
this is to
to set
set aside
aside time
time during meetings,
meetings, perhaps at
the end of
of each
each month,
month, to
to review
review all
all the
the items
items on
on the
the list
list as
as aagroup.
group. Members
Members
should be asked to make
make comments
comments on on how
how thethe activities
activities are going
going and to
to sug-
sug-
specific improvements
gest specific improvements that
that might
might be be made. It also may make sense to to dele-
dele-

CHAPTER 55
CHAPTER ..
 gate certain
gate certain people to keep
keep track
track of
of specific
specific aspects of the system.
system. The record-
keeper, for example, may be in
in charge
charge of
of monitoring
monitoring the
the regularity
regularity of data
data col-
col-
lection. he detects
lection. If he detects a problem, he could
could then
then discuss
discuss itit with
with the
the larger
larger group.
group.

It is
It is important
important to
to monitor
monitor the
the system
system from
from the
the point
point of view
view of
of the
the operators
collectors, recorders,
(data collectors, recorders, etc.
etc. )) and
and from
from the
the point of view of the users. In some
some
communities (such as
communities (such as the Uganda example described in the text boxes)
Uganda example boxes) opera-
opera-
tors and users
tors and users are the same
same people. In
In others
others (such
(such as
as the
the Philippines
Philippines case),
case),
while there
while there is
is some
some overlap
overlap between
between operators
operators and
and users,
users, there
there are
are many
many people
in the larger community who use
use the
the information
information but
butare
arenot
notinvohTed
involved in the
the da-
da-
ta collection
ta and analysis
collection ancl analysis process.
process. The
The perspective
perspective of these
these people should
should be
be
considered as well.
considered well. A
A group member might be delegated to
to interview
interview users from
time
time to time,
time, a community meeting might be called
called to
to discuss
discuss the
the MIS,
MIS, or a sug-
gestion box
gestion box could
could be placed near the bulletin
bulletin board.

Since the
Since the purpose
purpose of monitoring is to
monitoring is to catch
catch small
small problems
problems before
before they
they be-
be-
come big problems, it is essential that the group
group not
notneglect
neglectthis
this task.
task. This
This will
will
be particularly important at the beginning of the MIS
particularly important MIS when the plans for
for opera-
opera-
tion are being established. In the beginning,
beginning, it may be
be necessary
necessary to
to review
review oper-
oper-
ations as
ations as frequently
frequently as
as every
every week
week to catch problems encountered by data
data col-
col-
lectors and
lectors and to find solutions before the participants
find solutions participants get frustrated
frustrated and drop out.
out.
Later,monitoring
Later, monitoringmay
maybe
bereduced
reducedtoto once
once per
per month
month or even less often,
often, de-
pending on how smoothly
smoothly the system
system is running and whether new
new activities
activities are
being added.

470 . .............. MARKETING

MARI(ETING INFORMATION
INFORMATIONSYSTEMS
SYSTEMS FOR
FOR NON-TIMBER
NON-TIMBERFOREST
FORESTPRODUCTS
PRODUCTS
 MONlfORING 1HEMIS:
MONITORING THE MIS:ISSUES
ISSUES FROM
FROMTHE
1HEPHILIPPINES
PHILIPPINES
The Philippines MIS
MISdecided
decided to
to monitor
monitor its Data collectors
• Data collectors reported
reported hesitation
hesitation
system
systemduring
during monthly meetings attend- from some shopkeepers
from some shopkeepers who who did
did not
ed by
by the
the facilitator,
facilitator; data collectors
collectors and know whywhy theytheywere asking the
wereasking theques-
ques-
other operators
operators. Each
Each person
person was
wasasked
asked tions. It was decided the
tions the data
data collectors
collectors
to bring upup any
any problems
problems they had
had no-
no- would explain
would explain why why they
they were
were asking
asking for
ticed during
ticed during thethe month,
month, and the whole price data and
price data and that they would wear wear
group discussed possible solutions
group discussed solutions. special vests
special veststhatthatwould
would identify themthem.
• Data collectors at times had problems problems
issues that
Among issues arose were the fol-
that arose fol- getting to
getting to the
thefarthest
farthest mar
market. The group
ket The group
lowing.
lowing decided
decided to provide
provide aa transportation
transportation al-al-
lowance.
lowance
• Rain
Rain erased
erasedsomesomeof of the
the information
information • Data
Data collectors
collectors wanted
wanted to change the
on the community
on the community blackboard
blackboard. The data collection day day to
to Sunday,
Sunday, since that
board was moved to to aa covered
covered area area. was their least busy day, day, and
and to post the
• One data collector had been been collect-
collect- information on Monday
information Monday. The The group
group de-
de-
ing retail prices
prices (the
(the prices
pricesat atwhich
which trad- conductaasurvey
cided to conduct sUNey of ofusers
users to de-
ers selling goods)
ers were selling goods) insteadinstead of termine when
when usersusers need price informa-
wholesale prices
wholesale prices (the prices at which
(the prices which before making
tion before making the the final
final decision
decision
traders were
traders were buying goods). goods). AA more
more ex-
ex- about when
about when to to collect
collect and
and post
post the
the
perienced
perienced data
data collector
collector was was sent
sent with data.
the novice for two weeks to ensure ensure that
she
she understood the the system.
system. The
The facilitator
facilitator also
also designed
designed aa form
form that
• Price
Pricedata
dataon on ginger
ginger was was being con- record keeper
the record keeper could use to report
could use report
fused
fused because
becauseginger ginger was was soldsold both each data collector brought
when each brought in the
fresh
fresh and
and dried.
dried. TheThe group decided to
group decided price information
price information (see
(see Appendix
Appendix 4). 4). In
collect
collect price
price information
information for gin-
for dried gin- this way he could monitor
monitorthe
the timely
timely col-
col-
ger consistently,
consistently, asas itit was
was available most delivery of
lection and delivery of data.
data.
of the year,
year. The
The price
price for freshfresh ginger
would be
would be collected
collected when
when ininseason
season and
noted separately.
noted separately.

