System mapping is a powerful tool for understanding and communicating the complexities of a market system.
A market map shows the structure and interactions of the system, the roles and functions of different actors and their performance in relation to each other. For example, a market map could demonstrate whether local animal health service providers were available to dairy farmers as well as the quality of their advice. A map is only as useful as its ability to communicate insights and inform decisions.
Market mapping tools, such as this PMSD Mapping Tool can help people visualise market systems in an intuitive way. They can be used to steer preliminary analyses and organise detailed information about the market system.
They can also be a powerful participatory tools – useful for building market literacy and encouraging constructive interaction between different types of market actors.
Undertaking your mapping exercise
Before you begin, define the purpose of your map. What specific questions are you trying to answer? Next, define the boundaries of your market system. What's included? What's excluded? Then, think about the key actors within your market system. These may include, for example, producers (farmers, manufacturers, service providers), suppliers (input suppliers, raw material providers) processors/manufacturers, distributors (wholesalers, retailers, agents) consumers as well as support functions like access to finance as well as policymakers and enforcers.
Now map out how these actors interact with each other, choosing a visual format that best suits your needs and resources. Common options include:
- Simple flowchart:
a linear representation of the market chain, from production to consumption. - Network diagram:
a more complex diagram showing multiple actors and relationships, often using a central "core market" surrounded by support functions. - Value chain map:
a diagram focused on the flow of value added at each stage of the market chain. - Geographic map:
overlaying market system information onto a physical map of the region.
Visualising systemic change provides twelve examples of visualising system change sourced from programmes around the world. They showcase how visual tools can simplify the explanation of systemic changes and support strategic decision-making.
The ubiquitous ‘doughnut’
Many programmes utilise the doughnut model to map and describe their market system. To build a doughnut consider the core market and the supporting functions. Analyse how the target group engages with the core market: are they on the demand side as consumers of goods and services, or on the supply side as producers of commodities?
Next, look at the supporting functions that are relevant to that chosen market system. The doughnut model represents how exchanges at the core of a market system are shaped by the supporting functions and rules that surround buyers and sellers.
The 'doughnut' diagram below, adapted from the Operational Guide to M4P shows a potable water system consisting of a core, supporting functions and rules. Its core function is the delivery of potable water supplies. The effectiveness of that delivery depends on a range of supporting functions and prevailing rules.
Your map can also be used to understand whether or not you are looking at the right market system. For example, the above doughnut model - relating to water - could be built into another doughnut in which tariff policy becomes the core function for your intervention strategy.
Tips for visual clarity
Regardless of what type of map you decide on using, it is important to keep it simple and communicate clearly. Some tips for doing this include:
- Use consistent symbols and icons: develop a visual language for your map.
- Colour-coding: use colours to differentiate between types of actors or flows.
- Labels: clearly label all actors and relationships.
- Key / legend: include a key or legend to explain the symbols and colours used in the map.
FHM Engage’s market descriptions, such as the Liberia family planning market description, offer great examples of how to visualise and tell a story about how a market system is functioning and what needs to change.