MISTOWA does not intend to create a centralized market information system, but rather link existing and new regional MIS via a common platform and portal that the project will establish through a resource center in Accra. As the institutional and web portal facilitator, the center will secure information access, online collaboration, and process automation. In addition to helping improve the systems and their collection and dissemination of market information on selected commodities, the center will provide technical support to help the regional partners develop capacity for providing market information, technical advice, analytical reports and crop forecasts for paying subscribers on selected commodities.

The project's major activities include:

• Strengthen and link regional MIS so they perform more effectively and are more easily accessible by traders and producers. Integrate private systems and develop value-added commercial market information services;
• Increase the effectiveness and number of regional trader and producer organizations to enable them to become vectors for technology change and commodity chain development;
• Address crosscutting issues that can improve trade (grades, standards, and reliable data) and welfare (HIV/AIDS, gender, and environmental issues);
• Assist Nigeria, the largest economy in West Africa, to develop MIS and trade associations, and to be more productively linked to the rest of the region in agricultural trade.

The project will partner with major regional institutions, selected national organizations and with private MIS such as Manobi in Senegal. Working through regional organizations, the project will focus on the national partners and the noted commodities in Nigeria, Mali, Ghana, Senegal, Burkina Faso, and Benin.

MISTOWA will initially focus on:

• dual purpose (trade and food security) commodities - maize, rice, cassava, onions, tomatoes, and cattle; and
• traded products - cashew nuts, shea nuts/butter, and fertilizer. A second group will be added after the project is underway, and will include fish, mangoes, red meat, sesame, and cowpeas.