ACTIVITY OVERVIEW

Market System Monitoring Feed the Future - Value Chain, Uganda

photo by Tim Russell

TheMarket SystemMonitoring (MSM) activity develops systemic approaches for assessing the impact ofmarketfacilitationactivitiesintheUSAID/UgandaFeedtheFutureValueChain(FTF-VC)project.Methodscomplementthemonitoring and evaluation efforts of individual activities by assessing how the combination of activities enablessystemicchangeinagriculturalmarkets.MSMsupportsdevelopmentandimplementationoftheFTF-VCMonitoring,Evaluation,andLearningPlan(MELP)throughongoingmethodologydevelopment,datacollection,andanalysis.

CONCEPTUAL APPROACH To monitor systemic change, we iteratebetweentwolevelsofanalysis:theoverallmarket system and more detailedcollections market activity referred to assubsystems. This approach, depicted inFigure 1, allows for deeper analysis ofparticular areas of interest that revealinsights regarding the broader marketsystem. The levels and iteration betweenthemaredetailedfurtherbelow.

MarketSystemLevelAt themarket system level,MSMaims toidentifysystemcomponentsandunderstanddynamicsamongthem.Todothis,wedevelopedmappingframeworkstodepictthesystemandkeydynamicsinanintuitive format. These frameworks have been used to map the agricultural market system in Uganda, drawingextensively fromcollaborationwith theUSAIDFTF-VCactivities. Themapsare informedby in-house studies,newanalysesofexistingdata,andexpertinput.Inadditiontorepresentingthemarketsystemvisually,themapsareusedtocapturecomplexity,engagestakeholders,andidentifyindicatorsofsystemicchange.MSMisfurtherdevelopingmethodologiesforusingtheseindicatorstocharacterizethetypeandscaleofsystemicchange.

MarketSubsystemLevelAtthemarketsubsystemlevel,MSMworkscloselywithmarketfacilitationactivitiestocharacterizekeybehaviors,relationshipsamongactors,marketconditions,andinterventionsthatleadtodevelopmentobjectives.Bystudyingsubsystems,weareabletorefinetheindicatorsofsystemicchangeidentifiedatthemarketsystemlevel,ensuringthattheyaremeasurableandinformative.Weusequalitativeandquantitativemethods(seesectiononMethodologybelow) to analyze existing data, collect new datawhen necessary, and developmodels. In doing so,we developmethodsforidentifyingandmeasuringindicatorsofchangeinthesubsystem.

IterationoftheLevelsMSM’sapproachistoiteratebetweenthesetwolevels,sothatwhatwelearnfromeachinformsthenextiterationoftheother.Forexample,weusethesystemmapstoidentifyareasforfurtherinvestigationinsubsystemstudies.Theresultsofthesubsystemstudiestheninformmapcontentandmethodsforidentifyingandmeasuringindicatorsofsystemicchange.MSMplanstoiterateinthismannerthrough2020.

MarketSystemLevelofAnalysis

Understandthemarketsystem,toframerelationshipsamongcomponentsandindicators.• Mapthemarketsystem• Identifyindicators• Developandimprove

methodologies formonitoringsystemicchange

MarketSubsystemLevelofAnalysis

Deeperstudyofparticularsubsystems,inordertorefineindicatorsandmethodologies, andpilotmeasurementapproaches.• Understandcriticalsubsystems• Refineanddiscoverindicators• Developandimprove

methodologies formeasuringindicators

Figure1:Conceptualapproach:iteratebetweentwolevelsofanalysis.

ABOUT MSM The Feed the Future Uganda Market System Monitoring (MSM) Activity is developing new approaches that assess the impact of market facilitation activities on systemic change in the Uganda agriculture sector. It is a joint implementation by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and The George Washington University. Contact us at msm.uganda@mit.edu.

METHODOLOGIES To capture the complexitiesof theagriculturalmarket system,MSM leveragesmixedquantitativeandqualitativeresearchmethods.MSM’smethodologycontinuestoevolveandincludesthefollowingtechniques:

DataCollectionandAnalysis:• Qualitativedatacollectionandanalysis:MSMusesinterviews,observationalfieldresearch,andcasestudies

tounderstandaspectsof themarket system that cannotbeeasilyquantifiedand to identify indicatorsofchange (examples include the way actors perceive supply chain relationships, the concerns of individualcommoditytraders,andthefactorsthatweighintothedecisionsoforganizations).

• Quantitativedatacollectionandanalysis:Quantitativedataplaysan important role inunderstandingthenatureof relationshipsanddecision-makingwithin the supply chainand in identifyingcorrelationsamongrelevantfactors.WedrawuponexistingM&Edata,andalsocollectnewdatausingsurveys,transactions,orothertechniquesasrequired.Statistical/econometricanalysistechniquesareemployedwhereappropriate.

SystemMapping:• RoleMap:Thismapillustratestherolesthatagriculturalmarketactorsassumeinthevaluechain,showing

thematerial,financial,andinformationflowsamongthem.Rolesaredefinedforeachcoremarketactivitythatanindividualorentitycanconduct,suchassellinginputs,providingfinance,orprovidingextensionservices.Actors,meanwhile,aretheindividualsorentitiesengagingintheseactivities.Sinceanactorcanassumemultipleroles,theMSMteamdistinguishedtherolesanactorcanplayinordertodescribemarketconditionsusingstandardterminology.

• Behaviors,Relationships,Conditions(BRC)Map:Thismapdiagramsthecomplexdynamicsatplayintheagriculturalmarketsystem.Itvisuallydistinguishesthemarketwithsubsystems,ordistinctspheresofmarketactivity.Marketconditions,actorbehaviors,andinter-actorrelationshipsaredepictedwithspecificshapesthatareconnectedbyarrows.Arrowsdirectionallyindicatethatonebehavior,relationship,orconditionenablesanothertooccur.Moreinformationcanbefoundinthenotesthataccompanythelatestrelease.

Models:• Systemdynamicsmodels arebeingdeveloped toquantitatively simulatecausal interactionsand feedback

loopswithinthemarketsystem.Systemdynamicsmodelscanbeusedtounderstandunexpectedoutcomesandassessproposedmarketfacilitationinterventions(suchassubsidies,training,riskmitigation,orregulatorychanges).

• Socialnetworkanalysis(SNA)isamethodthatisusedtounderstandhowspecificactorsinteract.SNAisshedslightonthenatureofrelationshipsamongactorsandcanbeusedtoassessinclusivityofthemarketsystem.

PRODUCTS MSM’sprimaryoutputsare:

• systemmapsandaccompanyingreleasenotes,publishedannually;• analysesandreportsfromsubsystemstudies;• summariesofworkshopsandothereventsthatdocumentMSM’sprocess;• andacademicpapers.

DocumentsarepostedontheMSMwebsite,http://humanitarian.mit.edu/projects/feed-the-future-uganda.