Transforming Food Systems from the Ground Up: Lessons from Traditional Markets
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in collaboration with the Gates Foundation is seeking to catalyze Monitoring, Learning, and Evaluation (MLE) practices for systems change initiatives. To achieve this, the Systems MLE project was established to facilitate knowledge exchange through research, foster learning via communities of practice, and conduct pilots and experimentation. New guidance will outline a series of actionable steps for development practitioners and organizations seeking to implement systemic approaches to MLE.
This article relates the work and learning from one of the Systems MLE pilots. This article highlights the CoAmana pilot, the Systems MLE tools developed during the process, and key reflections on the experience and its broader implications.
Traditional agricultural markets are central to the local food systems of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), serving as hubs for trade, livelihoods, community interactions, and biodiversity preservation. Despite their importance, traditional markets face systemic challenges — such as poor hygiene conditions, inadequate waste management, vulnerability to disasters, and financial uncertainty — that hinder positive outcomes for people and the environment.
CoAmana is an African technology company that supports the development of traditional market hubs and systems, with the goal of maximizing impact on people, trade, and environment. This is achieved through a network-building approach that includes the management of a market connectivity platform (Amana Market), and brokering of partnerships with industry experts, funders and innovators. CoAmana works in Nigeria and Kenya.
The Systems MLE team engaged in a pilot to support CoAmana to develop a participatory monitoring system, test it, and use insights as an input to reflect on the company’s theory of change and business model.
We followed a process composed of three main stages:
- Designing a diagnostic framework
- Testing the framework in two markets in Kenya
- Sensemaking with the CoAmana team
The process is explained in detail in the next section (What we did). In section two, we present and discuss the perceived value to the CoAmana team, while in section three we present a few key learnings and takeaways. Finally, in section four we draw some general conclusions aimed at informing Systems MLE practice more broadly.
Before we dive in, Figure 1 provides an overview of the Systems MLE Enabling Conditions diagnostic assessment conducted for CoAmana. The assessment allowed the Systems MLE team to tailor recommendations of suitable approaches and practices to the partner context.
1. What we did
Designing a diagnostic framework
In discussion with CoAmana, and in line with the Systems MLE principle of seeing the full picture, we decided to focus our market assessment framework on structural drivers of change. Structural drivers are key systems elements that, if changed, have the potential of affecting multiple outcomes, and contribute to improve socioeconomic and environmental conditions.
We started from the USAID’s Market Systems Development framework, that is rooted in three key drivers: Resilience, Inclusiveness and Competitiveness. In consultation with CoAmana, we decided to complement it with two additional key drivers that the CoAmana team found to be critical for good market performance: Governance and Infrastructure. Our final framework for market systems assessment–consisting of the five drivers and their descriptions–is outlined in Figure 2.
After agreeing on the framework, we tested it by assessing the status of these drivers of change in two market hubs in Kenya.
Testing the framework
We tested the framework in two market hubs served by CoAmana, in Kenya: City Park Market (Nairobi) and Wanjohi Market (Nyandarua County).
City Park Market has been a crucial trading hub in Nairobi since its establishment in 1932. It serves as a central point for small-scale traders and vendors who depend on the market’s ecosystem for their daily operations. The market is closely linked to nearby farming communities, which supply a diverse range of fresh agricultural produce, including arrowroots, bananas, potatoes, beans, onions, maize, peas, and chilies (Figure 3).
Wanjohi Market, by contrast, is a rural roadside market currently undergoing reconstruction funded by the county government (Figure 4). Historically, it has served as an important regional trading hub, attracting vendors from diverse backgrounds who offer a wide variety of products, including fresh produce from nearby farms. Beyond commercial activities, the market also fosters social ties and cultural exchange within the community.
The empirical work combined:
- A one-hour online workshop with the CoAmana team;
- Ten semi-structured phone interviews with market stakeholders, per market;
- An in-person focus-group discussion (FGD) with market stakeholders.
Market stakeholders included market leaders; administrative staff; fee collectors; security, cleaning and logistics personnel; permanent and periodic vendors; wholesalers; and household consumers, ensuring the full range of perspectives required by Systems MLE.
The sequence mattered: the online session produced an initial and fast external assessment by CoAmana staff; phone interviews added market stakeholders’ perceptions — often downgrading infrastructure ratings but upgrading inclusiveness, and providing additional insights — and FGDs validated most ratings (Figure 5) while surfacing concrete proposals such as solar lighting, cold-room storage and improved drainage.
The initial workshop and phone interviews generated first estimates of market performance and stakeholder visions; these served as inputs for a multi-stakeholder dialogue on present challenges and future directions. Discussions were facilitated using UNDP’s Effective Collaborative Action principles and proved highly generative.
During the dialogue, participants also reflected on practical solutions and pathways toward their visions, leveraging the five key drivers. Emerging ideas included, among the others:
- Suggestions to make governance processes more inclusive
- Joint projects on branding, security and organizing events to attract more customers
- Investing in solar lighting
- Partnering with local startups on waste management collaborations.