MONITORING 1HE MIS:

MONITORING THE MIS: UGANDA
UGANDA
The Uganda MIS
MIS group
group chose an infor- • Some
Some members
members felt
felt that the descnp-
descrip-
mal
mal monitoring system, meeting
monitoring system, meeting with
with tive information (size,
(size, colour,
colour, etc. of the
etc of
the facilitator
facilitator whenever
whenever he came
came to
to the products sold)
sold) was
was not thethe most
most useful
useful.
village.
village The group decided to to maintain
maintain the
the cate-
cate-
gories for
gones for the
the time
time being,
being, but to do do aa
Among the
Among the issues
issues that
that arose
arose during
during mon- substantial evaluation
more substantial evaluation of the kind kind
itoring discussions were
itonng discussions werethethe following.
following of information being
being collected
collected atat aa later
later
date.
date
• Data
Data collectors
collectors were
were using different • Shopkeepers
Shopkeepersfound found itit hard
hard to record
record
terminology to describedescribe product char- information when
char- information whenthey
theyhadhadseveral
several cus-
cus-
acteristics, which
acteristics, which made comparison dif- dif- tomers
tomers at at once. They were asked
once They asked to to do
ficult The
ficult. The group decided
decided on a list list of best to remember
their best remember the detailsdetails of
terms.
standard terms. purchases and
purchases immediate-
and record them immediate-
• Some
Some of of the
the boxes
boxesonon the
the form
form were ly afterwards. Alternatively, another
afterwards Alternatively, another per-per-
not adequate
adequate to to write in the
the informa-
informa- . son
son would
would assist
assistwith
withrecording
recordinginforma-
inform-
tion.
lion. ItIt was
was decided
decided to
to revise
revise the form on purchases.
tion on purchases.
and,
and, in the the meantime,
meantime, suggestions
suggestions for
shorthand descriptions were
shorthand descriptions vvere made
made to
save space.

CHAPTER
CHAPTER 55 ..
··················G
410
 There are always
always difficult
difficult trade offs in setting up communications
communications systems.
systems.
In one area of
of Peru where an
an MIS was set
MIS was set up,
up, the
the only transportation between
transportation between
communities was by river.
communities was river. Farmers
Farmers using
using the
the system
system were
were dispersed
dispersed in a large
forested region and only
forested only rarely
rarely travelled
travelled to the city. Instead, traders
city. Instead, traders in motorboats
visited the outlying
outlying \Tillages to exchange
villages to exchange wares.
wares. The people
people designing
designingthe
theMIS
MIS
found that communications posed aa particular
particular challenge
challenge in
in this
this setting.
setting. Eventual-
Eventual-
ly, they
ly, they decided to purchase radio
radio time
time that
that could
could reach
reach300
300 000
000 local
local farmers
farmers
with price information from the urban
urban centre.
centre. This
This was
was an
aneffective
effective way
way of
of get-
get-
ting the
ting the information
information out
out to
to large
large numbers
numbers of
of dispersed
dispersed people, but it was a cost-
ly solution.
13T solution.The
Theproject
projectpaid
paidfor
forradio
radiotime
timeatatthe
the beginning,
beginning, but it was not
not cer-
cer-
tain that this system could
tain could be sustained,
sustained, particularly
particularly when project
project funds were
withdrawn.

DESIGNING TRAINING
DESIGNING TRAINING ACTIVITIES
ACTIVITIES

At this
At this point
point in the design
design process
process of
of the
the MIS,
MIS, the essential
essential questions con-
con-
cerning the
cerning the operation of the system have been
system have been answered.
answered. The users
users have
have (1)
(1) de-
fined
fined their needs, (2) proposed aa system
system to
to collect
collect and analyse
analyse the
the information
information
they need, and
and (3)
(3) considered
considered the
the most
most effective
effective ways to
to communicate
communicate that in-
formation to
formation to people in the community. The next
community. The next part
part of the process is to
process is to deter-
deter-
mine training people
mine what training people need in order
order to
to make
make the
the system
system work and to
to use
use
improve their
the information to improve their businesses.
businesses.

