This technical brief looks at the ways WASH market systems are affected by humanitarian crises and the ways in which humanitarian actors can work with them.
Working with WASH market systems in emergencies
Working with water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) markets requires an understanding of market systems and the interactions between users and these systems. An understanding of the demand for WASH commodities prior to and during emergencies is also important in the design and implementation of humanitarian WASH programmes. This section describes the characteristics of market systems, the impacts of crises on these systems, and introduces the benefits of market-based programming.
Key Points
- All populations depend on market systems – both formal and informal – to meet their essential needs. An awareness of existing supply chains and the demand for essential goods and services is necessary for all humanitarian programming.
- Working with market actors can be an effective way to i) meet the needs of affected populations ii) improve the efficiency of programme delivery, and iii) contribute towards market rehabilitation and post-disaster economic recovery.
- Working with market actors can be an effective way to i) meet the needs of affected populations ii) improve the efficiency of programme delivery, and iii) contribute towards market rehabilitation and post-disaster economic recovery.
Supply and Demand of WASH Commodities
An understanding of end user needs for WASH commodities, how crises affect demand, and the capacity of market systems to meet their needs is fundamental to successful emergency preparedness and response programming. All communities depend on a variety of goods and services (jointly referred to as commodities) to meet their everyday needs. Market traders and service providers retailing commodities at the local level are the endpoint in market chains where supply meets demand: where commodities are accessed by users via a range of market actors – both public and private, formal and informal.
Market systems are characterized by supply chains consisting of producers, wholesalers, distributors, retailers/vendors and service providers. The primary supply chains that meet consumer/customer demands are reliant on secondary, supporting supply chains such as fuel, communications and financial services, and are influenced by the institutional and regulatory environments in which they operate. Market systems in urban areas are more complex than in rural areas, because these generally include a larger number of market actors and different suppliers/vendors, many of whom offer different quality products and services.
Key Features of WASH Market Systems
Market principles are essentially generic and can be applied across sectors. However, when conducting analysis on WASH markets, there are sector-specific factors that need to be considered. These reflect the complex and interdependent features of WASH systems and behaviours and are therefore particularly relevant for practitioners and policy makers to implement market-based programming in WASH.
A critical characteristic that influences the effectiveness of market systems is the user behaviour associated with products distributed or services provided. If the WASH goods or services that are delivered to crisis-affected populations are not required or populations are not familiar with these commodities, then the programme is unlikely to achieve its goals.
Figure 1 highlights the differences between water supply and sanitation markets, as well as those that supply hygiene products. Some of these are characterized more as market systems for goods whereas others are defined by the services that they provide. There is often crossover in the supply chains between WASH goods and other goods such as food and household products. For instance, bottled water and water purification chemicals are often found in the same supply chains as food products. The characteristics of WASH market systems are explored further below.
Market systems that supply hygiene goods show similarities to food markets insofar as they consist of delivery chains from manufacturer through to retailers and users. Most products are supplied by larger scale retailers, who in turn are supplied by large scale manufacturers – some of which may be located overseas. But the demand-side of these markets exhibits fundamental differences. Demand for hygiene goods is primarily driven by behaviours related to personal cleanliness, pride in appearance and dignity as opposed to hunger. Although WASH programmes are often designed to mitigate health risks, these risks are often not the primary motivating factor for people to purchase hygiene goods.
Water markets are different from hygiene good markets, but there are similarities, notably those related to products sold by market vendors for household water treatment. Supply chains are frequently comprised of a variety of market actors including water truckers, hand-cart water vendors and operators of stand-pipes. Demand is determined by the need for various domestic activities that may be affected during times of crisis.
Although supply chains of materials and components are needed to build toilets, masons are often employed to provide construction services. Post construction, sanitation facilities require desludging to be sustainable. As such, after the initial emergency response, sanitation markets are predominantly service-orientated and therefore highly influenced by the level of demand and affordability in relation to other commodities available on the market.
