Small-scale fisheries in developing countries often perform sub-optimally owing to lack of vital market information, leading to inefficiencies, inequity, and post-harvest losses. The mobile phone, which is the fastest growing communications media in Africa, may be most suited for addressing market information gaps. The Enhanced Fish Market Information Service (EFMIS), an ICT pilot project based on mobile phones, has been implemented in Kenya's Lake Victoria fisheries for 3 years. The objective of the project is to enhance fish trade and incomes for the fisher community through improved access to market information. Through the system, data from fish landing sites and inland urban markets is continuously relayed to a central database where it is appropriately packaged into a format that users can access in real time by sending a query through mobile phone SMS. The system is automated and responds within 10 seconds. Market information is also disseminated through monthly electronic bulletins. The EFMIS model offers the potential to be adapted for application in other small-scale fisheries, drawing lessons learnt from this pilot.

Abila, R.O. (2007) ‘Assessment of fisheries product values along Kenya's export marketing chain’, FAO Fisheries Technical Report No. 819, FIIU/R819, Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations <http://agris.fao.org/agris-search/search/display.do?f=2008/XF/XF0801.xml;XF2007432735≯. http://agris.fao.org/agris-search/search/display.do?f=2008/XF/XF0801.xml;XF2007432735

Abila, R.O. and Werimo, K. (2010) ‘Assessing impacts of ice intervention on fish landing beaches of Suba District, Kenya’, report submitted to Africa Now, Kisumu: Africa Now/EU.

Donovan, K. (2011) ‘Anytime, anywhere: mobile devices and services and their impact on agriculture and rural development’, ICT in Agriculture: Connecting Smallholders to Knowledge, Networks and Institutions [online], Washington, DC: World Bank <www.ictinagriculture.org/sites/ictinagriculture.org/files/final_Module3.pdf≯ [accessed 15 May 2013]. www.ictinagriculture.org/sites/ictinagriculture.org/files/final_Module3.pdf

FAO (2007) ‘Information and communication technologies benefit fishing communities’, New Directions in Fisheries 7, Rome: FAO <ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/FAO/009/a0991e/a0991e00.pdf≯. ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/FAO/009/a0991e/a0991e00.pdf

FAO (2013) ‘Market Reports’, [online] FAO Globefish <www.globefish.org/homepage.html≯ [accessed 15 May 2013]. www.globefish.org/homepage.html

Grahame, D. and Jayaraman, N. (2011) ‘Strengthening agricultural marketing with ICT’, ICT in Agriculture: Connecting Smallholders to Knowledge, Networks and Institutions [online], Washington, DC: World Bank <www.ictinagriculture.org/sites/ictinagriculture.org/files/final_Module9.pdf≯ [accessed 15 May 2013]. www.ictinagriculture.org/sites/ictinagriculture.org/files/final_Module9.pdf

Harrod, J. and Jamsen, P. (2011) ‘Farmer organizations work better with ICT’, ICT in Agriculture: Connecting Smallholders to Knowledge, Networks and Institutions [online], Washington, DC: World Bank <www.ictinagriculture.org/sites/ictinagriculture.org/files/final_Module8.pdf≯. www.ictinagriculture.org/sites/ictinagriculture.org/files/final_Module8.pdf

Kambewa, E., van Tilburg, A. and Abila, R.O. (2007) ‘The plight of small-scale primary producers in international Nile perch marketing channels’, in R. Ruben, M. van Boekel, A. Van Tilburg and J. Trienekens (eds), Tropical Food Chains: Governance Regimes for Quality Management, Wageningen, The Netherlands: Wageningen Academic Publishers.