To make
To make the system effective,
effective, itit isis critical
criticaltotoadapt
adapt training
training to
to the
the needs
needs and
capacities
capacities of the operators and
and users
users of
ofthe
theMIS.
MIS. Without such
such training,
training, there is
is
great danger that poor
poor quality
quality data will be collected (which risks jeopardizing
jeopardizing the
the
credibility of the
credibility of the system),
system), that
that the
the data
data will
will not
not be correctly analysed
analysed (which
(which re-
re-
duces its usefulness), or
its usefulness), or that
that users
users will
will not
not understand
understand how to exploit the infor-
infor-
mation generated by the
the system
system (which
(which wastes the
the time
time and
and efforts
efforts of
of partici-
partici-
pants).

CHAPTER
CHAPTER55 ..
41)
 II. Venn
II. Venn (or
(or chapati)
chapati) diagram
diagram

The Venn
The Venn diagram,
diagram,also
alsoknown
known as
as the
the chapati
chapati diagram,
diagram,isis aa map
map of a
community's social
community's social structure.
structure.ItIt can
can be
be used
used to identify influential people
identify influential people or
committees in
committees in a community,
community, as
as well
well as
as traders,
traders, sources
sources of credit
credit and
and other in-
relevant to
formation relevant to the
theMIS.
MIS.

Venndiagram
A Venn diagramcan
canbe
bedone
done on
on aa large
large sheet
sheet of paper or on aa chalk-
chalk-
helpful to have pieces of
board. It is helpftil of paper
paper (different
(different colours,
colours, ifif possible)
possible) that
that
are cut into different shapes to represent the
the various
various organizations
organizations and indi-
viduals
viduals in the community. These are
community. These are then
then taped to the
the diagram.
diagram. They can al-
so be drawn.
drawn.

To begin,
begin, a large circle isis drawn
large circle drawn on on the
the paper or chalkboard to represent
the village that will
will carry
carty out thethe MIS. Everything inside
MIS. Everything inside the circle
circle will be aa
committee
committee or person in the village; those placed outside are external
village; those external organi-
organi-
zations
zations or individuals. Begin by
individuals. Begin by asking
asking thethe group to think about all all the
the orga-
orga-
nizations, committees, groups,
nizations, committees, groups, etc.etc. in
in the
the village.
village. List
Listeach
eachone
oneon on aa piece
piece of
paper (a circle,
circle, perhaps) and affix to the large paper, inside the circle
affix it to circle rep-
resenting the village. Continue with
village. Continue with people
people who playplaya a particular
particular role in thethe
village,
village, especially
especiallythose
thosewho
who havehave aa role
role in business,
business, marketing,
marketing, credit
credit or
or the
the
production of
management or production NTFPs. These
of NTFPs. represented by
These can be represented bytriangles.
triangles.

When all the village organizations and

village organizations and individuals
individuals have
have been
been put on the
the
diagram, continue
diagram, continue by asking
asking about organizations
organizations and individuals outside the
individuals outside
village.
village. This
This might
mightinclude
includetraders
traderswho
who come
come toto the village,
village, people
people who offer
credit, government officials
credit, who regulate
officials who regulate marketing,
marketing, etc.
etc. Place
Place a shape for
for
each individual (triangle)
(triangle) or group (circle) the diagram.
(circle) cited on the diagram.

Once the diagram

diagram is completed,
completed, use it to discuss
discuss the roles
roles of
of the
the various
various
groups and individuals
individuals and the implications for the
implications for the production and marketing
of NTFPs
NTFPs in
in the community.

APPENDIX 3
APPENDIX ..
41b
Figure
Figure 7:
7: Example of aa Venn
Example of Venn diagram
diagram

Regional credit
Regionaloredit.
Regional _- Extension
agen t association
assooiation
farm bureau
bureau
,,
,,
,, ,,
, ,,
,, , Truokowner

• ,,
,, Truck owner
, )
)

Farmers'
assn. Women's
(farm committee
credit) (offers credit)
econonv
r
offiCe° Traders
(mats)
Artisan's
group

'A. 00a 1l'I.otO \(e\i 'R.&~ lJ.\'V'l

flr i\i\iee
Ot 1110110ee )'9.~&&
\k60 0
n'O ()~f'I
6Q6(61):\

ooll'lll'l
001" 0'<1~f'I~€1
Sk.\0...k.°
OA°
10,066
I
I • \?
00v I
I

I
I
I
I
I

,
, I

,,
I

•
't
A, Shopkeeper
Shop'keeper
in
in neighvouring
neighbouring
village (offers
vii/age (offers oredit)
credit)

III. Matrices

Matrices can
Matrices can be
be used
used to
to explore
explore many issues
issues of concern in the assess-
assess-
ment. A matrix
matrix isis aa double entry grid for analysing two variables.variables. It can be
used, as in the example
example below, to determine
determine where (put (put markets
markets onon the
the ver-
ver-
tical axis)
tical axis) people are selling different
different products
products (put the products on on the
the hori-
hori-
axis). The
zontal axis). The first
first step
step in
in this
this example
example would
would be for the group to to list
list what
NTFPs theysell
NTFPs they selland
andwhere
where they
they sell
sellthem
them so
so that
that these
these can
can be
be put on the hor-
vertical axes.
izontal and vertical axes.