Impacts of Crises on Market Systems
The accessibility, price and potentially the quality of commodities are affected by emergencies resulting from shocks to market systems. The extent to which these are affected depends on the type of emergency as well as the timing of the crisis. In the aftermath of large-scale natural disasters, market systems are often disrupted and affected communities depend on humanitarian interventions from external agencies to meet their critical needs. However, in smaller scale emergencies or protracted crises, markets are often the principal means by which people obtain essential commodities.
Although emergencies may be symptomatic of longer term endemic problems, humanitarian responses are frequently designed and implemented based on a poor understanding of the specific needs of the affected populations and the market systems that work to meet these needs. In situations where WASH services are already poor, weaknesses in market systems are often exacerbated by seasonal impacts such as floods and drought, which may lead to disease outbreaks. In this situation, the distinction between a crisis and non-crisis situation becomes blurred, and solutions to WASH problems invariably need to deal with longer term endemic institutional issues that affect the way markets function. It is therefore important to differentiate between those aspects relating to the economy and inadequate public service, and those related to emergencies, such as natural disaster or conflict.
Working with WASH Markets in Humanitarian Programming
A failure to understand the interactions between market actors and the populations they serve can lead to less effective humanitarian responses and have longer term ramifications on the local economy and associated livelihoods. Making assumptions about how shocks affect access to goods and services can result in inappropriate goods being distributed and can also perpetuate market distortions. A key consideration is the fact that the effectiveness of humanitarian responses will depend on whether the crisis-affected population wants or perceives a need for the commodities that are provided. This will determine the end use of any goods distributed and the demand for services provided.
If humanitarian agencies do not consider market systems, in-kind distribution of goods can also affect demand for commodities, undermining market recovery and economic rehabilitation. It is therefore important to be market aware and take into consideration the impact that in-kind distributions may have on existing market systems. Market awareness is one of the key ways to uphold the principle of ‘do no harm’, which encourages humanitarian agencies to avoid unintended negative consequences in any situation in which they operate. According to the Minimum Economic Recovery Standards published by the SEEP network, market awareness is the starting point for humanitarian programmes, both post- and pre-crisis, and programme design and implementation decisions should consider context, market system dynamics and communities.
If the crisis is so severe that market systems break down altogether and there is no immediate means to repair them, then an in-kind response may be required. However, humanitarian and government agencies should seek to rehabilitate and support existing service providers wherever possible and only substitute these in the absence of other options. Working with market actors is therefore key to emergency responses – and also provides livelihood opportunities to support income generation, in turn contributing towards the rehabilitation of the local economy.
Understanding how WASH systems function and how the end-users interact with these systems during periods of normality or crisis is critical to tailoring interventions to meet end-user needs. This understanding is important for non-WASH sector specialists as well as for WASH sector specialists, when working together during multi-sector needs assessments and humanitarian responses. The challenge for humanitarian agencies is to work out how to best support existing market systems, which effectively requires changing roles from implementers to facilitators.
Expected Benefits of Market-Based Programming
Proponents of market-based programming propose a range of expected benefits of the approach compared with traditional in-kind distributions. The extent of these benefits will depend on the type of programme, the context of the response and the stage in the disaster cycle. As such, the benefits will not necessarily be relevant in all contexts but if well designed and delivered, market- based programmes can result in the following:
- Market actors are better prepositioned to meet the needs of affected populations: Beneficiaries of assistance can choose the commodities that meet their needs and preferences and can procure these commodities in a more dignified way.
- Improved efficiency of programme delivery: Cost-efficiencies are achieved using existing supply chains and the needs of affected communities can be met more quickly from market actors already present in the areas of the emergency.
- Contribution towards market rehabilitation and economic recovery: Relates to the ability of the approach to support post-disaster recovery beyond the short-term emergency relief phase via livelihood opportunities as part of market-based programming.
Types of Market-Based Programming
Market-based programming (MBP) in emergencies which uses, supports or develops local market systems, is increasingly used by humanitarian agencies to meet the needs of crisis- affected communities. This section describes different types of WASH market-based programming used in pre-crisis, emergency or post-crisis contexts, giving examples from Oxfam’s experiences in Bangladesh, Indonesia and Zimbabwe.
