About Economic Opportunities at Mercy Corps
Written by Sandrine Chetail-Armour, Global Senior Director of Economic Opportunities
At Mercy Corps, we work towards four connected and reinforcing outcomes: greater economic opportunities, food security, peace and good governance, and water security. Our pathway to increased economic opportunities is grounded in the belief that systemic approaches will have transformative impact on the lives of those most economically marginalized and help them cope, adapt, and thrive, and ultimately become more resilient.
Our Approach
Fragile markets do not give marginalized groups and those living in poverty sufficient opportunities to prosper. They provide little opportunity for people to buy the things they need, find a decent job, or start a business. Climate and conflict crises have devastating impacts on agriculture and labor markets — the loss of jobs or revenue leads to disempowerment and loss of dignity, which can in turn lead to food insecurity or violence.
It is in these contexts that Mercy Corps works to bring economic opportunities to the most marginalized populations. We envision a world where economically marginalized people grow and sustain their incomes and assets. This means that: they become customers, employees, and business leaders; equitable and accessible markets offer adapted products, services and jobs; and individuals, businesses, and markets become more resilient to climate and conflict shocks.
We have identified 5 distinctive areas of focus to pursue that we believe will lead to the greatest impact:
We Support Markets in Crisis
Cash is our method of choice to help people meet their basic needs in times of crisis. We combine cash assistance with targeted support to local businesses, minimizing market disruptions. We also connect our cash interventions with government-led efforts to develop inclusive social protection systems.
We Strengthen Financial Ecosystems
We tailor support to the unique needs and priorities of market actors. We co-invest in individual entrepreneurs, microenterprises, and small businesses; we invest purposefully through our social ventures fund to support more formalized and mature businesses, and we help financial service providers to adapt and provide credit, savings, and insurance products and services.
We Drive Green Economic Growth
We foster opportunities for sustainable and productive economic growth that shifts incentives towards climate-smart solutions. We strengthen the climate-resilience capacities of businesses and communities and create opportunities for more efficient use of natural resources and energy. Through innovative partnerships, we create the next generation of green jobs and equip a future-facing workforce, and we support the development of policies, regulations, and financing that will drive green economic growth.
We Develop Tech-Enabled Solutions
We harness the power of technology to increase access to and efficiency and timeliness of critical services and information that enables real-time decision-making. We support digital agricultural solutions that can increase farmer productivity and efficiency and inclusive digital financial services that can improve or simplify financial transactions. We collaborate with technology companies, financial institutions, and other non-traditional partners to test, adapt, and scale the most promising tech-enabled solutions.
We Support Young People as Drivers of Growth
Whether in agriculture or in technology, in urban or rural settings, we support young people to acquire new skills and access jobs that are profitable, dignified, and safe. And, we support them in becoming advocates of their own economic well-being, regardless of the economic pathways they choose.
Our Principles
We pursue market systems development principles, prioritizing facilitation over direct involvement and working with local market actors to overcome barriers to economic inclusion.
We commit to seeking, testing, and scaling innovative solutions.
We advance our programming by building evidence around what works. We will focus on three priority themes and learning questions in the next 3 years:
- Markets in crisis: What market-based approaches best enable crisis-affected and at-risk populations to recover, grow, and/or sustain their assets and income?
- Economic inclusion: What programmatic approaches and supportive policies facilitate and sustain pathways out of poverty for the most marginalized?
- Green economic growth: What interventions and supportive policies can produce co-benefits to economic and environmental outcomes?
Our Programs
With an Economic Opportunities portfolio of 838 million USD spanning 38 countries, we reached over 19 million people in 2022, including over 10 million smallholder producers. We strongly believe that by strengthening systems, leveraging technology to drive inclusion, and applying climate-smart approaches, we are more likely to achieve positive outcomes.
Our Team
For more information about Economic Opportunities at Mercy Corps, contact us at economicopportunities@mercycorps.org.