MARKETING INFORMATION
INFORMATIONSYSTEMS
SYSTEMS FOR
FOR NON-TIMBER
NON-TIMBERFOREST
FORESTPRODUCTS
PRODUCTS
 Data collector:

Sell by
roadolde
roadelde
•• O
Mate

•
• ••
a
• •a ••10"
•
Date:

•
• ••
Baekete
13 aokete

•e •
66
Otoole
Stoo!:.,

•a
• • :33
Sell in Market
Sellin
A
•• •
• 3:3 1
Sell in
Sell in Market
B ••
a
13

•a0 • a•••
• •a• ••
Sell
5611to
to
pasoing
paeeing
tradere
•• 8 • •a• • • 10
•
Starting with mats,
Starting with mats, ask
askpeople
people toto put stones in each of the boxes
boxes under
under
mats to
mats to show whether they sell more mats at the roadside,
roadside, at
at Market
Market AA or
or
Market B, etc.
Market B, etc. Do
Do the same thing
thing for
for baskets and stools. Then use the diagram
stools. 111en diagram
to provoke discussion about the advantages/disadvantages
advantages/disadvantages of of different
different mar-
kets,
kets, why they favour one over
over another, what
what constraints
constraints they
they face in
in market-
market-
ing, etc.

A matrix
matrix could
could also
also be
be used to rank the the problems
problems in in marketing
marketing different
different
goods. Once
goods. Once again, the goods
again, the goods could be placed on the the horizontal
horizontal axis.
axis. The
group could then listlist the problems
problems (e.g. costcost of
of transport,
transport, breakage in trans-
trans-
port, price offered too low to meet costs of production,
production, stock does not sell
quickly, product
quickly, product rots
rots before
before it is
is sold) on the
the vertical
vertical axis.
axis. In this case, the
number ofof stones would show how how big
big aa problem
problem itit is:
is: more stones for a big-
ger problem, fewer for one that that is
is less difficult. Such aa matrix
difficult. Such matrix could
could be
be used
provoke discussion
to provoke discussion about
about how
how an MIS could be
anMIS be useful
useful in in overcoming
overcoming some
some
of the problems.

APPENDIX 3 ..
APPENDIX ......•
.
41,
 Another use of matrices in an
an evaluation
evaluation isis discussed
discussed in
inchapter
chapter5.5.Matrices
Matrices
are infinitely
are infinitely adaptable
adaptable as
as long
long as
as care
care is
is taken to use variables that are logical
logical
and consistent along the two
two axes.
axes.

In planning an MIS, many times

MIS, many times the
the group
group is
is asked to
to rank
rank priorities
priorities or
or
problems. One of the most
problems. most effective
effective ways
ways to
to do this is to list the issues, then ask
ask
next to
the group to place stones next to the
the options
optionsindicating
indicating priorities
priorities or
or preferences.
preferences.
As people
As people move
move the stones, they can reflect on why they
they are
are making
making certain
certain
choices and
choices and justify
justifythem
them to
to the
the rest
rest of the
the group.
group. It is often easier to structure a
discussion in
discussion in this
this way
way (and
(and more
more people participate) than when the
the issues
issues are
are
simply discussed orally in aa meeting.
meeting .

. MARKETING INFORMATION
INFORMATIONSYSTEMS
SYSTEMS FOR
FOR NON-TIMBER
NON-TIMBERFOREST
FORESTPRODUCTS
PRODUCTS
Appendix. . .
~PP.~.~.~.~~ o.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Data collection
Data collection forms

The following form was

following form was used by data collectors
collectors in the Philippines to record
information as they questioned traders in the market.
information as market.

Data collector: Date:

Wholesale price in
t5)
m (market locatio""
(lf101arket location)J •

kS) Traders
Traclere E
z
34
.4'1 CtS
(t) E
Type of product oE 1

Coconut piece

Banana ; piece

Banana

Eggplant

Caoeava

Ginger

Black pepper [!kilo

5. Pineapple i; piece

APPENDIX 4
APPENDIX 4 .....
 The following form was
following form was used
used by the price recorder in the Philippines to
keep track of whether the data
data collectors
collectors had submitted their reports on time.
time.

Data collector: Date:

Price collection
Price collection activltiee;
activitiee record
_

Period Data collection Report Reae;on/e;

',Reaeon/a.
e;ubmie;e;ion
oulnnieeion

(week) Pone Not done On time Late Com mente;

Commente:

1 00 MARKETING INFORMATION
MARJ<ETING INFORMATION SYSTEMS
SYSTEMS FOR
FOR NON-TIMBER
NON-TIMBERFOREST
FORESTPRODUCTS
PRODUCTS
 The following
The form was
following form was used by the
the Mukono
Mukono Women's
Women's Craft
Craft Group to
record information on sales and consumer
consumer preferences.
preferences.

