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staple crop (e.g. beans) may contain a large segment that is trading in average-quality items, and a separate
smaller segment trading in a high-quality items consumed only by wealthier households.
In these cases, do not waste time investigating the market segment that is not relevant to the target population’s
needs. Also, avoid mixing up data (prices, volumes) about the ‘irrelevant’ market segment with the segment that
is critical for EMMA, as your results may be distorted as a result.
3.
Seasonality and geographical relevance in the EMMA mapping and analysis process (EMMATKp65, 72)
The EMMA process compares baseline and emergency-affected situations. Baselines give the EMMA
user a
description of the normal ‘situation before’ and a best guess at the conditions that agencies can realistically
expect when the market system recovers in due course. This analysis becomes crucial in Step 8 when baseline
data will be used as a guide to the inherent capabilities and limitations of market-system actors: it can tell us what
can be realistically expected from the system. This is crucial if agencies are going to rely on market actors to play
their role in humanitarian response.
It important that any baseline provides a comparison in terms of time (season) and place (geography), to enable
the emergency situation to be assessed effectively.
Seasonally: the baseline should describe the market system as it was during the same time of year (or the
same seasonal conditions) as the emergency for which a response is being planned. Also, if responses will be
implemented during the dry season, the baseline should describe a ‘normal’ dry-season situation, rather than
the market system as it was during the hurricane season that immediately preceded and precipitated the
emergency.
Geographically: the baseline should describe the market system in the location where the emergency
response is planned. If the target population has moved (i.e. as refugees and displaced people), the most
relevant baseline situation will usually be the market system that existed before the emergency, in their
new location.
Occasionally it is difficult to define an appropriate baseline because the critical items or goods were not
previously traded much in the local economy (e.g. specialist shelter materials). Even when prior market activity
was negligible, it is usually possible to trace market links back to some national-level producer or buyer, and
describe any relevant infrastructure and services.
4.
Gender roles in market systems (and how to represent subsistence farming) (EMMATKp64)
Women and men often have very different roles and responsibilities within any given market system. Where
gender divisions are strongly present, EMMA users should be cautious about mapping the household as a single
market actor. It may be necessary to differentiate between male and female actors, since the impact of the
emergency, and their needs and preferences for assistance, cannot be assumed to be the same. Box 3.5 in ANNEX
Step 3 (EMMATKp64) illustrates one way to represent intra-household differences and subsistence producers.
5.
How do I map the services, inputs, institutions, rules and norms parts of the map?
Mapping the infrastructure, inputs, and services (EMMATKp66 Sec3.4)
Mapping institutions, rules, norms, and trends (EMMATKp67 Sec3.5)
6.
Comparing baseline and emergency-affected maps
As soon as you have a preliminary draft map, begin recording the impact of the crisis. For example.:
the disappearance of some market actors;
partial or complete disruption to some linkages or relationships in the chain;
damage to infrastructure, and blockage of services;
new relationships or linkages formed as coping strategies by market actors;
changes in the relative importance of different linkages (i.e. volume of trade);
introduction of new supply channels (e.g. aid distributions).
These impacts – which are still very possibly speculative at this early stage – can be indicated on a market map,
using simple visual ‘flags’ to highlight various kinds of disruption to market actors, functions, and linkages in the
system (see Box 3.10 in ANNEX Step 3).
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Field based advice:
o
Just get started – it is amazing how much people/ local staff know.
o
Difficulty in understanding if someone is a market actor or not? This can be very confusing for field teams…
remember that an actor is someone who is involved in the direct transaction of the item/ good being
investigated. If for example, the transporter does not buy and resell the good then he is just a service
provider, and has to be represented in the lower section of the market map the ‘infrastructure, inputs and
services section’. (See EMMATkp62-67 for more information).
o
If he buys and resells then he has to appear on the map.
o
Identify as soon as you can the key markets in the area and the number of people who use them (the market
catchment area). This helps focus your attention on which actors (traders etc..) need to be considered in the
EMMA and most importantly, in calculating the demand /supply aspects of the market in 3 timeframes: past
(baseline), current (emergency) and in the forecasted future.
o
As drawing maps can take time as you have to draw and redraw them, a quick way is to use post-its (with all
the actors, services etc… on them) and a large white board. Move the post-its around easily and draw arrows
on the white board. Then when you think you are done, transfer the details to a flip chart paper.
o
This step is great in identifying what information you are still missing and questions you have. Make a list!
o
Do not forget to consider NGOs/ Government institutions as market actors in baseline as well as emergency
maps – this is important for in-kind activities as well as cash based responses.
If many agencies are planning
un-coordinated cash based responses (without sufficient market analysis or warning to traders to ensure
supply chains are in place) there could be consequences such as price increases, stock shortages etc… that
can have an impact on the market map.
Case study example: Accessing information for preliminary mapping
Port au Prince, Haiti 2010: Accessing information for preliminary mapping was eased by various factors:
o
There was quite a lot of information available on-line
o
There had been an EMMA in 2008 (an EMMA pilot) so not only was there was some knowledge of EMMA in
country, but some of the data used in the pilot could be used 2010
o
There was an HEA (Household Economy Approach see
www.feg-consulting.com
or www.heawebsite.org)
baseline report for Port au Prince that provided essential contextual and baseline information
o
The EMMA benefited from FEWS in Haiti. FEWS had on-going and historical price and market data for food
security related markets. (FEWS provides timely and rigorous early warning and vulnerability information on
emerging and evolving food security issues
www.fews.net
)
o
The EMMA team included staff from FEWSNET (see
www.fews.net
) and other organisations that had
knowledge of market systems in the city