Enter Commodity Information Fields

This section details each of the fields that are available when Setting Up Global Commodities in the Create new commodity page. It details what you can enter for each field, and provides examples.

1. Commodity Group (Mandatory): Choose a commodity group from the drop down list of the available commodity groups. The available commodities are described in the following table.

   Commodity Group	Description
   CER	Cereals
   OIL	Oil
   DAI	Dairy
   Micronutrients
   Fortified Blended Food
   LNS Small Quantity
   FRU	Fruit
   BEV	Beverages
   MIX
   PUL	Pulses
   FSH	Fish
   TUB	Tubers
   Other	Anything that does not belong in one of the other commodity groups.
   MEA	Meat
   VEG	Vegetables
   EGG	Eggs
   SPC
   Milk	Milk based products
   CSH
   Dry Food	Dried foods
   Fresh Food
   Cash
   Dry fish
   NonFood Items
   Therapeutic Food
   Medicine

2. Name (Mandatory): Enter a unique name to identify the commodity here. You can name a commodity for a generic commodity within a commodity group, e.g. vegetable oil. Alternatively if you have a partnership with a company that is providing a specific product, you may use the product name instead.
3. Code (Mandatory): Enter a code to identify the commodity here.
4. Description: Enter a description of the goods here. You can provide more details here about the commodity as required.
5. Unit (Mandatory): Choose the standard unit of measurement used for measuring the commodity from the drop down list. The available units are described in the following table.

   Unit	Description
   Kilogram	Used for dry commodities that are measured by weight such as flour, fruit, and vegetables.
   Litre	Used for liquid commodities that are measured by volume such as oil and milk.
   Unit	Used for commodities not covered by any other units.
   Carton	Used for packaged commodities such as tins of tuna or pasta. The weight of packaged goods may vary from location to location. If you use kilogram as the unit, you may have situations where you are required to give someone half a tin of tuna. Carton is used to avoid these situations.
   Currency	Used for cash assistance.
   Sachet	Used for sachet commodities such as nutritional supplements or powdered medicine. Usually, the sachet is the standard amount that should be used for a single dose.
   Bottle	Used for liquid commodities that are always in bottles such as medicine.

Examples

Generic commodity

In this example, we show what values you put in each field to create a generic Vegetable Oil commodity.

Field	Value	Notes
Commodity Group	OIL	We choose OIL as vegetable oil is a type of oil.
Name	Vegetable Oil	For generic commodities, the name is just the general term for that group of commodities. This allows it to be used for any type of vegetable oil from any brand.
Code
Description		Since this is a generic commodity, it does not require a description.
Unit	Litre	Vegetable Oil is a liquid. It will be distributed in significant quantities. While it can be distributed as bottles, people may also be providing their own containers and getting a measured amount from their Point of Service. AS such the most appropriate unit is Litre.