Kantiza, A. (2012) ‘The evaluation of mobile phone application upon the smallholder farmer's productivity in East Africa’ [online], e-agriculture <www.e-agriculture.org/blog/evaluation-mobile-phone-application-upon-smallholder-farmers-productivity-east-africa≯ [accessed 15 May 2013]. www.e-agriculture.org/blog/evaluation-mobile-phone-application-upon-smallholder-farmers-productivity-east-africa

Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization (LVFO) (2008) ‘Fisheries management plan for Lake Victoria 2009-2014’ [online], Jinja, Uganda: Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization <www.lvfo.org/index.php/documents/lvfo-documents≯. www.lvfo.org/index.php/documents/lvfo-documents

LVBC (2007) Regional Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis of the Lake Victoria Basin, Kisumu: Lake Victoria Basin Commission of the East African Community http://iwlearn.net/iw-projects/2405/reports/regional-transboundary-diagnostic-analysis-of-the-lake-victoria-basin http://iwlearn.net/iw-projects/2405/reports/regional-transboundary-diagnostic-analysis-of-the-lake-victoria-basin

LVFO (2012) Report of the Lake Victoria Fisheries Frame Survey 2012, Jinja, Uganda: Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization <www.lvfo.org/index.php/documents/lvfo-documents≯. www.lvfo.org/index.php/documents/lvfo-documents

Manfre, C. (2011) ‘Extending the benefits: gender-equitable, ICT-enabled agricultural development’, ICT in Agriculture: Connecting Smallholders to Knowledge, Networks and Institutions [online], Washington, DC: World Bank <www.ictinagriculture.org/sites/ictinagriculture.org/files/final_Module4.pdf≯ [accessed 15 May 2013]. www.ictinagriculture.org/sites/ictinagriculture.org/files/final_Module4.pdf

McNulty, P.J. (1967) ‘A note on the history of perfect competition’, Journal of Political Economy 75(4): 395-99 <www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/1828600?uid=3739376&uid=2&uid=4&sid=21102344465207≯. www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/1828600?uid=3739376&uid=2&uid=4&sid=21102344465207

Mittal, S. (2011) ‘The role of mobile phone in agricultural growth’, presentation at Mobile Plus Conference, 17 September 2011, Chennai: CIMMYT <www.mobileplus-india.net/wp-content/uploads/Presentations/Surabhi-Mittal-MP-Pres.pdf≯. www.mobileplus-india.net/wp-content/uploads/Presentations/Surabhi-Mittal-MP-Pres.pdf

Odongkara, O.K., Abila, R.O. and Luomba, J. (2009) ‘The contribution of Lake Victoria fisheries to national economies’, African Journal of Tropical Hydrobiology and Fisheries 12: 47-51 <www.ajol.info/index.php/ajthf/article/view/57369≯. www.ajol.info/index.php/ajthf/article/view/57369

Okello, D. (2010) ‘e-Agriculture for rural women farmers: the Wougnet experience’ [online], e-agriculture <www.e-agriculture.org/blog/e-agriculture-rural-women-farmers-wougnet-experience≯ [accessed 15 May 2013]. www.e-agriculture.org/blog/e-agriculture-rural-women-farmers-wougnet-experience

Pehu, E., Belden, C., Majumdar, S. and Jantunen, T. (2011) ‘Increasing crop, livestock and fishery productivity through ICT’, ICT in Agriculture: Connecting Smallholders to Knowledge, Networks and Institutions [online], Washington, DC: World Bank <www.ictinagriculture.org/sites/ictinagriculture.org/files/final_Module5.pdf≯ [accessed 15 May 2013]. www.ictinagriculture.org/sites/ictinagriculture.org/files/final_Module5.pdf

Roberts, J. (1987) ‘Perfectly and imperfectly competitive markets’, The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics 3: 837-41.

