DRC – Remote Market Systems Analysis and Support in Myanmar

Myanmar is today facing a multifaceted crisis, with almost 1,000,000 people purportedly in need of humanitarian assistance. Humanitarian needs stem from complex combination of exposure to armed conflict, inter-communal tensions, natural disasters, statelessness, institutionalized discrimination, protracted displacement, human trafficking and risky migration.

Ensuring that all crisis-affected communities have equitable access to essential services and livelihoods opportunities stated have one of the main priorities in the last Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP). To this end, Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is currently leading a four-year livelihoods programme as part of their Economic Recovery and Livelihoods strategy. In order for the programme to be more flexible and responsible to access, markets, and context, DRC commissioned Key Aid Consulting to provide them support to deliver a remote market systems analysis in Rankine State in order to understand the impact of recent contextual challenges on market systems.

More specifically, the objectives of this consultancy were to adapt existing market analysis and monitoring tools to better suit the local context, train DRC staff on the use of these tools and data collection methods, assess the functionality of the selected market systems based on the data collected by DRC teams and provide recommendations on flexible interventions to respond to the conflict-impacted limitations of the market and limited access environment. The methodology was highly participatory, mixed-method approach relying on a variety of secondary and primary sources. It included a desk review, capacity-building workshop for DRC staff, primary data collection and market system mapping.