CAN MARKET SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT BUILD RESILIENCE IN FRAGILE CONTEXTS?

To better understand where and how practitioners can apply market systems development approaches to resilience-building in fragile contexts, Mercy Corps’ research set out to assess the relationship between the two models in three MSD-focused programs in South and Southeast Asia. 

In Myanmar, Making Vegetable Markets Work (MVMW) for the Poor takes a strict market systems development approach to help smallholder vegetable farmers in the Southern Shan and Rakhine states of Myanmar increase their incomes.2 Specifically, MVMW partners with input suppliers to promote the uptake of new agricultural technologies through vouchers, subsidizing input costs for seedling trays, plastic mulch, trellis netting and personal protective equipment, all of which are designed to reduce production variability and improve yields.