PRICE DATA COLLECTION AND MANAGEMENT / November 2016
PRICE DATA COLLECTION AND MANAGEMENT
Best Practices / November 18, 2016
FIGURE 1. Markets monitored by FEWS NET Nigeria
Source: FEWS NET.
Table 1 . Commodity prices monitored by FEWS NET Nigeria
Maize (white) / Millet
Maize (yellow) / Rice (local)
Sorghum (white) / Rice (imported)
Sorghum (brown) / Gari
Cowpea (white) / Yams
Cowpea (brown) / Refined Palm oil
Groundnuts / Gasoline
Source: FEWS NET.

KEY CONCEPTS

Prices are the cost or value of a good or service expressed in monetary terms. They play important role in the analysis of the pillars of food security:

·  Availability: prices influence what farmers produce.

·  Accessibility: prices will influence trade movement from surplus to deficit areas.

·  Stability: prices reflect farmers’ income level and sustenance of their food security level.

FEWS NET Nigeria monitors staple food and fuel price data on a number of markets (Figures 1 and 2).

Factors affecting prices:

·  Forces of demand and supply

·  Seasonality

·  Market structure

·  Government policy

·  Macro-economic context

·  Others: Taste, technology, population, etc.

There are different types of prices:

·  Farm gate price: price received by farmers at any point.

·  Retail price: price paid by the final consumer.

·  Farm harvests or production price: price received by farmers at end of main harvests.

·  Wholesale price: price at collection point or elsewhere between farm and retail.

MARKET PRICE DATA AND USES

The main objectives of price data collection and analysis include:

·  Assessing food security and welfare of citizens

·  Enhancing policy/program formulation and assessment

Users of market price data and information are:
·  Private sector (traders, producers, processors)
·  Consumers
·  Government policy makers
·  Donors and NGO relief planners
·  Academics and others / Price data contributes to market analysis through:
·  Temporal comparison (monitoring)
·  Spatial comparison
·  Comparison along the value chain
·  Inter commodity comparison
·  Inter-sectoral comparison (terms of trade)

MARKET PRICE DATA COLLECTION METHODS

Task / Best practices
How price data are collected / 1.  Market transactions: the enumerator interacts with traders about prices of items at different parts of the market.
2.  Key informants: the enumerator gets stock information from market associations.
What data are collected / The price enumerator will gather the following information:
1.  Price per local unit of measure of selected commodities
2.  Local Unit of Measure (LUM, such as mudu) conversion factors with standard units of measure (SUM, such as kg). Please note that the mudu conversion factor will need to be confirmed at the market level, as it varies from location to location (in some places it is equivalent to 2.5kg and others it is 2.3 kg).
3.  Enumerators should also collect contextual information such as stock levels other factors affecting market demand and supply ( visual observations by enumerators and asking individual traders and market associations).
Frequency of data collection / Monitoring data will be collected on weekly basis, on the main market day. If there is a continuous market, price data should always be collected on the same day of the week.
Timing of data collection / Price data should be collected at the same time each market day, and at the time of day when market transactions are most dynamic. It is best to avoid the beginning of the market day or the end of the market day.
Number of observations / Enumerators should collect 5 observations of data for each commodity and for all price types (wholesale and/or retail) and in all markets monitored. One observation is the value reported by one trader.
Values to be reported / Price enumerators should record Individual observations and the arithmetic mean of the five individuals observations, and each local unit of measure (LUM, Figure 3). For example, there are 2.3 kg per mudu in some areas of Nigeria and in other areas there are 2.5 kgs per mudu. The LUMs must be clearly defined and updated regularly. For example, at FEWS NET, LUMs are verified 3 times per year in February, July and November.
The reporting standard / Enumerators should share the price per LUM and converted price per standard unit of measure (SUM) to the central enumerator coordinator. This acts as a check on the price data being submitted as well.
Tool for recording data / Printed survey sheet, tablet/smartphone app, or cell phone, depending on your organization’s approach. Enumerators should be equipped with weighing scales to determine appropriate conversion factors between LUMs and SUMs. Cellphone and/or internet credits to submit data and communicate with central enumerator coordinator.

