Automating Internal Control at a Coffee Cooperative using Mobile Phones Improves Efficiency and Accountability

Agricultural cooperatives monitor the growing practices of their members through internal control systems, ensuring adherence to external certification requirements and quality standards. In this paper, we present the motivation, design and evaluation of an automated mobile data collection, evaluation and reporting tool for internal control at a coffee cooperative. Our goals were to improve the efficiency of this process, and to increase the accountability of various stakeholders. Based on a 6-month in situ pilot evaluation, we demonstrate a 38% reduction in inspection time and 69% reduction in evaluation time, when compared to the earlier paper-based approach. These efficiency gains would reduce the cooperative’s yearly expenses by $10,100, or 48% of the total internal inspection costs. Our qualitative evaluation of the system, based on focus group discussions and feedback obtained through the mobile data collection itself, documents field experiences and technical issues that arose during the deployment. The vast majority of this feedback was positive, including several comments from farmers and inspectors that the new system was more efficient and increased their accountability to the internal control process.