Data collector: Date:

Product:

mat stool basket

size: colour: material:

which
which colours
colours do you prefer?

; which other
which productswould
other products wouldyou
youlike
liketo
tohave
haveavailable
availablehere?
here?

APPENDIX 4
ApPENDIX 4 ... .... _
101
 The following
following is an example ofof how
how information
information on
on the
the Uganda
Uganda forms
forms
was summarized for sales of
of different
different items.

Items sold
Items sold from
from July
July17 to August
17 to August 30,
30,1993
1993
Mats r TraysBaskets
Trays Large
**1

baskets

sold to tourist 5 18 62 pairs 10

sold to locals 14
14 10 14 pairs 31
31
- - ,
o

[ total d
,
19 "
K
28
25 76 pairs 41
,

Effect of
Effect ofsize
size on sales
Mats
Mats Trays Baskets Large
baskets
_

small size 66 18
18 53 pairs available
In one
in
size
large size 13 10
10 23 pairs only
z

total 19
19 28 76 pairs

Effect
Effect of
ofcolour
colour on
on sales

e, - -

Plain (white) 8 Red 1 Purple and green 1 :; Orange and green 3

Green and purple 6 l-
, Purple 10 Yellow and green 3 Green 3
, _-
White and red 3 r Purple and red 10 Purple and yellow 3 Red and white
- -- -- -- _ _ _

White and green 2 Red and green 9 Purple and red 5 4 Greenlpurplelred 25
Green and purple 3 Green and red Green and purple 1

White and orange 7 Red and yellow 4 - Purple 1

Yellow and green 1 White 1 Purple and red 2

White and purple 2

_

Green 4
;
Orange and yellow 2
White and green 1

102 .. MARKETING
MAIlI(ETING iNFORMATION
INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR NON-TIMBER
SYSTEMS FOR NONT1MBER FOREST
FOREST PRODUCTS
PRODUCTS
Appendix
~p.P.~.~.~.~~. . O
.Q. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
Evaluation instruments
Evaluation instruments

I. Philippine Field
I. Philippine Field Evaluation
Evaluation Interview
Interview
Questions
Three lists
lists of questions were
were devised
devised for
for the
thefirst
first Philippine
PhilippineField
FieldEvaluation.
Evaluation.
The first
The first was
was used
used to orient discussions with data collectors
discussions with and recorders.
collectors and recorders.
The second was used in
The in interviews
interviews with farmers
farmers who participated in using
MISinformation.
MIS information.The
The third
third was
was used
used for local government
government officials
officials and project
project
staff with
staff with knowledge
knowledge of the MIS experience. Each
MIS experience. Eachinterview
interviewopened
opened with
with an
introduction the evaluation
introduction of the evaluation team
team and
and closed
closed with
with an expression of appre-
ciation for
for the interviewee's time.
time.

APPENDIX 5 ..
APPENDIX
·····e
103
 A.INTERVIEW GUIDE FOR
A, INTERVIEW GUIDE FOR DATA
DATA COLLECTORS
COLLECTORS AND
ANDRECORDERS
RECORDERS

Name: Assigned Market:

1.
1. When clidyou
When did youstart
start collecting
collecting or
or recording data for
recording data for the price
price
information system?
system?
2. Vid
2. Did you
you volunteer
volunteer to be aa data
to be collector or
data collector orrecorder?
recorder? Why?
Why?
3. IsIsthe
thepurpose
purpose of
of the
the activity
activityclear
clear to
toyou?
you?
4. Po
Doyou
you know
know the
the reason(s)
reason( s)why
why we
we are
are monitoring
monitoring prices?
prices? If yes,
please identify.
5. Vid
Didthe
theFAO
FAO counterpart 7rovide adequate:
counterpart!rOVide adequate:
a. supplies (i.e. recorc book,
(I.e. recor pens, forms)?
book, pens, forms)?
b. direction
direction or
orguidance
guidance in
in performing your duties?
If not,
not, what
what other
otherassistance
assistanceororsupport
supportdo
doyou
youthink
thinkwould
would have
have
been necessary?
126611 necessary?

6.
6. On
On what
what day
day of
of the
the week
week do
do you
you collect
collect or
or record
record price
Why?
information? Why?
7.
7. Wereyou
Were youable
abletoto make
makeyour
yourreport
reportavailable
availabletotothe
the data
data recorder
or project
project staff
staffon
ontime
timeeach
each week?
week? IfIf not,
not, why
why not?
riot?
S.
8. How
How do
do data collection or recording
recording activities
activities affect:
a. your normal daily routines?
b. the selling
selling of your products?
Three months
9. Three monthsfrom
from now,
now,dodoyou
youstill
still see yourself as
see yourself as a
a data
data
collector
collector or
or recorder
recorder for
for this
thissystem?
system?Why?
Why?or orWhy
Why not?
not?
10. What recommendations can you give
give to improve the system?
to improve system?

