Market Prices On The Small Screen

Report

A feature published by Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) profiles the work of LIRNEasia and economist Harsha de Silva into how information and communication technologies can reduce transaction costs for smallholder farmers in Sri Lanka. Drawing on a study of 314 farmers at the Dambulla market, the research found that 70% of farmers’ transaction costs were tied to gathering information, prompting the argument that mobile phones — already widely owned by poor farmers — could be used to deliver this information earlier in the production cycle, not just at the point of sale.