Key Points
- MBP aims to meet the needs of crisis-affected populations by working with existing market supply chains and service providers.
- In the majority of humanitarian contexts, there are opportunities to work with market systems to improve emergency response modalities.
- The market assessment and the level of market engagement will depend on the stage of the emergency cycle.
Working with Market Systems
Figure 2 illustrates how MBP works on the demand side and the supply side of the market. On the demand side, the focus is on supporting affected populations access market systems. Cash transfer programming (CTP) is one of the most effective means to boost demand and is increasingly mainstreamed in humanitarian responses. However, CTP can only operate when markets are functional. Therefore, on the supply side, MBP focuses on strengthening the capacity of market actors to provide goods and services in sufficient quantity and quality to crises-affected populations.
Market engagement takes place through different modalities that relate to market use, market support and market development. Broadly speaking, these correspond to i) immediate emergency response/preparedness, ii) protracted crisis response/contingency planning, and iii) post-crisis rehabilitation/resilience.
Figure 2 further illustrates two other important components of MBP:
- Sector-specific market systems are dependent on non-sector-specific market systems to function effectively. For instance, market systems rely on secondary market actors for transportation, communications, financing services, power (fuel, electricity), and spare parts that are needed for the primary market to function.
- Market actors operate within institutional and regulatory systems which define the laws, standards, and codes of practice that govern how commodities are produced, accessed and exchanged. The success of market-based programmes is influenced by this market environment within which market actors operate.
Examples of WASH interventions related to the different modalities of market engagement are shown in Table 1. The table shows that there are many opportunities for market support to local market actors and private service providers to improve provision of WASH facilities/services/systems. Some of these, predominantly related to market use, are already widely practised by humanitarian agencies, but not always categorized as MBP.
Table 1 Examples of WASH intervention at different modalities of market engagement
| USE | SUPPORT | DEVELOP | ||
| Water | Supply | Contract water trucker to distribute water to crisis affected community | Small grants to repair water pumping / piping equipment | Install small-scale water treatment plants and train operators |
| Demand | Cash transfers to enable households to purchase water | Promote awareness of water quality issues to stimulate demand for water purification products | Marketing to promote new point-of-use water treatment products | |
| Sanitation | Supply | Procure latrine slabs from local supplier | Support to manufacturers to improve quality of slabs | Provide equipment for desludging pits to private sector actors |
| Demand | Vouchers for desludging of pit latrines | Micro-grants for households to purchase sanitation components | Sanitation marketing to stimulate demand for improved latrines | |
| Hygiene | Supply | Procure NFIs and/or hygiene services from local markets | Subsidise wholesale price of NFIs to enable bulk purchase of sanitary pads | Support women’s groups establish enterprises to manufacture and sell soap |
| Demand | Distribution of vouchers to poor for purchase of hygiene products | Promote awareness of good hygiene behaviour | Undertake market survey to understand customer preferences for hygiene commodities | |
Using Market Systems
Programmes that use market systems are generally best suited to emergencies where market systems are functional. Thus, framework agreements can be signed with local market actors/suppliers to supply commodities to affected communities to meet their essential needs (see Box 2). On the demand side, cash transfers involving commodity vouchers (conditional or unconditional) or multi-sector cash grants can enable families to procure the goods and services that they need.
Heavy flooding affects vulnerable communities in many parts of Bangladesh resulting in loss of assets, income and negative impacts on livelihoods. Due to impacts on water and sanitation systems, there are increased in the prevalence of diarrhoea and other diseases. Traditional WASH responses include the provision of hygiene kits, and water containers alongside hygiene promotion and latrine construction activities. The PCMAs undertaken in Gaibanda and Tala districts showed that not all of the hygiene items were considered critical to needs, markets for these items continue to function during emergencies and the in-kind distribution harms local market systems. As a result, the Bangladesh programme team designed a programme to enable access to critical goods / provision of WASH hygiene items through e-vouchers and mobile money was piloted for the first time in a WASH response.
