3 ways to work toward strengthening agricultural market systems:

  1. Shifting the mindset: If agricultural market systems are to become more inclusive and productive, we need a mindset shift. We must consider the long-term effects of power dynamics and shifting political landscapes in the agricultural sector and our market systems strengthening work.
  2. The link between systems and politics: The development community's link to and discussion of power dynamics and politics needs to be more robust and explicit. We propose that the thinking and working politically, or TWP, approach would help USAID’s Feed the Future programming illuminate the often down-and-dirty politics and power relations; formal and informal institutions; structural, social, and ideological underpinnings; and incentives driving behavior within the local ecosystem of actors and decision-makers affecting agricultural market systems.
  3. Political economy analysis as a tool: A powerful tool used as part of the TWP approach is the political economy analysis, or PEA. USAID’s applied PEA field guide can help agriculture and Feed the Future projects and professionals use PEA — not only at the design or initial implementation phase to ensure politically savvy programming, but also as part of an ongoing adaptive management approach, per ADS 201, USAID’s operational model for programming in a specific region or country.

Read the full article on strengthening agricultural market systems by Philip DeCosse and Sharon Van Pelt  at Devex International Development