Central Market Price Index System APP/Web

 Central Market Price Index System - APP/Web 

Background & Introduction:

The Palestinian Farmers' Union (PFU) is broadly recognized as the Palestinian farmers' network with active Governorate Farmers' Associations (GFAs), members that represent farmers from all agricultural sectors and communities to defend their rights, and interests and to achieve a more secured and enabling policy, business environment. It provides quality services to strengthen farmers' skills to produce better, process and market their commodities, and better cope with shocks and changes.

In partnership with Oxfam, the Palestinian Farmers' Union (PFU) is implementing a project titled PVP "Power of Voices Partnership, Fair4All" that aims to increase the accountability of government, responsiveness, and fairness through implementing better mechanisms related to agriculture policies that will achieve farmer aspirations and rights. PFU is also partnering with Oxfam to implement another project titled DGD funded (Directorate-General for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid ) titled Women, youth and other SSPs increase benefits in the fresh vegetable value chain as change agents” with 3 partners: Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committee (PARC), Rural Women Development Society (RWDS) and Palestinian Farmers’ Union (PFU) to make the fresh vegetable value chain more inclusive, fair and sustainable.

CONTEXT

Fresh vegetable farming is an important sector of the Palestinian agricultural economy, providing employment and income to many farmers and their families. However, Palestinian farmers face a number of challenges, including limited access to water and fertile land due to Israeli occupation policies, as well as difficulties in exporting their produce due to Israeli restrictions on movement and access to markets.

Furthermore, the prices of fresh vegetables in Palestine are subject to fluctuations due to various factors, including changes in weather conditions, transportation costs, and market demand. These fluctuations can result in significant losses for farmers who are unable to sell their produce at a profitable price, and can also lead to food insecurity for Palestinian families who may not be able to afford the high prices of fresh vegetables.

In this context, the development of a Central Market Price Index system that provides timely and accurate information on fresh vegetable prices from multiple markets across the West Bank could be an important tool for Palestinian farmers to make informed decisions about when and where to sell their produce. The system could also help to promote greater transparency in the fresh vegetable market, which could ultimately lead to more stable prices and better livelihoods for Palestinian farmers.

Based on the above, PFU will develop a market price index mobile application (MPI) as a tool for better access to the market (MOBILE APP) for analyzing and formulating fresh vegetable prices in Palestine from 11 central markets on a daily basis. That will enable the farmers to know the prices of the products from the primary central farmers market on a daily basis. In the long run, the MPI application will provide the history and reason for price fluctuation based on the market demand. This will provide the farmers with the crop production calendar and assist them in when and what to produce to generate more income. If the farmer is planting tomatoes for example the system will provide analysis for the farmers on when it is best to grow tomatoes for better prices. So, if the system informs the farmers that it is best to grow tomatoes in March, the farmer will do so and benefit from the better price. This will be applied to other crops as well.  It was noted that the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) publishes monthly reports on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in Palestine, which measures changes in the prices of a basket of goods and services over time. The PCBS also provides data on producer and wholesale prices for certain commodities, including vegetables. There are several fresh vegetable markets located in different cities and towns throughout Palestine, and some of the main markets include the Al-Jalama Market in Jenin, the Al-Minya Market in Ramallah, and the Al-Sharaf Market in Gaza City. It was also noted that price fluctuations can reach up to 300% overnight in some cases. Finally, the latest reports indicate that the overall CPI for Palestine increased by 1.31% in March 2023 compared with February, due to increases in the prices of fresh and dried vegetables, fresh meat, fresh fruits, and eggs, with different rates of increase in the Gaza Strip, West Bank, and parts of Jerusalem. The CPI also increased by 4.32% in March 2023 compared with March 2022, with varying rates of increase in different regions.

Purpose of the Consultancy:

 The purpose of this consultancy is to develop a Market Price Index app that will gather fresh vegetable prices from multiple markets across the West Bank, analyze the data to identify trends and patterns and present the information in a user-friendly format for farmers, traders, and consumers. Additionally, the app may include features such as alerts for price changes, and market news and analysis.

Scope of work:

1. Develop a Market Price Index app with the capacity to update daily vegetable prices from 11 different markets, and maintain historical data.
2. Allow access to different editors, each responsible for providing daily information about the prices from their respective markets. Those editors will be registered in their specific markets and will only have access to edit for one of the markets.
3. Uploading the price data, and promoting the app to ensure widespread adoption and usage.
4. Provide historical information for vegetable price fluctuation over different periods and different markets (this will be for two or more different types of users).
5. Monitoring the Systems and the APP and fixing any bugs that may occur.
6. Simplicity for the user. Convenient user interface/user-friendly interface. Must adhere to platform-specific UI standards provided by Apple and Google respectively.
7.  Multi Operating Systems: Native apps for iOS and Android platforms are required.
8.  Administration Panel: A web admin panel with options to manage the Apps data must be developed using latest combination of technologies.
9. Good performance/Loading Speed. Speed of loading mustn't keep users waiting.
10. Offline Access. Once data of any district downloaded/checked from this app must be available to the user offline afterward.
11. It must open to everyone and engage users into mutual communication. Users should be able to leave suggestions, rates, and reviews.
12. It must have a system of search and filters.
13. Connectivity with other websites are applicable in case needed.
14. Application must provide all features and content in Arabic
15. Technologies: service provider must provide details of tools and technologies to be used and why the chosen combination is best suited for the said project. The service provider  must consider platform, security and usability while proposing a solution.
16. Execution Plan & Deliverables: The service provider  must provide a detailed execution plan with deliverables list and strict timeline.
17. Support: The bidder must provide support for minimum twelve months after the launch of the mobile apps on both PlayStore and AppStore.long.

Please submit the proposal (separate technical & financial offer) and requested documents by inhaled envelopes to the Palestinian Farmers Union headquarters (al-Bireh, close to the representative office of the Netherlands) no later than. 26/7/2023.

For more details, kindly check theenclosed TOR.

For any questions, feel free to contact the Project coordinator:

Amjad Anabtawi

 0595221191

[email protected]