Key successes have been: working with the WASH cluster to design and cash equivalent for the traditional WASH basket’ based on analysis of market systems. Oxfam worked with market actors to prepare framework agreements to supply critical NFIs to affected communities via a cash-based modality during a crisis. The framework agreements contain clauses that define the payment mechanism, location of material supply, specific duties and responsibilities of the vendors and materials distribution system, quality of the materials, and compliance with prevailing laws, rules and regulations
Supporting Market Systems
Provision of commodities through market systems may not be possible in situations where market actors themselves are disrupted by the crises. Market support actions are often required in post- disaster responses to re-establish supply chains/essential services, and help existing suppliers and service providers recover from the impact of a shock through grants to rehabilitate facilities and repair/replace damaged equipment. In pre-crisis situations, market support actions enable market actors to increase their resilience and emergency preparedness. These activities may provide equipment to market retailers to reduce operating costs or to enable them to receive digital payments through a cash-transfer programme. These types of intervention may also include awareness campaigns to increase demand for existing products and services.
Low-lying and coastal areas in Jakarta are highly prone to flooding. During large-scale flood events, the poorest and most vulnerable families are temporarily relocated by the local disaster management agency to Internally Displaced People (IDP) centres for shelter and safety. The IDPs are reliant on government support for food and other critical commodities. In light of the increasing frequency and scale of flooding and the increasing length of distribution queues, the Local Disaster Management Agency (LDMA) has been working with Oxfam to improve emergency responses by working more closely with market actors to provide critical commodities prior to and during emergencies.
As part of the PCMA, recommendations were made for emergency preparedness and resilience building to support private public toilet/shower operators and water service providers to maintain safe functionality of public latrines in floods. Critical market actors were identified and signed framework agreements requiring them to ensure minimum water levels to maintain the functionality of the public toilet/shower facilities. Private sector WASH providers were provided with grants to upgrade their facilities and were mandated to support internally displaced persons (IDPs) access these facilities during large floods. In addition, an e-payment system was also created for future IDPs using an e-voucher system to enable IDPs to use public toilets/showers during floods to reduce risk of disease outbreak in and around IDP centres without such facilities.
Developing Market Systems
Market development actions are designed to bring about changes in the market system. This involves supporting markets to either provide a wider diversity of products or services, to expand existing businesses, and/or to strengthen the capacity of these actors to access new markets.
Such actions require longer term engagement with market actors as part of pre-crisis or post- disaster recovery and require close cooperation and support from government institutions.
On the supply side, market development may involve the strengthening of suppliers/service providers through training, development of public–private partnerships, support to trade associations for business/enterprise development or to local market actors to prepare business continuity plans. On the demand side, market development might involve promotional campaigns to increase demand for new products/services. This would require market actors to play an amplified role in marketing activities, as described in the case study from Oxfam in Zimbabwe (see Box 4).
The common response to waterborne disease outbreak in Harare includes in-kind distribution of household water treatment most commonly in the form of Aquatabs and, more recently, Waterguard. In addition, community boreholes are rehabilitated or undergo shock chlorination and hygiene promotion activities are conducted. The responses are driven by the public health imperative to prevent the spread of disease and are deployed by local and international NGOs in conjunction with the local government. The PCMA found that the majority of households could, under current economic circumstances, potentially afford to purchase locally available household water treatment based on household purchasing power but did not choose to do so.
The reasons cited for this were: a dislike of the taste and/or smell of the product; access to free products from health clinics or aid distributions when outbreak risk was high; belief that primary water sources were safe or safe enough. Local traders (including pharmacies) had little or no stock of these items and registered little change in demand during an outbreak or during seasonal periods of high risk.