Rudgard, S., Ballantyne, P., Castello, R.D., Edge, P., Hani, M., Maru, A., Morras, E.B., Nichterlein, K., Porcari, E., Treinen, S., Balaji, V. and Balasubramanian, K. (2011) ‘ICTs as enablers of agricultural innovation systems’, ICT in Agriculture: Connecting Smallholders to Knowledge, Networks and Institutions [online], Washington, DC: World Bank <www.ictinagriculture.org/sites/ictinagriculture.org/files/final_Module6.pdf≯ [accessed 15 May 2013]. www.ictinagriculture.org/sites/ictinagriculture.org/files/final_Module6.pdf

World Bank (2011) ICT in Agriculture: Connecting Smallholders to Knowledge, Networks and Institutions [online], Washington, DC: World Bank <www.ictinagriculture.org/content/ict-agriculture-sourcebook≯ [accessed 15 May 2013]. www.ictinagriculture.org/content/ict-agriculture-sourcebook

Abila, R.O. (2007) ‘Assessment of fisheries product values along Kenya's export marketing chain’, FAO Fisheries Technical Report No. 819, FIIU/R819, Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations <http://agris.fao.org/agris-search/search/display.do?f=2008/XF/XF0801.xml;XF2007432735≯. http://agris.fao.org/agris-search/search/display.do?f=2008/XF/XF0801.xml;XF2007432735

Abila, R.O. and Werimo, K. (2010) ‘Assessing impacts of ice intervention on fish landing beaches of Suba District, Kenya’, report submitted to Africa Now, Kisumu: Africa Now/EU.

Donovan, K. (2011) ‘Anytime, anywhere: mobile devices and services and their impact on agriculture and rural development’, ICT in Agriculture: Connecting Smallholders to Knowledge, Networks and Institutions [online], Washington, DC: World Bank <www.ictinagriculture.org/sites/ictinagriculture.org/files/final_Module3.pdf≯ [accessed 15 May 2013]. www.ictinagriculture.org/sites/ictinagriculture.org/files/final_Module3.pdf

FAO (2007) ‘Information and communication technologies benefit fishing communities’, New Directions in Fisheries 7, Rome: FAO <ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/FAO/009/a0991e/a0991e00.pdf≯. ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/FAO/009/a0991e/a0991e00.pdf

FAO (2013) ‘Market Reports’, [online] FAO Globefish <www.globefish.org/homepage.html≯ [accessed 15 May 2013]. www.globefish.org/homepage.html

Grahame, D. and Jayaraman, N. (2011) ‘Strengthening agricultural marketing with ICT’, ICT in Agriculture: Connecting Smallholders to Knowledge, Networks and Institutions [online], Washington, DC: World Bank <www.ictinagriculture.org/sites/ictinagriculture.org/files/final_Module9.pdf≯ [accessed 15 May 2013]. www.ictinagriculture.org/sites/ictinagriculture.org/files/final_Module9.pdf

Harrod, J. and Jamsen, P. (2011) ‘Farmer organizations work better with ICT’, ICT in Agriculture: Connecting Smallholders to Knowledge, Networks and Institutions [online], Washington, DC: World Bank <www.ictinagriculture.org/sites/ictinagriculture.org/files/final_Module8.pdf≯. www.ictinagriculture.org/sites/ictinagriculture.org/files/final_Module8.pdf

Kambewa, E., van Tilburg, A. and Abila, R.O. (2007) ‘The plight of small-scale primary producers in international Nile perch marketing channels’, in R. Ruben, M. van Boekel, A. Van Tilburg and J. Trienekens (eds), Tropical Food Chains: Governance Regimes for Quality Management, Wageningen, The Netherlands: Wageningen Academic Publishers.

Kantiza, A. (2012) ‘The evaluation of mobile phone application upon the smallholder farmer's productivity in East Africa’ [online], e-agriculture <www.e-agriculture.org/blog/evaluation-mobile-phone-application-upon-smallholder-farmers-productivity-east-africa≯ [accessed 15 May 2013]. www.e-agriculture.org/blog/evaluation-mobile-phone-application-upon-smallholder-farmers-productivity-east-africa

Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization (LVFO) (2008) ‘Fisheries management plan for Lake Victoria 2009-2014’ [online], Jinja, Uganda: Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization <www.lvfo.org/index.php/documents/lvfo-documents≯. www.lvfo.org/index.php/documents/lvfo-documents

