More than 1,200 sign up to e-Kofini channel

More than 1,200 people have signed up to participate in the government’s “e-Kofini” channel on the communication app Viber, Agriculture Minister Maria Panayiotou said on Monday.

The Viber channel was created in tandem with a platform of the same name set up by the government, which lists prices for locally sourced fruit and vegetables.

Panayiotou said on Monday the platform’s creation is “the first in a series of steps we want to take to effectively reduce the gap in prices received by producers and paid by consumers.”

She added that it “essentially gives us transparency in terms of retail prices and the prices producers are receiving.”

She said average prices for the products listed are updated every Monday and Thursday and published both on the agriculture ministry’s website and in the Viber channel.

This, she said, is being done “for reasons of transparency”.

The products monitored by the online platform include vegetables such as tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchinis, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, onions, peppers, beans, and peas, as well as fruits like bananas, watermelons, melons, and strawberries.

The first report, published on the online platform last Thursday, said that the price of fruits and vegetables at retail points “are considerably higher compared to those sold by producer groups and organisations.”

“In many cases, the same products are being sold at points of retail for more than double the price compared to what producer groups and organisations charge,” the report said.