Post on 18-Jan-2016
Engagement and Facilitation with the Private Sector in Disaster Affected
Markets
Tim Stewart & Kanchan GurungSamarth-NMDP
How far have we come?
• Cash is now a recognized relief and recovery instrument
• We have a multitude of analytical tools
• The recognition and rhetoric of avoidance of undermining markets & early recovery is present
It’s been 10 years since Aceh…
But… • Capacity is low among responding agencies – especially
humanitarian agencies • Pressure to deliver quickly and visibly are high (donors,
government, agencies)• Fall-back to the comfort zone of assessment and direct
delivery
If we agree that we want to avoid undermining markets, and that cash is a valuable recovery tool:
What do we need to do differently?
1. Setting the intention – acknowledging the role of markets in recovery
2. Using a sound diagnostic process to assess impacted markets – evidence base
3. Facilitation with legitimate market players to recover
How to avoid it
RULES
SUPPORTING FUNCTIONS
• Transport & comms interrupted
• Finance is risk-averse
• Information & power asymmetry: vested
interests
• Donors, INGOs & international community
• Trust & trust reinforcing mechanisms
undermined
• Risk aversion
• Informality increases
CORE MARKETSupply Demand
Regulations
Trust & risk perception
Inputs & Services Finance
Transport Information
Rule of law
INGOs/Donors/UN
Ethnicity, caste,
gender
Fragility affected market
Our interactions and actions with market
players either build or undermine markets
Building or undermining?
RULES
SUPPORTING FUNCTIONS
CORE MARKETSupply Demand
Regulations
Trust & risk perception
Inputs & Services Finance
Transport Information
Rule of law
INGOs/Donors/UN
Ethnicity, caste,
gender
Cash Transfers
If we are providing cash, who will affected people buy inputs and
services from?
If we are doing and paying for these
things, who will be there to do and pay for
them in future?
If we are not strengthening
legitimate institutions, how to we expect
them to function in future?
Building or undermining?
Systemic intervention
Recovery of livelihoods
System recovery & resilience Restored access to inputs & marketsImproved networks & relationships
Focus on market system
recovery
Reduced vulnerability
Systemic intervention
Poverty reduction(Jobs & Income)
Improved growth and access
System change e.g. increased
access to inputs
Setting the IntentionDevelopment Recovery
Direct interventions
ignore the system
Focus of intervention
Systemic constraints
Specific market system
The poor and their context
Symptoms
Causes
Why?
Feasibility
CORE
• To fix a problem, one must first understand it• In an emergency, the diagnostic process is rapid, & less rigorous• But still essential & can involve market players too
Diagnostic Process
Samarth is not a relief agency! But:• Had an experienced, motivated and capable
team for market analysis & facilitation• Had well established linkages and networks
with private and public sector
Samarth Early Diagnosis & Engagement
What Samarth Did• Selected Vegetables, Dairy and Inputs to focus on
(obvious impact and role in recovery)• Identified key business membership organizations to
work with– Vegetables: FEVEN (veg traders)– Dairy: CDCAN (dairy cooperatives)– Inputs: PEAN (input wholesalers & retailers)
• Supported them with logistics and analytical capacity• Presented findings to international community • Brokered relationships
Outcomes • BMOs used research as an advocacy piece for
government & NGOs• Some uptake of recommended interventions
among NGOs• But the recovery and response options pursued
were direct, & mainly ignored & potentially undermined the private sector…
How could it have been done differently?
What is facilitation?
“the art of affecting change in the behaviour and performance of market players such that it is sustained and continues to
adapt and respond to external influences”
“an action that is external to a market system but seeks to bring about change within it, in order to achieve the public benefit objective of
systemic change”
“any activity that makes tasks for others easy”
“the temporary actions of a facilitator to bring about system-level changes and develop market systems for
the benefit of the poor”
E.g. Agricultural Inputs Objective: enable farmers to plant staple and cash crops in the monsoon
Instead of:• Buying seeds and inputs • Conducting household surveys• Distributing inputs directly to householdsTry:• Engaging with PEAN• Assisting them to understand the affect on input retailers (addressing capacity
issues)• Assisting them in gap analysis for things they don’t normally stock (e.g. seed
storage bags)• Building relationships with the CASH recovery community• Fronting capital for re-stocking retailers (soft loan)
This maintains legitimate relationships between farmers and input retailers.
E.g. Livestock FeedObjective: safeguard productive assets (cows and buffalo)
Instead of:• Buying livestock feed (urea molasses & concentrates)• Conducting household surveys • And distributing it to affected smallholdersTry:• Engaging with CDCAN• Assisting them to understand the affect on supply-chain for milk (addressing
capacity issues)• Developing a distribution mechanism via empty milk trucks through dairy
cooperatives to farmers (phasing out subsidy over time as milk supply returns)
• Building better management information systems to monitor (and manage milk supply in future)
This maintains legitimate market relationships, and offers the potential for improved feed supply in future
Finally…• Understand when you are facilitating, & when
you are not: ask who else could or should be doing this?
• Recognise the facilitation capacity you already have, and cultivate it
• Develop and invest in relationships and networks with market players