LVBC (2007) Regional Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis of the Lake Victoria Basin, Kisumu: Lake Victoria Basin Commission of the East African Community http://iwlearn.net/iw-projects/2405/reports/regional-transboundary-diagnostic-analysis-of-the-lake-victoria-basin http://iwlearn.net/iw-projects/2405/reports/regional-transboundary-diagnostic-analysis-of-the-lake-victoria-basin

LVFO (2012) Report of the Lake Victoria Fisheries Frame Survey 2012, Jinja, Uganda: Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization <www.lvfo.org/index.php/documents/lvfo-documents≯. www.lvfo.org/index.php/documents/lvfo-documents

Manfre, C. (2011) ‘Extending the benefits: gender-equitable, ICT-enabled agricultural development’, ICT in Agriculture: Connecting Smallholders to Knowledge, Networks and Institutions [online], Washington, DC: World Bank <www.ictinagriculture.org/sites/ictinagriculture.org/files/final_Module4.pdf≯ [accessed 15 May 2013]. www.ictinagriculture.org/sites/ictinagriculture.org/files/final_Module4.pdf

McNulty, P.J. (1967) ‘A note on the history of perfect competition’, Journal of Political Economy 75(4): 395-99 <www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/1828600?uid=3739376&uid=2&uid=4&sid=21102344465207≯. www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/1828600?uid=3739376&uid=2&uid=4&sid=21102344465207

Mittal, S. (2011) ‘The role of mobile phone in agricultural growth’, presentation at Mobile Plus Conference, 17 September 2011, Chennai: CIMMYT <www.mobileplus-india.net/wp-content/uploads/Presentations/Surabhi-Mittal-MP-Pres.pdf≯. www.mobileplus-india.net/wp-content/uploads/Presentations/Surabhi-Mittal-MP-Pres.pdf

Odongkara, O.K., Abila, R.O. and Luomba, J. (2009) ‘The contribution of Lake Victoria fisheries to national economies’, African Journal of Tropical Hydrobiology and Fisheries 12: 47-51 <www.ajol.info/index.php/ajthf/article/view/57369≯. www.ajol.info/index.php/ajthf/article/view/57369

Okello, D. (2010) ‘e-Agriculture for rural women farmers: the Wougnet experience’ [online], e-agriculture <www.e-agriculture.org/blog/e-agriculture-rural-women-farmers-wougnet-experience≯ [accessed 15 May 2013]. www.e-agriculture.org/blog/e-agriculture-rural-women-farmers-wougnet-experience

Pehu, E., Belden, C., Majumdar, S. and Jantunen, T. (2011) ‘Increasing crop, livestock and fishery productivity through ICT’, ICT in Agriculture: Connecting Smallholders to Knowledge, Networks and Institutions [online], Washington, DC: World Bank <www.ictinagriculture.org/sites/ictinagriculture.org/files/final_Module5.pdf≯ [accessed 15 May 2013]. www.ictinagriculture.org/sites/ictinagriculture.org/files/final_Module5.pdf

Roberts, J. (1987) ‘Perfectly and imperfectly competitive markets’, The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics 3: 837-41.

Rudgard, S., Ballantyne, P., Castello, R.D., Edge, P., Hani, M., Maru, A., Morras, E.B., Nichterlein, K., Porcari, E., Treinen, S., Balaji, V. and Balasubramanian, K. (2011) ‘ICTs as enablers of agricultural innovation systems’, ICT in Agriculture: Connecting Smallholders to Knowledge, Networks and Institutions [online], Washington, DC: World Bank <www.ictinagriculture.org/sites/ictinagriculture.org/files/final_Module6.pdf≯ [accessed 15 May 2013]. www.ictinagriculture.org/sites/ictinagriculture.org/files/final_Module6.pdf

