This document is a guidance paper for SDC head office and cooperation office staff. 

This is the updated version 2022 in English and French. The Spanish version is from 2017.

The guidance document provides advice for SDC staff on how to manage projects using a market systems approach. Advice is provided for developing the initial project idea and formal entry proposal, the tender process, the inception phase, credit proposal and implementation phase, steering and monitoring, evaluation and preparation of a following phase.

Ce document est un guide d'orientation interne destiné au personnel du siège de la DDC et des bureaux de coopération.

Ce guide fournit des conseils au personnel de la DDC sur la manière de gérer des projets utilisant une approche des systèmes de marché. Des conseils sont fournis sur les activités du personnel autour du développement de l'idée initiale du projet et de la proposition d'entrée en matière, du processus d'appel d'offres, de la phase de démarrage, de la proposition de crédit et de la phase de mise en œuvre, du pilotage et du suivi, de l'évaluation et de la préparation de la phase suivante.

There is also a short video with explanation and overview of the guidance paper  - see video in English or see video in French

Further, there is a brief for decision-makers and poster that can be printed and displayed in your office to make people aware of the guidance 

This brief is specifically written for decision-makers who approve MSD projects – either entry proposals with opening credits or credits for main phases. It will guide you through the different phases of MSD projects and how they are linked to the SDC Project Cycle Management (PCM) – with a focus on phases relevant for approval.

Click here for the updated guidance for managing MSD projects (version 2022).

This Glossary includes the most important MSD/M4P terminologies and definitions.

This BEAM short paper (19 pages) explores how to develop a system change strategy and intervention plans that lay the groundwork for system change assessment, including how to set system boundaries and how to identify the system changes a programme aims to catalyse; and assess system changes using both (i) an intervention lens focused on changes introduced by specific interventions, and (ii) a helicopter lens that provides a whole system view. 

A BEAM webinar where the four authors provided an overview and answered burning questions was attended by 166 practitioners. After that, the authors published a more depth version  "A pragmatic approach to assessing system change, how to put it into practice" (91-pages) . It explains in detail how to implement this pragmatic approach with worked examples and useful tips.

Innovations for Agribusiness (InovAgro) is a Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) funded project which uses a market systems development (MSD) approach to improve the incomes for poor women and men small scale farmers in three provinces in Northern Mozambique (Nampula, Zambezia, and Cabo Delgado). The project is implemented by a consortium of DAI Europe and COWI.

This case study captures InovAgro’s experience on facilitating the development of the market for the sales of certified seeds by private sector seed companies and agro-dealers to smallholder farmers (SHF) between 2014 and 2020. 

>> for a short 2- page summary explaining all the nuts and bolts 

This case study was done less than two years after the project started supporting key market actors in the IT sector. It was therefore unlikely to already demonstrate the full eventual impact of the IT firms on jobs for young women and men. Two leading actors of the IT sector in BiH – HUB 387 and Bit Alliance – were used as entry to stimulate broader changes in the sector. The MarketMakers project were able to bring about greater awareness of IT as a career choice and an increasing number of students choosing IT education; improved public-private dialogue for changing perceptions of the IT sector in Government and the growth of trust between the Government and the private sector; and trust and interaction among IT private firms where entrepreneurship and innovation are valued, encouraging small companies and start-ups to grow more aggressively.

This publication provides a glimpse into how Katalyst is realising systemic change by making market systems more inclusive. As a result of these systemic changes, private companies are changing their business models as they recognise the vast potential of including small farmers in their customer base, the public sector is fulfilling its role of supporting the poor more effectively by creating conducive enabling environments, and small farmers are ultimately empowered to increase their incomes and improve their livelihoods

This case study is part of a series of case studies which illustrate the potential of the market development approach and the challenges faced in its implementation. It presents Katalyst’s experience. This case study is part of a series of case studies which illustrate the potential of the market development approach and the challenges faced in its implementation

This case study is part of a series of case studies which illustrate the potential of the market development approach and the challenges faced in its implementation. This case study shares Katalyst’s and its partners experience in developing a training system for healthcare professionals in Bangladesh from 2005 to 2010. It demonstrates that the conventional thinking about the role of the public and private sectors in healthcare needs to be revisited, concluding that poverty reduction can be achieved more effectively if both work together. It also shows that the market development approach can be applied successfully in 'non-traditional' sectors.

