The Food and Markets Department has been formed to create a multidisciplinary systems approach in developing appropriate, responsible, innovative and practical solutions that benefit poor people through facilitating wider market participation and improved market efficiency, and by adopting viable socio-economic, technical and environmentally-responsible policies and practices. The team of twenty market and commodity economists, value chain specialists and natural scientists has extensive commodity experiences (crop and animal) gained world-wide and with a range of public and private sector clients. Staff within FMD.

Skill base

Our work is clustered through Programmes encompassing expertise in:

• Development of smallholder production, management and marketing systems to meet public and private sector standards and market needs;
• Innovations in value chain governance and partnerships for smallholder and SME development;
• Evaluation and design of finance packages for rural households and entrepreneurs, and promoting rural financial initiatives;
• Support to commodity trade and finance, including market liberalisation in Africa;
• Supporting the demand from farmers and processors for remunerative market through systems-based approaches to post-production technical, socio-economic and regulatory challenges;
• Understanding the impact of trade measures and agreements on the livelihoods of poor people in developing countries;
• Capacity development through teaching (up to MSc level) and professional development training for developmental specialists, farmers, SMEs, trade negotiators, regulators and food inspectors.

Our programmes of work:

The department undertakes research, advisory and training activities under the following thematic areas:

• Making agriculture work for the poor
• Food and trade
• Change and vulnerability
• Capacity strengthening