Project Design

Accelerating Shared Growth - Making Markets Work for the Poor in South Africa, ComMark 2006

    Description
    This research project was initiated by ComMark to introduce a wider audience to the development approach known as 'making markets work for the poor', or MMW4P. This publication examines the principles of the MMW4P concept, and illustrates them through a range of local and international case studies that provide practical examples.

    Part 1 of the paper is a discussion of the MMW4P approach: the core elements, contrasts with traditional approaches to development and reasons to use the approach.

    Part 2 provides seven case studies of the MMW4P approach:
    - Access to telephone in South Africa
    - Commercial radio and the poor in Uganda
    - Global textile markets and Lesotho
    - Markets for South African wool farmers
    - Pro-poor tourism in South Africa
    - Private education and the poor in South Africa
    - Financial markets and the poor in South Africa
    Each case study examines a different aspect of the MMW4P aproach.

    Part 3 discusses how to use the MMW4P approach in practice. If discusses the central role of competition in making markets work for the poor. The paper then offers suggestions for different stakeholders - government, business, NGOs and educational institutions - in utilizing or promoting the MMW4P approach.

    The most recent additions to this page are Commark's 2006 Annual Report, and August 2006 newsletter, below. There is also a Report, Open Skies, on the importance of air transport liberalisation for shared economic growth, released in October 2006; it shows the growth and employment potential of the tourism sector if air transport can be further liberalised in southern Africa.

     
    Associated Activities and Documents
    Market Assessment
    »Baseline livestock survey, Commark South Africa, 2008
    Programme Design
    »DFID South Africa Improving Commodity Markets for the Poor-ComMark-2003
    Final Documentation
    »"Giving Development a Face" - ComMark Case Study Series, 2009
    Synthesis Documents
    »Making Markets Work for the Poor: An objective & an approach, ComMark Trust, South Africa, 2004-5