What is MARKit?
The Market Monitoring, Analysis and Response Kit (MARKit) is a market-based programming toolkit that enables managers to adapt their programs to changes in the local market environment. MARKit provides a framework for market monitoring, analysis and response decision‑making, using prices as the main indicator. Prices are highly sensitive to changes in market function, supply and demand and can therefore signal changes that need to be investigated further.
MARKit was initially designed to support food assistance programs, but it is generally applicable to programs with recurring distributions of cash, vouchers or in‑kind commodities, across sectors. MARKit can be used across crisis settings to inform both emergency and development programming. Whatever the context, it is assumed that the design of the program intervention is based on assessments and response analysis to determine the most appropriate activities and modalities.
Why use MARKit?
Based on a standardized methodology for price collection, management and analysis, MARKit is designed to support evidence‑based decision‑making. In many programs, staff collect price information but may lack the time or skills to analyze it. Streamlining the market monitoring process will help teams be more efficient and effective with their time, enabling them to focus on analysis to inform decision‑making. The use of commonly accepted data collection methods and reporting can also facilitate data sharing across organizations, thus encouraging collaboration.
MARKit also aims to help programs maintain the principle of “Do No Harm” and reduce or resolve unintended impacts on market systems, including those caused by the intervention and those induced by market forces external to the program. MARKit guides practitioners on how they can adjust their program to adapt to changes in market conditions and to justify adjustments to relevant stakeholders.
When to use MARKit?
MARKit can be used across sectors, by one or multiple organizations, in both crisis and non‑crisis settings for:
- Programs of any duration. However, the longer the program, the greater the amount of data needed to inform decision‑making:
- Trends from longer data series (i.e., programs of more than six months) will be more insightful than those with fewer data points.
- The tool can, and should, also be used for short programs (i.e., less than six months), particularly in areas with reoccurring programming, as lessons learned can be applied to future responses.
- For shorter programs, users will need to depend more on secondary/historical data, where available, and/or qualitative methods to compensate for limited price data. Qualitative methods of analysis are included throughout the manual.
- Interventions that transfer resources to participants through cash, vouchers or in-kind distributions (purchased locally, regionally or internationally). For all modalities, MARKit monitors the continued appropriateness of the chosen modality. For cash and voucher assistance, MARKit also serves to ensure that the transfer value remains adequate.
- MARKit is intended for all programs irrespective of the price volatility or risks of a program causing market distortions. The assessed risks will determine the frequency and scope of the market monitoring system. Programs with very low levels of risk – such as those that account for small changes in supply or demand relative to the size of the market – may require only limited market monitoring; yet the MARKit sequence and key steps remain the same.
How to use MARKIT:
An overview of the MARKit methodology
The MARKit methodology includes five phases, and the manual provides step‑by‑step instructions for the implementation of each phase.
- PRE-MARKit PHASE – consolidating the information that should have been gathered during the program design.
- PHASE A: Prepare – developing a monitoring system (e.g., identifying market monitoring objectives, commodities and markets); setting the scope of the market monitoring system (e.g., determining risks and modality considerations); creating the tools (e.g., setting up the database) and visiting the marketplace (selecting vendors and understanding local units of measurement).
- PHASE B: Collect and enter data – identifying available secondary data and gathering primary price data, as well as reviewing and cleaning data in preparation for analysis. MARKit strongly encourages the use of secondary data wherever possible.
- PHASE C: Analyze – calculating and characterizing price changes and identifying their potential causes. Understanding these causes is critical to adapting to and potentially mitigating the effects of price changes caused by or affecting the program.
- PHASE D: Report and adapt – determining when and how to adjust programs in response to price changes. A variety of scenarios is presented along with recommended actions and the requirements needed to implement the changes.
