Systems Facilitation

To influence or facilitate change to the environment within which farmers and other businesses operate, we need to understand that environment. We look at the market system – the system surrounding a particular business or industry – which comprises what a business needs to produce (e.g. seeds, fertilizer, equipment), the services it needs to function (e.g. access to finance, transport and logistics), and policy and regulatory environment needed for productive and competitive business operations. We identify what is needed to put in place commercially sustainable business models. 

At OU, we analyze the market system, we ground-truth our assumptions and we identify what is working and where the gaps or weaker links are. Importantly, we identify where the business opportunities are, and even more importantly, we find the business opportunities that will also contribute to the achievement of development outcomes. Then we work with market players to identify solutions and establish commercially sustainable business models that also influence the ability of people to thrive and reduce the impacts of poverty. 

Finding these business opportunities is a skill and a talent. The OU team knows how to find business opportunities in hard-to-research and information-poor market environments. The OU team can also identify the potential of unexpected partners to meet the unmet market demand.