Oxfam’s programme in Harare focussed on promoting of a locally manufactured chlorine-based household water treatment (Waterguard) using conditional vouchers in tandem with water quality monitoring and hygiene promotion. The aim was to encourage preventative behaviour through continued use of HWT within households and to stimulate demand using a six-month ‘buy one get one free’ promotional risk reduction campaign in a high-risk outbreak areas. The increased volume of sales has enabled market traders such as the one on the left to develop their business and, in this case, open an additional shop.
Using Market Mapping and Analysis to Develop Market-Based Programmes
Market mapping and analysis, in both pre-crisis contexts and during emergencies, is an important and integral step towards the development and implementation of market-based programmes. This section focuses on a five-stage approach that forms the basis of engagement with key stakeholders for the design and implementation of market engagement strategies.
Key Points
- Market analysis is an essential step to support market-based programming to identify critical market commodities and understand how market systems respond prior to and during emergencies.
- The success of market-based programming depends on demand for commodities from affected communities. A market analysis should therefore include assessments of needs, affordability and willingness to pay.
- Implementation of the full range of recommendations from a market analysis is generally not feasible. Therefore, a key step involves the prioritization of recommendations to be implemented.
Stages in the Market-Based Programming Process
A five-stage approach was developed by Oxfam as the basis for the activities carried out in target countries and to guide the programme funded by USAID’s OFDA. The approach in which market mapping and analysis is an integral step is described below. The approach helped to provide clear direction to humanitarian staff and partners for the market analysis and follow up market-based programming actions. Sufficient time is required throughout the process for stakeholder consultation. The latter is important to ensure both support for the implementation of preparedness actions and contingency plans as well as for the market analysis itself.
- Scoping and stakeholder engagement
- Preparation for market analysis
- Market analysis and recommendations for market strengthening
- Development of a market engagement strategy
- Implementation, monitoring and evaluation
The type of market mapping and analysis and the corresponding approach towards market engagement is influenced strongly by the stage in the disaster cycle. In emergencies, a rapid and effective response is of paramount concern, and as such the market analysis needs to be undertaken within the space of a few weeks for it to be of value to the responding humanitarian agencies
Stage 1: Scoping and stakeholder engagement
The initial scoping stage involves a review of existing information about market systems, the identification of communities and groups who are most at risk, and a reflection on traditional emergency responses. This is used to develop an initial understanding of how market systems are affected by crises and how emergency responses affect these systems. Stakeholder engagement and consultation with market actors is key from the outset in order to understand interests and gain support for the market assessment.
Stage 2: Prepare for market analysis
Preparation for the market analysis is an important step in the process and involves training the staff responsible for the analysis and identifying those who will lead on the process. The activity at this stage will define the questions for the market assessment and identify information gaps that determine the requirements for data collection and market mapping. Stakeholder engagement will form the basis of consensus on the crisis scenarios and critical market systems, and will ensure buy-in to the recommendations from the market analysis.
Stage 3: Map and analyse market systems
Stage 3 involves the collection and analysis of data from both sides of the market (supply and demand) as well as the secondary supply chains that enable primary markets to operate. Market maps are used to show the changes created by shocks to the market system caused by a crisis. For example, information about the number of market actors and the total estimated volumes of trade can be overlaid onto market maps from before the crisis. The analysis can reveal bottlenecks in market systems, provide information about the market system’s capacity to meet priority needs and indicate where local procurement is possible (See Box 1).
Market-based programming should be centred on the needs of the targeted groups – particularly the poor and disadvantaged – how these change during crises, and how local market systems respond to these needs. An essential part of the market analysis is therefore to understand what people spend their money on, why, and what motivates or hinders a target group to purchase one particular good or service. User preferences and behaviours are as important to the success of the market-based programme as the technology used to deliver the intervention. It is important to recognise that WASH commodities are not the only priority for communities affected by a disaster or conflict situation. A multi-sectoral needs analysis may therefore be the best way to understand the relative need and demand for different commodities.
