Policy brief
Market systems development in fragile and conflict-affected situations
Lessons for donors and implementers working at the intersection of humanitarian and development responses to the Covid pandemic
The DCED Working Group on MSD has produced two working papers, for donors and for implementers, on using the MSD approach to help recovery in fragile contexts, with particular reference to Covid.
More than 1.8 billion people live in fragile and conflict affected-situations (FCAS). Fragile contexts are home to 23 per cent of the world’s population and 76 per cent of all those living in extreme poverty globally. The pandemic has pushed many countries further into crisis, resulting in record-breaking needs.
The papers address the need for the humanitarian and development communities to ensure that while specific immediate shocks are addressed, underlying systemic issues are not ignored or further undermined.
They focus on the potential for humanitarian and MSD approaches to be brought together. In fragile contexts, market interventions range from actions that deliver immediate relief, to actions that proactively strengthen local market systems and key industries. In addition to asking 'how can we use local markets to deliver aid?' we should be asking 'how are communities using markets to meet their needs, and how can we help markets restore their ability to do that?'
They examine how humanitarian and MSD approaches differ and describes frameworks that are available to help us understand markets in fragile crisis.
The papers are work in progress and we value your input to develop them further. If you have any comments or suggestions please email isabelle.gore@beamexchange.org