Soubre, Côte d’IvoireCamara, from ANOPACI (l’Association Nationale des Organisations Professionnelles Agricoles) in Côte d’Ivoire, is quite a joy to work with--at once serious and dedicated to his job and yet consistently lighting up a room--or a corner of the market--with his huge laugh. He’s been an enumerator for ANOPACI, running the Point of Villagious (PIV) in Soubre, Cote d’Ivoire, since 2002. That means that he’s responsible for collecting price information from 5 markets—one main market in Soubre itself and its 4 satellite markets. He collects these prices once a week and then enters them into Esoko, which now has an impressive and constant list of price data thanks to ANOPACI’s deployment. The biggest challenge to his work, he says, is that there just isn’t enough time to develop a more evolved MIS. Projects end too fast, money comes and goes--and good ideas don’t get a chance to grow in an environment like that. Not to mention the fact that he and all of his colleagues are spread around the country, and it isn’t always easy logistically or financially to get together. Price information is important, he knows, but he’s excited that with a new program ANOPACI will be collecting offers to buy and sell and contacts from markets because too many times he sees buyers and sellers just simply not finding each other. In Africa, he says, everyone grows up around agriculture, so it’s not about whether you’re “interested” in it or not—everyone is invested in some way or another. ANOPACI’s lucky to have Camara and his colleagues, a dedicated group really trying to make MIS work in their corner of the world.