World Bank (2011) ICT in Agriculture: Connecting Smallholders to Knowledge, Networks and Institutions [online], Washington, DC: World Bank <www.ictinagriculture.org/content/ict-agriculture-sourcebook≯ [accessed 15 May 2013]. www.ictinagriculture.org/content/ict-agriculture-sourcebook

Abila, R.O. (2007) ‘Assessment of fisheries product values along Kenya's export marketing chain’, FAO Fisheries Technical Report No. 819, FIIU/R819, Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations <http://agris.fao.org/agris-search/search/display.do?f=2008/XF/XF0801.xml;XF2007432735≯. http://agris.fao.org/agris-search/search/display.do?f=2008/XF/XF0801.xml;XF2007432735

Abila, R.O. and Werimo, K. (2010) ‘Assessing impacts of ice intervention on fish landing beaches of Suba District, Kenya’, report submitted to Africa Now, Kisumu: Africa Now/EU.

Donovan, K. (2011) ‘Anytime, anywhere: mobile devices and services and their impact on agriculture and rural development’, ICT in Agriculture: Connecting Smallholders to Knowledge, Networks and Institutions [online], Washington, DC: World Bank <www.ictinagriculture.org/sites/ictinagriculture.org/files/final_Module3.pdf≯ [accessed 15 May 2013]. www.ictinagriculture.org/sites/ictinagriculture.org/files/final_Module3.pdf

FAO (2007) ‘Information and communication technologies benefit fishing communities’, New Directions in Fisheries 7, Rome: FAO <ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/FAO/009/a0991e/a0991e00.pdf≯. ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/FAO/009/a0991e/a0991e00.pdf

FAO (2013) ‘Market Reports’, [online] FAO Globefish <www.globefish.org/homepage.html≯ [accessed 15 May 2013]. www.globefish.org/homepage.html

Grahame, D. and Jayaraman, N. (2011) ‘Strengthening agricultural marketing with ICT’, ICT in Agriculture: Connecting Smallholders to Knowledge, Networks and Institutions [online], Washington, DC: World Bank <www.ictinagriculture.org/sites/ictinagriculture.org/files/final_Module9.pdf≯ [accessed 15 May 2013]. www.ictinagriculture.org/sites/ictinagriculture.org/files/final_Module9.pdf

Harrod, J. and Jamsen, P. (2011) ‘Farmer organizations work better with ICT’, ICT in Agriculture: Connecting Smallholders to Knowledge, Networks and Institutions [online], Washington, DC: World Bank <www.ictinagriculture.org/sites/ictinagriculture.org/files/final_Module8.pdf≯. www.ictinagriculture.org/sites/ictinagriculture.org/files/final_Module8.pdf

Kambewa, E., van Tilburg, A. and Abila, R.O. (2007) ‘The plight of small-scale primary producers in international Nile perch marketing channels’, in R. Ruben, M. van Boekel, A. Van Tilburg and J. Trienekens (eds), Tropical Food Chains: Governance Regimes for Quality Management, Wageningen, The Netherlands: Wageningen Academic Publishers.

Kantiza, A. (2012) ‘The evaluation of mobile phone application upon the smallholder farmer's productivity in East Africa’ [online], e-agriculture <www.e-agriculture.org/blog/evaluation-mobile-phone-application-upon-smallholder-farmers-productivity-east-africa≯ [accessed 15 May 2013]. www.e-agriculture.org/blog/evaluation-mobile-phone-application-upon-smallholder-farmers-productivity-east-africa

Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization (LVFO) (2008) ‘Fisheries management plan for Lake Victoria 2009-2014’ [online], Jinja, Uganda: Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization <www.lvfo.org/index.php/documents/lvfo-documents≯. www.lvfo.org/index.php/documents/lvfo-documents

