Digital tools adding transparency in Ugandan supply chains

A recent study supported by the International Growth Centre tested whether simple, low-cost digital tools could improve transparency and accountability in dairy supply chains in Uganda, by making previously unobservable actions observable.
Across the country’s dairy sector, smallholder farmers often rely on informal transporters – drivers with motorcycles – to deliver milk to cooperative collection centres. These intermediaries typically hold more information about market prices, delivery outcomes and milk handling practices.
Once the transporter leaves the farm, farmers cannot see what happens to the milk, creating opportunities for misreporting, dilution and inefficiencies that undermine both farmers’ incomes and product quality.
The IGC partnered with 13 dairy cooperatives in Western Uganda to implement a technology that sends farmers SMS messages twice per week, summarising the volume of milk delivered and recorded in their name at the cooperative. These digital receipts provide farmers with timely, verifiable information, making it easier to spot discrepancies, monitor delivery outcomes and take corrective action if needed.
To evaluate the impact of this intervention, IGC conducted a randomised controlled trial (RCT) with 766 farmers and 70 transporters. Half of these farmers (the treated group) received digital receipts twice a week, sent from a unified sender ID in the local language, while the other half (control group) received no messages.
Delivery decisions and volumes were tracked using high-frequency administrative data; quality via spot lactometer tests during cooperative visits; and behaviour/trust through farmer and transporter surveys.
Three key findings were seen on how improving transparency affects delivery patterns, milk quality and how farmers and intermediaries respond when transactions become more observable:
1. Increased participation among self-delivering farmers: Treated farmers who delivered milk themselves were 6-10 percentage points more likely to continue to deliver milk during the intervention, especially during the rainy season, and continued to do so even after the intervention ended. However, average volumes per delivery did not increase – consistent with capacity constraints, walking/bicycle limits and transporter load limits.
2. Improved milk quality. Treated farmers delivered milk with significantly lower dilution. Quality improved by nearly 13% relative to the seasonal effect of the rainy season on water content, despite there being no price premium for better quality. These gains were concentrated among farmers using transporters, where information frictions are greatest.
3. Greater accountability among transporters. Treated farmers who used transporters were:
• 20-26 percentage points more likely to detect discrepancies between what left the farm and what the cooperative recorded.
• 14-17 percentage points more likely to switch away from the baseline transporters.
• More likely to report lower trust in intermediaries, revealing that previously hidden misconduct had become visible.