Interviewer: Pate:
Date:

-
104 MARKETING INFORMATION
INFORMATIONSYSTEMS
SYSTEMS FOR
FOR NON-TIMBER
NON-TIMBERFOREST
FORESTPRODUCTS
PRODUCTS
 0. INTERVIEW GUIDE FOR PARTICIPANTS (FARMERS)

Name: Site:
Do you
1. . Do you know
know about the price Have your sales or profits in-
bulletin board? creased as a result of the sy-
stem?
(If answer is no,
no, go to que
que
stion 6.) 9. Is the price
price for the product(s)
product( s)
you sell also given on the
given on the radio? .
2. Do
Do you
you know
knowwho
whocollected
collected this
this
information? How was
information? How was the
the infor-
infor- Do you find
Do you find this
this price
price useful?
useful?
mation collected?
collected? In what way?
what way?
Why isis this price
3. Why price information
information What additional
10. What additional market
market infor-
infor-
system
system being
being established? (other than
mation (other than price) also
might17e
might be useful?
useful?
4. Do
Do you
you use
use it? If so,
so, how
how of-
ten? 11. Do
Do you have
have recommendations
recommendations
to
to improve
improve the present
present system:
system:
you do
If you do not
not use it, why
why not?
products monitored
• products monitored
5. IsIs this price
price information
information use-
use- • markets monitored
monitored
ful to
ful to you?
you? If so,so, how?
how? (in what
what
information given
• information given or
or con-tent
content
way?)
• dates oror time
time ofof collection
collection
6. Where
Where else
elsedo
doyou
youget
get price
price in-
• bulletin board location
formation aside
formation from the bulletin
aside from bulletin
board? • additional bulletin
bulletin boards
• other suggestions
suggestions
What product did
7. What did you
you sell
sell last
last
week? 12. Wouldyou
12. Would you like
liketo
to participate in
in
was its
What was its price
price last
lastweek?
week? the collection
collection or
or dissemination
dissemination of
market information?
Do you
Do you know
knowits
its price
price this
this
week? • as a3 data collector?
collector?
Do you know
Do you knowits
its price
price in
in ot • as aa record-keeper?
record-keeper?
her markets? • to
to help
help post
post price
price and other
What is
What is the
the reason
reason for
for the
the dif- information?
ference in prices?
prices?

Interviewer: Pate:
Date:

5
APPENDIX 5
APPENDIX .... 105
 INTERVIEW GUIDE FOR REGIONAL STAFF

Name: Assigned Market:

1. a. What do you believe to be the impact of the MIS on local

people?
L'.
b. IfIfthere
there are
are several
severalimpacts,
impacts, which
whichisis(are)
(are)the
the most
most
important'?
important?
2. Could the MIS exist without
Could the externalsupport
withoutexternal fromFAO?
supportfrom FAD'?PENR?
DENR?
3. a. Does the site where
Does the the MIS
where the MIS is
is located
located differ from other
other
sites?
b. In
L'. In what
what ways?
4. a. How
How would youchange
wouldyou changethe theapproach to creation
approachto creation of
of the
the system
system
you had
if you had to
to set itit up?
up'?
L', Howwould
b. How wouldyou
youadjust
adjustthe now'?
the system now?
c. Would you expand
Would you expand it? How?How?

5. a. Do you
you think an MIS
MIS could
could be
be set upininthe
setup the13aranguays
Bar8l11guays where
where
work?
you work?
L'
b. .How
Howmight
mightititneed
needtotobebeadapted
adaptedtotosuit those locations?
suit those
6. Would
Would you be willing
you be willingto helptrain
to help share your
train and share your experiences
experiences with
other field workers?
other field workers'?

7. Would you
Would be interested
you be in helping
interested in helping establish and manage
establish and manage an
an MIS?
MIS?

S. How
8. Howwould
would you describeyour
you describe your supervisor's
supervisor'sattitude
attitude toward
toward work
work .
with the MIS
MIS (very supportive, supportive, indifferent, somewhat
supportive, supportive,
negative)'?
negative, negative)?
Interviewer: Date:

106 ............. MARKETING

MARI<ETING INFORMATION
INFORMATION SYSTEMS
SYSTEMS FOR
FOR NON-TIMBER FOREST
FOREST PRODUCTS
PRODUCTS
II. Uganda Question
II. Uganda Question Guide
Guide for
for Semi-Structured
Semi-Structured
Interviews
In the Uganda
Uganda evaluation the following
following question guide was used to orient
the discussion with
with MIS
MIS participants, the facilitator
facilitator and observers,
observers.

What do you think the impact of If not, why not and what could
the MIS Is on local be changed to help facilitate
participants? independent existence?
(improved earnings, business
skills, collaboration among small
producers, awareness of Do you think
Do you think oommunities
communities will
will
marketing Issues) oontinutt'to
continue to operate the
the MIS
MIS
after field
after field testing
testing has
has finished?
finished?
(Po you
(Do you think they
they will
will change it,
it,
If
If there is
Is more
more than oneone expand it'?)
expand it?)
impact,
Impaot, which is/are the
whloh is/are the most
significant?
signlfioant?
What significant differences
What signifioant differenoes
exist between
between thethe two
two field
How do
do you
you think
think the sites? How
How do these
participants feel
partioipants feel about the differences affect
differences affect operations?
MIS?

