MBRRR Market Assessment


A market assessment should be done early in program response. It can be combined with an overall needs assessment or sectoral assessments as appropriate. A market assessment provides an understanding of specific needs and resources of the target population, intra-household dynamics and local market conditions that are critical to designing interventions that are the most appropriate for the given context at the given time. As a first step, it is important to determine which assessment will work best for your context from the Market Assessment Table with the tools for each assessment listed below.

NEW! If you are considering doing a Rapid Market Assessment then check out the new CRS Minimum Market Information Guide. [English] [Français] [Español]

This is an easy to use guide for field teams to meet the minimum information requirements of donors and humanitarian standards for a rapid market assessment to inform modality choice, It outlines the minimum basic information required for a rapid market assessment to meet basic agreed standards for project design with tips on assessment methodology, handy forms and support on report writing’

Click on these Key Market Assessment Questions’ for Traders, Stakeholders and Communities to see the basic types of questions to ask in almost all market assessments

1.1 RAM (General): The RAM is a rapid market assessment tool used in the early days of an emergency, between day 3 and week 3. It is comprehensive but can be adapted to any context. The following link RAM Guidance Document gives an overview of the tool and  a breakdown of the RAM’s main steps which can be adapted to your specific context is below.  The entire RAM Guidelines can be found under the Key Documents section of the Markets Page. [Adapted from RAM and ICRC Cash in Emergencies Toolkit]

To Identify Key Commodities and Markets.

  1. a) Drawing Market Maps
  2. b) Key Markets Templates can be used to assist in the selection of the marketplaces to be visited and in summarizing the commodities of interest (commodity type and quantity).

To Collect Market Data

  1. a) Key Informant Interviews – Market Representatives Questionnaire
  2. b) Key Informant Interviews –  Trader Survey Questionnaire
  3. c) Market Findings – Summary of Market Findings Templates

To Make Decisions Based on Market Assessment Findings

  1. a) Response Analysis – Conclusion Tree Market Capacity Analysis: This tool should be utilized in conjunction with the Market Representatives and Traders questionnaires as it proposes a series of questions that summarize different sections of the two questionnaires

To Write the Market Assessment Report

  1. a) Reporting – Market Report Template

1.2 CRS “Any Time” Rapid Market Assessment: Week 1 to month 3. CRS has drawn from other market assessment tools to make this generic tool for both rapid onset and slow-onset crises. This tool is intended to be modified. It contains similar information as the RAM, but may be more useful for people with some markets experience, as there is no formal guidance.

You can find some of the training documents HERE as well as some examples of tools below:

To Map Markets & Choosing Which Market to Use

  1. a) Mapping Markets Coming Soon!

To Collect Data

  1. a) Focus Groups / [English] Coming Soon! [Français]
  2. b) Vendor Survey /[English] Coming Soon![Français]
  3. c) Key Informant: Transporter /[English] Coming Soon! [Français]
  4. d) Key Informant: Market Leader /[English] Coming Soon![Français]
  5. e) Key Informant: Local Authorities /[English] Coming Soon! [Français]
  6. f) Household Surveys /[English] Coming Soon! [Français]

The Methodology and How to Analyze Data Coming Soon!

To Write the Market Assessment Report  of various types of rapid market assessments that have specific aims but don’t use formal tools like the RAM.

  1. a) Nigeria Report / [English] Coming Soon!
  2. b) DRC Report / [Français]
  3. c) CAR Report / [Français]

1.3 RAM (Sectors): The RAM can be adapted to look specifically at goods and services for a particular sector. It is a rapid tool and is most useful between Day 3 and Week 3.

  1. a) Shelter Supply Market Assessment (Post-Earthquake Nepal) Coming Soon!

1.4 Multi-Sectoral Market Assessment is used if beneficiary needs are varied. This tool looks at markets across different sectors. It is especially useful if multi-purpose cash is a possible option.

  1. a) Guidance
  2. b) Tools Coming Soon!
  3. c) Sample Reports Coming Soon!

1.5 EMMA (Sectors): EMMAs are standard market assessments used to look at specific market systems (usually 1-2 sectors). They are rapid but are more in-depth than the others listed here.

  1. a) Guidance
  2. b) Tools
  3. c) Sample Reports [English][Français]