Memo

From: Francois Damba

Date: 27 November 2023

RE: UNIT 6 - TASK 6 – MARKET MAPPING

The report from the Retail Market Assessment Team is back and it includes a lot of
information! We need to understand what it all means.

1. How does a market map help explain how the market functions?

During the emergency situations the humanitarian organizations must have previously accurate
and comprehensive knowledge of the most critical market systems to help them consider and
differentiate between potential response and choose and decided the most suitable response that
most benefit the emergency situations affected people . Such knowledge of the most critical
market system results form assessing the different market systems and breaking them down into
their main integrating components.

It is well noted that a market system is defined as a network of suppliers ,producers ,

traders ,purchasers and consumers who are interactively involved in producing , supplying ,
trading and consuming a specific product of food or non-food items or a specific service within a
specific marketplace . Therefore , market systems are of utmost importance in providing the
emergency situations affected people with their required relief needs to ensure their survival and
to protect their livelihood as well particularly after the natural and human -made disasters .

The previously underlined emphasis on the market systems analysis and its importance in
selecting the most suitable response can be carried out through Emergency Market Mapping
Analysis process and shows its functionality . Such Market System analysis involves field work
visits processes during which the quantitative data and qualitative information are collected ,
sorted , analysed and interpretated in such a way that makes the market system/s well and
precisely described .

The quantitative and qualitative data and information gathered about the market systems before
the emergency situation and after the emergency will help us preparing the baseline and
emergency affected market systems maps .Therefore , such market systems maps will result in
many outputs that can be presented as follows :

The market systems representation as it was before the emergency and as it is now after the
emergency.

Clear details about the market systems actors in numbers and locations , the ongoing prices of
the food and non-food items , their volumes and stocked quantities and the general features of
the market systems both before the emergency situation and after the emergency situations as
well .

Clear description of the impacts the emergency situation made on the market systems and the
new constraints and bottlenecks that resulted from that besides the strategies that have been
taken by the market systems players to cope with the new situation .

The previously mentioned points and explanations show clears how a market map help
explaining the market functions.
 2. Can you please draw a map of the market for rice.

External Environment

Limited Poor Poor Weather

High Duty
Transportation Economic Conditions
Rates
Modes Conditions

Inflation

Small Subsistence Farmers

The Market Chain

Rural
Bagor
Traders
Districts Camp
Imports from Thailand, Importer/Wholesalers Traders
Pakistan, India, China and Rural
Households
Malawi

Nator
Urban Camp
Traders
Provincial
Traders Urban

Households
Food Aid
Parna
Camp

Market Infrastructure
1. Warehousing Storage
What concerns do you haveTransportation
about the market for rice in Betaland?
Facilities

The market of rice in Betaland depends mainly on imports that besides the other factors such as
transportation limited modes ,poor economic conditions , high duty rates and the low level of the
local production makes the purchasing cost of rice very high in comparison to the low wages
rates of the labourers who mainly depend on the agricultural sector for their livelihoods .

The market infrastructure is so weak that it can not be depended on for supporting the market
main actors financially in such a way that reflects on granting the final consumers credit periods
to pay for their purchases of rice besides the weak logistics and supply chain infrastructure .

The limited transportation modes and the dependence on water mode makes the rice supplies
flows very slow affecting the rice availability in the market with strategic quantities . Therefore ,
compiling the food requirements in general and rice in particular is of utmost importance during
the preparedness phase .

Moreover , the current market infrastructure shows that there are no financial service providers
and no large retail outlets except small shops outside the three camps to which supplies
provisions process from provincial retailers and wholesalers is very difficult due to the poor roads
networks conditions .

Consequently , such previously mentioned concerns and points about the rice market in Betaland
make it very difficult for selecting cash transfer program for supporting the refugees to buy their
needs of rice and other food items and the feasible option is to provide them with in-kind relief ai .

Regards
Francois
To answer this task, you will find the following learning material
section helpful:

6.1. Assessments, Analyses, & Building to Modality Decision

6.2. The Retail Market Assessment
Include Retail Market Assessment report.