LVBC (2007) Regional Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis of the Lake Victoria Basin, Kisumu: Lake Victoria Basin Commission of the East African Community http://iwlearn.net/iw-projects/2405/reports/regional-transboundary-diagnostic-analysis-of-the-lake-victoria-basin http://iwlearn.net/iw-projects/2405/reports/regional-transboundary-diagnostic-analysis-of-the-lake-victoria-basin

LVFO (2012) Report of the Lake Victoria Fisheries Frame Survey 2012, Jinja, Uganda: Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization <www.lvfo.org/index.php/documents/lvfo-documents≯. www.lvfo.org/index.php/documents/lvfo-documents

Manfre, C. (2011) ‘Extending the benefits: gender-equitable, ICT-enabled agricultural development’, ICT in Agriculture: Connecting Smallholders to Knowledge, Networks and Institutions [online], Washington, DC: World Bank <www.ictinagriculture.org/sites/ictinagriculture.org/files/final_Module4.pdf≯ [accessed 15 May 2013]. www.ictinagriculture.org/sites/ictinagriculture.org/files/final_Module4.pdf

McNulty, P.J. (1967) ‘A note on the history of perfect competition’, Journal of Political Economy 75(4): 395-99 <www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/1828600?uid=3739376&uid=2&uid=4&sid=21102344465207≯. www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/1828600?uid=3739376&uid=2&uid=4&sid=21102344465207

Mittal, S. (2011) ‘The role of mobile phone in agricultural growth’, presentation at Mobile Plus Conference, 17 September 2011, Chennai: CIMMYT <www.mobileplus-india.net/wp-content/uploads/Presentations/Surabhi-Mittal-MP-Pres.pdf≯. www.mobileplus-india.net/wp-content/uploads/Presentations/Surabhi-Mittal-MP-Pres.pdf

Odongkara, O.K., Abila, R.O. and Luomba, J. (2009) ‘The contribution of Lake Victoria fisheries to national economies’, African Journal of Tropical Hydrobiology and Fisheries 12: 47-51 <www.ajol.info/index.php/ajthf/article/view/57369≯. www.ajol.info/index.php/ajthf/article/view/57369

Okello, D. (2010) ‘e-Agriculture for rural women farmers: the Wougnet experience’ [online], e-agriculture <www.e-agriculture.org/blog/e-agriculture-rural-women-farmers-wougnet-experience≯ [accessed 15 May 2013]. www.e-agriculture.org/blog/e-agriculture-rural-women-farmers-wougnet-experience

Pehu, E., Belden, C., Majumdar, S. and Jantunen, T. (2011) ‘Increasing crop, livestock and fishery productivity through ICT’, ICT in Agriculture: Connecting Smallholders to Knowledge, Networks and Institutions [online], Washington, DC: World Bank <www.ictinagriculture.org/sites/ictinagriculture.org/files/final_Module5.pdf≯ [accessed 15 May 2013]. www.ictinagriculture.org/sites/ictinagriculture.org/files/final_Module5.pdf

Roberts, J. (1987) ‘Perfectly and imperfectly competitive markets’, The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics 3: 837-41.

Rudgard, S., Ballantyne, P., Castello, R.D., Edge, P., Hani, M., Maru, A., Morras, E.B., Nichterlein, K., Porcari, E., Treinen, S., Balaji, V. and Balasubramanian, K. (2011) ‘ICTs as enablers of agricultural innovation systems’, ICT in Agriculture: Connecting Smallholders to Knowledge, Networks and Institutions [online], Washington, DC: World Bank <www.ictinagriculture.org/sites/ictinagriculture.org/files/final_Module6.pdf≯ [accessed 15 May 2013]. www.ictinagriculture.org/sites/ictinagriculture.org/files/final_Module6.pdf

World Bank (2011) ICT in Agriculture: Connecting Smallholders to Knowledge, Networks and Institutions [online], Washington, DC: World Bank <www.ictinagriculture.org/content/ict-agriculture-sourcebook≯ [accessed 15 May 2013]. www.ictinagriculture.org/content/ict-agriculture-sourcebook