If
If you could
oould change the MIS
MIS
Could the MIS
Could the MIS exist
exist without establishment process,
establishment prooess, how
how
external assistanoe
assistance from would you do so?
Makerere? FAO?
(Could the system have
(Could the have been set
been set
by the
up 12y the local
local people
people on
Orltheir
their How would
would you
you ohange
change the
the field
own'? Can
own? Can it now 12e
it now be sustained
sustained byby manual?
them
them on
on their
theirown?)
own'?)

APPENDIX 5
APPENDIX .. 107
Austria, Isabelita V. 1991/2. Progress
Isabelita V. Progress Reports
Repol1s On
on the Philippine Field Test
Philippine Field Test of the
Marketing Information System. Department of Environment
System. Department Environment and Nat-
Nat-
ural Resources,
Resources, Government of the
the Philippines,
Philippines, Quezon
QuezonCity,
City, Philip-
Philip-
pines. (unpublished)
Banana, A.
A. Y. Reports on
Y. Progress Rep011s on the Uganda Field Test the Marketing
Test of the Marketing In-
formation
formation System.
System. Department
Department of
ofForestry,
Forestry, Makerere
Makerere University,
University, Ugan-
Ugan-
da. (unpublished)
da.
FAO. 1989.
FAO. 1989,Horticultural
Horticultural Marketing:
Marketing:AAResource
Resourceand
andTraining
Training Manualfor
Manual for
Extension Officers.
Officers. FAO
FAO Agricultural Seivices
Selvices Bulletin
Bulletin 76,
76, FAO,
FAO, Rome,
Rome.
1. 1992. Guidelines
Hammet, A. L. Guidelines for
for Establishing
Establishing aaLocal
LocalLevel Market In/or-
Level J1IIarket Infor-
mation System
System for
for COMMUnity Level Forest
Community Level Forest Products.
Products. Community
Community
Forestty Unit, Forestty Policy and Planning
Unit, ForestlY Planning Division,
Division, Forestry
ForestlY Depart-
ment, FAO,
FAO, Rome.
Rome.
T. 1992. Development of
Hammett, T. of a Local-Level MarketIn/ormation
Local-Level Market Information System
System
for
for Community
CommunityLevel
Level Forest Products: AA Philippine Example. Commu-
nity Forestry
Forestly Unit, Forestry Policy
Unit, Forestry Policy and
and Planning Division, Forestry De-
Division, ForestlY
partment,
partment, FAO,
FAO, Rome.
Rome.
Women in
Rojas, M. 1989. Women in Co/711)7unit))
Community Forest']!:
ForestrrAAField
FieldGuide
Guidefor
for Project
Project De-
sign and
andImplementation.
Implementation. Community
CommunityForestry
Forestry Unit,
Unit, Forestry
Forestry Policy
Policy
and Planning
Planning Division,
Division, Forestiy
ForestlY Department,
Department, FAO,
FAO, Rome.
Rome.
Schulbert, B. 1983. Market Information
InformationServices,
Services, FAO
FAO Agricultural
AgriculturalServices
Services
Bulletin 57. FAO,
Bulletin, FAO, Rome
Sjöberg, A. 1994.
Sjoberg, A. 1994. Final !J~formationSystem
Final Evaluation: Marketing Information System for
for Forest
Forest
Products (Field
Products (Field Test
Test Sites
Sites in 7he
T7Je Philippines). Community
Community Forestty
ForestlY Unit,
Unit,
Forestry Policy
Forestry Policy and Planning
Planning Division,
Division, Forestry
Forestry Department,
Department,FAO,
FAO,
Rome. (unpublished)
Rome.

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cookstove pro-
pro-
1990 (E/F/S)
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22 The community's toolbox:
toolbox: the idea, methods and and tools
tools for
for participato-
participato-
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community forestiy,
forestty, 1990
1990
(E/FIS/Viet)
(E/F/S/Viet)
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Guidelines for
for integrating nutrition concerns into forestry
integrating nutrition forestry projects,
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1991
1991 (E/F/S)
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appraisaltools, 1994(E/F**)
tools,1994 (E/F**)
55 Selecting tree
Selecting tree species on
on the
the basis
basis of
ofcommunity
communityneeds,
needs,1995
1995(E/F**)
(E/F**)