Sensemaking with the CoAmana team
Beyond supporting stakeholders in generating ideas for the future of their markets, the assessments and visioning exercises also served to clarify and deepen CoAmana’s understanding of its own role as a supporting partner. Conversations with the CoAmana team focused on how the company could act as a catalyzer of change across the five key drivers identified in the market assessment framework.
It became clear that CoAmana is well-positioned to add value in several ways, particularly by:
- Connecting market participants with a broader ecosystem of actors — including farmers and farming communities, innovators, investors, and industry representatives;
- Providing reliable market information to stakeholders at various levels, from local market actors to startups, investors, and government institutions, to support more informed decisions and targeted investments.
As a result of this reflection, CoAmana identified a series of short- and long-term actions to strengthen its strategy and operations. Notably, the process of eliciting stakeholder visions was recognized as a powerful approach to identifying investment opportunities and tracking progress — ensuring that systemic changes lead to real benefits for people and the environment. CoAmana intends to gradually embed this approach into its operations over the medium term, as it continues to grow and secure greater financial stability. This could be done through the following steps:
- Participatory MEL tool: repeating the five-dimension self-assessment annually and visualizing progress against each market’s shared vision. Reviewing and updating visions with market stakeholders regularly.
- Integrate research into the business model, turning market insights into a revenue-positive service for investors and local authorities.
- Institutionalize sense-making by holding quarterly workshops with county officials, financial institutions and NGOs to co-decide support actions.
2. Perceived value for CoAmana
The pilot was widely appreciated by CoAmana as a valuable and insightful process that not only revealed actionable business and corporate social responsibility (CSR) opportunities, but also strengthened the company’s understanding of its role in community engagement and solution co-creation. Team members emphasized the importance of research as a strategic tool within CoAmana’s business model, noting how the process helped validate their market approach while highlighting unmet needs and partnership opportunities.
The experience also reinforced the value of listening deeply to stakeholders, which not only enriched the data collected but could also enhance trust and CoAmana’s reputation among market communities. For example, at the City Park FGD the market chairman closed the session by thanking CoAmana and UNDP “for convening a space of learning and reflection for the community”.
3. Key learnings and takeaways
Markets are ready for change, but lack support. The pilot highlighted that traditional markets are rich in human capital and demonstrate strong interest in innovation and transformation. However, they often lack the financial resources, technical support, and strategic partnerships needed to move forward. This gap limits their ability to improve infrastructure, services, and long-term sustainability.
Collaboration is essential, no single actor can drive change alone. Transforming traditional markets requires a coalition approach. Broad-based support is needed to unlock financing for infrastructure development, foster local innovation, and strengthen inclusive and effective governance systems. The complexity of market challenges calls for multi-stakeholder engagement and long-term commitment.
Companies like CoAmana can play a catalytic role. CoAmana is uniquely positioned to serve as a connector and enabler within the broader market ecosystem. By gathering and sharing valuable insights from the ground, they can help to de-risk investments, inform policies, and guide donor and private sector engagement toward more effective support for market hubs.
The diagnostic framework is a good foundation for understanding market realities and identifying key needs. However, to fully harness its potential, it is essential to further research how changes in structural drivers — such as improvements in infrastructure, clearer governance, and redefined concepts like resilience — directly contribute to measurable, positive outcomes in people’s lives and the environment. Equally, efforts must be made to render abstract drivers into more actionable and concrete terms. Our experience in Kenya further reinforced that certain drivers — like infrastructure — are very tangible for stakeholders, while others (e.g., resilience, competitiveness and governance) need additional clarity.
4. Conclusions
In this pilot, we partnered with CoAmana to design and test a methodology aimed at generating insights into what traditional markets need to deliver positive outcomes for both people and the environment. The approach aligned with Systems MLE principles — seeing the fuller picture, integrating diverse perspectives, and embracing continuous learning and adaptation.
By examining structural drivers while also supporting locally driven visions for change, we facilitated systems thinking processes that placed market participants in a central, protagonist role. This approach is essential to fostering ownership, maximizing synergies, and minimizing unintended risks in development interventions.
The process also created space to reflect on which actors — governments, private investors, civil society organizations, or market communities themselves — are best positioned to address specific market needs. This kind of mapping is vital to designing more effective, targeted interventions and to building coalitions that can deliver real change.
Finally, the experience reaffirmed the critical importance of information and governance as foundational elements for enabling coordinated, inclusive, and sustainable development — both at the local and national levels.
This pilot not only strengthened CoAmana’s strategy but also offered practical insights for evolving Systems MLE guidance. In particular, combining simple methods to elicit stakeholders’ visions for structural change with well-facilitated sensemaking processes proved effective in uncovering actionable priorities, building trust, and aligning diverse actors around shared goals — offering a replicable approach that can be adapted and scaled in other contexts. By rooting systems change in locally defined priorities and participatory processes, this work contributes to more grounded, inclusive, and sustainable development pathways.