This case study is part of a series of case studies which illustrate the potential of the market development approach and the challenges faced in its implementation. This case study shares Katalyst’s experience from 2005 to 2011 in working with relevant public and private sector players to make ICT work for farmers in Bangladesh. It demonstrates how innovative service offers can be delivered to farmers and what actions were taken to instill a greater degree of systemic change in this sector.

This case study illustrates how an M4P project is going about changing the livestock system in one region of Georgia to the benefit of small-scale farmers. It focuses on one area of intervention, cattle breeding, and tells the story of how the project staff found the right players to work with, how they persuaded them to adapt their roles, how they helped them do so and how they are continuing to work to ensure the modest success achieved so far is likely to endure long after the project finishes.

This case study is part of a comparison of the M4P framework and the Sustainable Livelihood Approach. It reviews and positions the two dominant frameworks or approaches with each other and describes a possible series of steps to further examine each with a view to enhancing them as frameworks for analysis and action.

The case study evaluates the development of a sustainable rural dairy farming intervention funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and implemented by the Strategic Development agency (SDA), a local NGO in Armenia. It illustrates how it can be practically applied in a dynamic way to bring about meaningful and sustainable positive change within markets.

This case study on rural marketing explains how to unlock economic potentials and how to create economic incentives to change the way entrepreneurs work. The study tells how to reach many of the entrepreneurs in an efficient way while asking if it really addresses the structural problems or just symptoms.

This case is based on two SDC initiatives using Making Markets Work for the Poor (M4P) as a uniting framework against which to position, learn and improve the performance of the employment and income related portfolios of SDC regional programmes. The process was piloted in 2004 and reviewed and benchmarked a wide range of projects across Kosovo, Albania, Macedonia, Serbia and Bosnia.

This case study outlines the experience of the FinMark Trust, an organisation formed in 2002 to address the problem of access to financial services. FinMark saw the solution to improved access as engaging better functioning financial markets – with “making (financial) markets work for the poor” (M4P) – and this has been the focus of their work. Their initial experience indicates considerable success, with potentially major implications for financial services interventions globally. 

This case study is one of a series exploring the application of the M4P approach to different fields of private sector development. A consideration of business environment issues features prominently in M4P approaches, where an understanding of how the “rules of the game” influence whether market are pro-poor or not is the starting point for intervention, .it draws on a range of small-scale or pilot activities to improve the business environment in Indonesia and Russia. 

This case study is part of a series of case studies which illustrate the potential of the market development approach and the challenges faced in its implementation.
This case study looks at a variety of market development interventions undertaken by Katalyst in Maize, its impact on market actors, their business models and the maize farmers. Katalyst and Winrock International had a partnership whereby Winrock’s knowhow on maize was combined with Katalyst’s market development approach. Issues related to such partnerships are also brought up in this case.

This document deals with the experience of KATALYST and its partner, Syngenta, an input supplier, in seeking to redress very low production levels of vegetables in the Rangpur region. It highlights the importance of knowledge and information in improving agriculture performance - and the opportunity presented by this – and poses challenges for agencies in how to intervene effectively to stimulate more effective and large-scale market development.

An independent evaluation assessing how SDC-financed MSD projects in agriculture were implemented from 2013 to 2019. SDC funded 275 projects in this period that had major elements of MSD in agriculture.

Overall the evaluators conclude that MSD was demanding on project teams and the Swiss Cooperation Offices (SCOs). A high level of skill was required to find market failures and define what to do. Ensuring actions needed to stimulate the private sector without distorting the market whilst avoiding the project becoming trapped as a permanent actor.

Over several phases, projects built up their skill base. They achieved this either by training their own staff or by building local NGO capacity. This gave rise to a slow start, but it paid dividends over the years with considerable skills being built up within the projects.

This report includes the management response. Link to the factsheet.