PRACTICES TO AVOID

Please avoid the following practices that will discredit the data collection and reporting:

FIGURE 2. FEWS NET internal price data transmission process
Sources: FEWS NET.

·  Guesswork: the presentation of data that do not exist or presentation of data that was “cooked up”

·  Falsification: the deliberate change or misreport data

·  Plagiarism: using the data of another person without permission or giving appropriate credit

·  Multiple publication of same data

·  Conflict of interest of any kind

·  Not acting after discovering negligence

PRICE DATA TRANSMISSION (INTERNAL)

·  One day after data are collected, enumerators should email the data to the field office. The market/price coordinator in the field office will analyze the data, make sure they are clean, and check that the price averages and percent changes over time are correct. After the data have been checked, they will be entered into the database.

·  If there are any issues with the data, the coordinator will first ask the enumerator for clarification. If the issue is still not clear, the coordinator/officer should go to the market to check the data and correct it if necessary. The coordinator should also check the authenticity of data sent in by periodically visiting the markets and checking the prices.

FIGURE 3. Example of price data transmitted with incomplete meta data
Sources: Save the Children (Nigeria)
FIGURE 4. Example of monthly average price data table with complete meta data
Sources: FEWS NET.

PRICE DATA SHARING (EXTERNAL)

Data shared externally among partners should satisfy the following best practices to allow for accurate price monitoring, irrespective of the objectives or means of collecting the data (paper, Excel spreadsheets, or tablet-based app). Incomplete or non-standard metadata make comparing price data series across sources difficult (Figure 3). Complete and comparable metadata are therefore essential (Figure 4).

Task / Best practices
All data are shared in a single Excel file, containing two tabs / The first tab will contain the price data table (Figure 4), with the accompanying metadata described below.
The second, “read me” tab, should contain relevant information from the source organization, including usage restrictions, and the locations (geographic coordinates) of the markets monitored.
o  Access conditions and terms of use of the data (If any): The access conditions or terms of use should also be included to determine how such data can be shared with other partners for further use (Open data or restricted usage).
o  Market Coordinates (Latitude and Longitudes): Coordinates of the location each market should be documented for ease of spatial price analysis.
Data should be presented in table form (Figure 4) and accompanied by complete and clear metadata / There are five essential pieces of metadata that must accompany each price data point
·  Market name and administrative location: The name of the market and its geographic location should be clearly stated. E.g. Mubi township market, Mubi LGA, Adamawa state, Nigeria. Note that if the market changes later due to one reason or the other, this should be clear to the user.
·  Commodities: Items being monitored should be clearly defined.
·  Time reference (Monthly averages): The data should be specific as regards the period of collection: Month and year of collection (for example April, 2016).
·  Specify price type (Retail / Wholesale): The actual level of price being monitored must be clear (for example, “retail” or “wholesale”)
·  Presented in standard Unit of measure (kg, litres, MT): The price data to be shared should be in the standard units for ease of comparison over time and space. LUMs vary across locations and not comparable.
Commodity price sharing priorities / Priority should be on sharing food and fuel price data. Non-food items are secondary.
Frequency of data sharing / Organizations should share their price data on a monthly basis, within 10 business days of the reporting period. For example, average price data for the month of September 2016 should be shared no later than October 14th (the 10th business day of the month of October)
Collating price data / Organizations should collate their own monthly data and share the complete historical price series on a monthly basis. This creates less opportunities for collating errors among partners. This approach also ensures that inevitable edits to the historical data are shared on a regular basis.
Missing data / The reason(s) for missing data points should be clearly defined in the data file (Figure 4). For example, if the enumerator simply forgot or did not collect the price data (perhaps due to illness), they should use “not collected.” If the commodity was not available on the market, they should use “not available.”

Partner price data should be addressed to and

Famine Early Warning Systems Network / 5