Stage 4: Market strengthening recommendations
Based on the market mapping and analysis recommendations from Stage 3, Stage 4 involves the design and development of a market engagement strategy to strengthen emergency responses, contingency plans or resilience of market systems. This may involve use of, support to, or development of market systems to provide critical goods/services and/or cash transfers to populations affected by crisis. Recommendations related to market development and system change are the most challenging, and the organization responsible for initiating and leading on the market analysis may not be the organization that should be responsible for moving forward with the recommendations. Due to constraints related to insufficient time, resources and/or lack of skills, it is often not possible to proceed with the full range of recommendations. To ensure adoption and implementation of preparedness actions and contingency plans, it is important for institutional stakeholders to agree with the recommendations.
Stage 5: Implementation and market monitoring
The final stage involves implementation of market engagement actions prior to and during emergencies. Monitoring and evaluation is integral to the implementation of the programme and to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of the intervention(s). Ongoing monitoring and evaluation is also key to ensure that any changes in the crisis situation can be identified and changes to the response modality can be implemented accordingly.
Tools to Support Market Mapping and Analysis
There is a range of market analysis toolkits, including Emergency Market Mapping and Analysis (EMMA), Pre-Crisis Market Analysis (PCMA) and Rapid Assessment of Markets (RAM). As shown in Figure 3, survey tools that underpin these toolkits include household surveys, focus group discussions, key informant interviews and stakeholder workshops. Seasonal calendars are also widely used to gather information to help understand how both needs and demand change over the year and how the market responds to these changes.
ICT tools, such as Mobenzi or Survey CTO, can ensure rapid data collection and analysis with in- depth results of superior quality. Geographical Information Systems are increasingly utilized to map hazards, populations and market systems. Mobile data collection tools using touch screen tablets or smart telephones significantly reduce the time for both data collection and analysis and can improve the quality of the results, although they require more resources and time to develop than paper questionnaires.
Organisational requirements and Capacity Building
Market analysis and programming requires organizations to take on board new approaches and ways of working. This calls for new staff expertise and partnerships with organizations experienced in working with market systems. This briefing focuses on organizational considerations with respect to market-based programming, with particular emphasis on human resources. It highlights the need for institutional commitment and collaboration with other agencies to ensure greater coordination for effective humanitarian responses.
Key Points
- More ambitious market engagement programmes require increasing organizational capacities, time and resources to implement effectively.
- Market-based programming requires strong leadership to manage diverse teams and to secure support from other agencies.
- Market development actions to strengthen the resilience of market systems require greater involvement from the development community.
Organizational capacities, time and resources for market programming
Provided the right expertise and sufficient resources are in place, market analysis during emergencies can generally be implemented relatively quickly and efficiently by humanitarian agencies. While the time required to develop and initiate market use or strengthening activities may take only a month or two, a pre-crisis market analysis will involve more in-depth market assessments, which in turn will lead to recommendations that might involve contingency planning and resilience building. A longer term commitment is required to strengthen the capacities of local organizations and programming that bridges the gap between humanitarian and development agencies.
These activities invariably require greater expertise, time and resources than those related to market use, and take significantly longer to implement as they need to be integrated within longer term programming. Figure 5 illustrates how the amount of time, resources and level of organizational capacity required for market analysis and programming depends on the depth of analysis and the level of market engagement.
staff expertise and composition
A key consideration before embarking on a market analysis is the availability of staff with the right skills/expertise. Ideally, a market assessment team requires a composition of staff who understand humanitarian WASH, market systems, cash transfer programming and consumer demand and behaviours. However, it may prove difficult to identify the personnel with the necessary expertise for the market assessment, especially at short notice.
The bulk of the data collection and analysis can be undertaken by a small, dedicated core team. Rather than training everyone to the same level, training should focus on staff who will lead the process and the enumerators responsible for data collection to ensure quality of the analysis.
This requires good expertise in information/data management, and the ability to utilize ICT tools for data acquisition, analysis and presentation. There will also be a need for inputs from logistics, procurement, finance and monitoring and evaluation teams.
