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. 

Effective Seed Storage worked to increase food security in Timor-Leste through initiatives aimed at reducing seed and harvest storage losses and maintaining better access to quality seeds. Since August 2011, ESS has successfully developed a market system for a metal-based, customizable and locally manufactured seed storage system, branded as the “silo,” by identifying local preferences, training local blacksmiths to build and sell the new technology, promoting distribution channels through rural shops and providing subsidized vouchers to encourage initial buyers.