PUBUCATIONS ...
PUBLICATIONS
.... -
 COMMUNITYFORESTRY
COMMUNITY FORESTRYCASE
CASE STUDIES
STUDIES
11 Case studies of farm forestry
forestty and wasteland development
development in
in Gujarat,
Gujarat,
1988 (E)
India, 1988 (E)
22 Forestland for the people. AA forest
forest village
village project
project in
in Northeast
Northeast Thai-
Thai-
1988 (E)
land, 1988 (E)
33 Women's role
Women's role in dynamic forest-based small-scale enterprises. Case
small-scale enterprises.
uppage and
studies on uppage andlacquerware
lacquerwarefrom
from India, 1991 (E)
India, 1991 (E)
4 Case
Case studies in forest-based
forest-based small
small scale
scale enterprises
enterprises in
in Asia.
Asia. Rattan,
Rattan,
and handicrafts,
matchmaking and 1991 (E)
handicrafts, 1991 (E)
55 Social
Social and economic incentives for smallholder tree growing.
growing. A
A case
from Murang's
study from Murang's District,
District, Kenya,
Kenya, 1993
1993 (E/Viet)
(E/Viet)
66 Shifting cultivators of
Shifting cultivators of Indonesia:
Indonesia: marauders
marauders or managers of
of the
the forest?
forest?
Rice production and forest use among
Rice production among the
the Uma'
Uma' Jalan
Jalan of
ofEast
East Kali-
Kali-
mantan, Indonesia, 1993
1993 (E)
(E)
7 and community
Peasant participation and community reforestation.
reforestation. Four commu-
commu-
nities in the Department of
of Cuzco,
CU2CO, Pent,
Peru, 1993
1993 (E)
(E)
8 The impact
The impact of social
social and environmental
environmental change on forest
forest manage-
manage-
ment. A case study
study from
from West
West Kalimantan,
Kalimantan, Indonesia,
Indonesia, 1993
1993 (E/Viet)
(E/Viet)
9 Tree and land tenure
tenure in
in the
the Eastern
EasternTerai,
Terai, Nepal.
Nepal. A
A case
case study
study from
from
Siraha and
the Siraha and Saptari
Saptari Districts,
Districts, Nepal,
Nepal, 1993
1993 (E)
(E)
10 Tree and land tenure: using rapid appraisal
Tree appraisal to
to study
study natural
natural resource
resource
management. AA case
case study
study from
from Anvirano,
Anvirano, Madagascar,
Madagascar, 1995
1995 (E)
11 Shifting cultivation in
Shifting cultivation in Bhutan:
Bhutan: AA gradual
gradual approach
approach to modifying land
use patterns.
patterns. A
A case
case study
study from
from Pema
Pema Gatshel
Gatshel District,
District, Bhutan,
Bhutan, 1995
1995
(E)

COMMUNITY FORESTRY
COMMUNITY FORESTRYWORKING
WORKINGPAPERS
PAPERS
11 The role of
of alternative
alternative conflict
conflict management
management in
in community
community forestry,
fore stty ,
(E)
1994 (E)
2 Participatoty approaches to planning
ParticipatOlY planning for
for community
community forestry,
forestty, 1995
1995 (E)
(E)

COMMUNITY FORESTRY GUIDELINES

COMMUNITY FORESTRY
1 forestty: a field guide for project design and
Women in community forestty: and im-
im-
1989 (E/F/S)
plementation, 1989
2 Integrating gender considerations into
Integrating into FAO
FAO forestty projects,
projects, 1994
1994
(E/F**/S)

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COMMUNITY FORESTRY AUDIO
COMMUNITY FORESTRY VISUALS
AUDIO VISUALS
11 Forests and food security,
Forests security, 1993
1993 (E/F/S)
22 Gender analysis forestly development planning,
analysis and forestry planning, 1993
1993 (E/F)
(E/F)
3 What is a tree?,
tree?, 1994 (E/F)

COMMUNITY FORESTRY CARTOON BOOKLETS

COMMUNITY FORESTRY
11 Food for the
the Future,
Future, 1990
1990(E/F/S/Hindi/Malaysian/Portuguese/Sin-
(E/F/S/Hindi/Malaysian/Portuguese/Sin-
hal a/Viet/Lao)
hala/Viet/Lao)
22 and forests,
Our trees and forests, 1992
1992 (E/F/S)
(E/F/S)
3 I am so hungry
hunglY I could eat
eat aa tree,
tree, 1992
1992 (E/F/S)
(E/F/S)
4 Fabulous forest factories, 1993
1993 (E/F/S)

OTHER COMMUNITY
COMMUNITYFORESTRY
FORESTRY PUBLICATIONS
11 Restoring the balance:
Restoring the balance: women and forest
forest resources,
resources, 1991
1991 (E/F/S)
(E/F/S)
22 Forests, trees and food, 1992
Forests, 1992 (E/S)
(E/S)
33 Women and
Women and community forestry in Sudan (slide booklet); 1991
community forestlY 1991 (E)
4 What is
What is a Tree? The functional
Tree? The functional approach to species
species selection
selection (slide
(slide
1995 (E)
booklet), 1995 (E)
55 Fruits
Fruits of our work:
work: women and
and community
community forestry,
forestry, Tanzania
Tanzania (slide
(slide
bookleO, 1991 (E)
booklet), 1991 (E)
66 The gender
gender analysis
analysis and
andforestry
forestry training
trainingpackage,
package,1995
1995(E**)
(E**)

Ar Arabic
E
E English
F
F French
S
S Spanish
Viet Vietnamese
**
** in preparation

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Kasetsart University
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10903, Thailand
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