Requirements will depend on the depth of market engagement, but a common challenge is the need for expertise from outside the humanitarian sector. Ensuring inputs from development staff is essential to understand the nature and cause of the problems that are being faced, particularly where these relate to chronic development issues and how these compound the impact on populations during a crisis. This helps to understand how market systems operate in non-crisis situations and the approaches adopted during longer term development programming.
To promote organizational buy-in, there is a need for a better understanding across the organization of the value of market analysis to support humanitarian programming – both for emergency preparedness and response. As shown in Figure 2, this can be achieved through a combination of tailored workshops on market analysis and strategic discussions around the existing evidence base for working with market systems.
Institutional Commitment
A significant factor in the success of a market analysis is the level of institutional commitment, which is largely influenced by the level of buy-in from programme leaders and organizational directors. This commitment is also necessary to support the uptake and implementation of recommendations from a market analysis to inform humanitarian programming activities. The level of engagement may be influenced by preconceived ideas about the outcomes from the market analysis or a lack of understanding of the potential benefits of market-based programming (or the potential negative consequences on a conventional in-kind response). Senior staff may buy into the approach but may not appreciate the complexities or the extent of organizational commitment that is required, nor perhaps the potential difficulties of implementation at scale. In other situations, there may be an underlying reluctance to adopt the approach due to either the lack of sufficient evidence with respect to the benefits or due to concerns about working with the private sector.
Co-Ordination With Other Agencies
Humanitarian responses to emergencies often involve different agencies responding to the needs of different groups of the affected population. These may be targeted towards specific groups in designated areas or targeted towards specific social groups. The understanding of market systems in one area can provide guidance to inform programming in other areas. Market mapping and analysis provides a stronger basis for a more holistic approach, working with existing service providers and suppliers of WASH commodities and engagement with government agencies.
The role of the WASH cluster as a lead actor in the process is therefore important to ensure collective understanding and ownership of the market analysis and to promote coordination and consistency between humanitarian agencies. The buy-in from different agencies and the role of the cluster is therefore key to the achievement of co-financing of market analysis by providing greater justification for the market assessment in the first place.
Coordination between humanitarian agencies and development partners is also important. Whereas humanitarian agencies have a clear understanding of the basic and immediate needs of populations in distress, development partners will have a stronger understanding and experience of market systems in non-crisis or less stressed environments.
Monitoring and Evaluation
Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of market-based programmes is essential to assess the impact of humanitarian interventions on the lives of people affected by disaster or crises, to track progress, discover unplanned effects of programmes and adjust accordingly. This section proposes a framework of indicators to monitor and evaluate programme delivery, taking into account criteria related to access to and quality of WASH commodities, efficiency of delivery, and benefits for market actors.
Key Points
- The wide-scale uptake of market-based approaches is currently constrained by a lack of evidence to demonstrate the proposed benefits.
- In order to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of market-based programmes, there is a need for a framework of indicators to facilitate the collection of data in a consistent manner.
- The M&E framework has been developed to be equally applicable to conventional (non- market-based) approaches and to market-based programmes to facilitate comparison between the two.
Need for a Monitoring and Evaluation Framework
Market-based programming is alleged to provide a more effective and efficient means to meet the needs of crisis-affected populations. The proposed benefits relate to the timeliness of response, beneficiary preferences, efficiency, as well as longer term economic benefits. However, evidence is needed to test these assumptions and assess the effectiveness of market- based programmes in comparison with conventional responses.
The WASH Cluster Technical Working Group on Cash and Markets in the WASH Sector identified the need for a consistent approach to monitoring and evaluation, and the 2018 version of the Sphere guidelines (see Key Common Action D) identified a need for practical measurable indicators to monitor the effect of the supply chain or cash-based interventions on local markets. An M&E framework is therefore required to establish how the investments in preparedness and resilience subsequently pay off in terms of improved effectiveness and efficiency of both the responses and economic recovery.
Objective and Logic Model
With the above objective in mind, Oxfam commissioned, with funding from OFDA, the development of a generic M&E framework and complementary ICT tools to facilitate data collection and analysis. The overall aim is to help agencies improve their monitoring and evaluation in different local contexts, and subsequently build the evidence base for market-based approaches.
Figure 7 illustrates the logic model for WASH market-based programming on which the indicator framework is based. The main focus is:
- The effectiveness of the humanitarian response in terms of outcomes related to access to critical goods and services by affected communities, taking into consideration imbalances for women and poor/vulnerable groups;
- The resilience of market systems and benefits of market-based programming in terms of market rehabilitation and efficiency of delivery compared with traditional responses.
Indicators in the Monitoring and Evaluation Framework
The indicators within the framework fall into four categories related to i) access to WASH commodities ii) quality of WASH commodities iii) efficiency of delivery and iv) benefits in terms of market rehabilitation. It is important to note that although the recommended indicators (sixteen in total) are proposed as the minimum set of indicators, it may not be necessary to use the full set if the indicator is considered not to be relevant or if there is no data available.
- Access to WASH commodities
Indicators focus on the proportion of the targeted population with access to a) water supply b) sanitation facilities c) menstrual hygiene materials and d) handwashing facilities with soap and water, in accordance with Sphere standards. These indicators are monitored via household questionnaires and observational surveys (e.g. spot checks and transect walks).
- Quality of delivery (response and commodities)
The framework includes the proportion of targeted population satisfied with the quality of response (in terms of choice, flexibility, dignity, equity and safety) and the availability, affordability and quality of WASH commodities provided by the response. These indicators are monitored via household surveys and focus group discussions. Other indicators included in the framework in the category include i) the average duration of unavailability of WASH commodities and ii) price fluctuations which are monitored by supplier surveys and monitoring of commodity prices in the market.
- Efficiency of delivery
Efficiency of delivery is assessed in terms of i) cost per beneficiary and ii) delivery cost ratio. These indicators are calculated based on a review of secondary data and discussions with staff from the humanitarian agency responsible for the emergency response.
- Benefits for market actors
The proportion of supported traders and service providers who report i) benefiting from market support activities; ii) that they have access to funding and iii) that their trade has recovered after the shock from the crisis or disaster. These indicators are calculated from reviews of secondary data, registration information, and supplier surveys. Whereas some of the indicators, such as the cost data, are determined directly, other indicators are composite indicators and based on a qualitative assessment. The latter are based on a set of pre-defined questions that determine the level of beneficiary satisfaction with the quality of the response to meet their needs, and the perceived benefits reported by market traders.
IT tools to facilitate data collection and analysis
The M&E framework and indicators use two information technology tools for data collection/analysis and presentation of the results. These are Survey CTO and PowerBI respectively. These are available for download from the EMMA toolkit website to facilitate easy access and application.
- The purpose of Survey CTO is to improve the speed and quality of field-level data collection by eliminating the need to compile paper questionnaires, decipher handwriting and transcribe a questionnaire into a spreadsheet database prior to analysis of the data.
- The Power BI tool is a versatile tool which is free from Microsoft and which is used for data analysis to disaggregate according to i) different programmes; ii) gender and socio- economic status of beneficiaries and suppliers; iii) modality of delivery (e.g. type of cash transfer or in kind distribution); iv) type and time of support provided to beneficiaries and suppliers; and v) type of support offered to beneficiaries and market actors.
Capacity Building Requirements
Field/project staff responsible for data collection need the capacity and skills to collect quantitative and qualitative data of sufficient quality in accordance with the indicators provided in this framework, as well as an overall understanding of the purpose of the exercise. Capacity building/training for data collection and analysis is therefore needed for field staff and local partners as part of the market programming activity (See Stage 2). In addition, funding is essential for the development and implementation of post-programme monitoring as a longer term evaluation is paramount. This will help to build evidence around market-based approaches and help to select appropriate response modalities as part of humanitarian programming.
This briefing note was produced by Oxfam with the generous support of the American people through funding received from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under a grant from the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA). The contents are the responsibility of Oxfam and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.
