Latest News!!!
(Updated: 6 July 2010)

- Online Forum on Lead Firms, 27-29 July. Even if you are not a member, you can access the slidecast and its written synthesis at http://www.slideshare.net/marketfacil

- The first ever MaFI Local Learning Group is starting to take shape in Bangladesh, hosted by the Market Development Forum (MDF), and will engage in the Lead Firms forum!

- Three initiatives to change the world thorough MaFI. MaFI is not only a space to share knowledge; the network is exploring its potential to help members to address big and structural problems and opportunities that they cannot deal with individually and that affect pro-poor market development policy and practice.

Check out the discussion slides at: http://bit.ly/bG7qzn

- MaFI keeps on growing: mare than 70 committed members with very high qualifications, experience and motivation are now part of one of the coolest and most exciting networks in the world!

- Visit MaFI’s Calendar to see the main events, discussions and emergent learning topics for 2010:

http://www.slideshare.net/marketfacil/mafi-calendar-2010-updated-16-june

Previous news:

MaFI has now a successful new communications model that was designed using the feedback and great ideas of more than 50 members. MaFI is grateful to them. To know more about this model please go to: http://bit.ly/aAOQ6o

A key lesson has been that MaFI needs to communicate people in different ways and through different channels depending on their level of commitment. The new communication model separates members into two groups: Committed members and Listeners (both of which are very important to MaFI).

(1) Committed members: those who contribute with their expertise, time and effort to MaFI’s mission of advancing the practice of pro-poor market development. And of course, these members will benefit from the experience and support of a growing community of practitioners, researchers, donors and entrepreneurs.

The new platform for online discussions between members is LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com). This platform has proven to be user-friendly and effective to promote online learning and networking.

>>>> If you want to be part of this group please fill out the application form at: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NQSJ7K9

(2) “Listeners”: those who wish to stay informed about MaFI’s activities and final products but cannot commit to discussions, peer-support or production of new knowledge.

>>>> If you want be part of this group and receive information about MaFI’s news and products you can become a fan of MaFI in Facebook (http://bit.ly/bfHF5R), follow MaFI on Twitter (http://twitter.com/marketfacil), or ask the facilitator to keep you informed via email.

Other exciting features of the new communications model are:

- Face-to-face interactions to complement the online discussions: Local Learning Groups are already taking shape in Bangladesh, Lima and London!

- Expert Review Panels for special documents

- Guest “stars” to spur debates and bring to MaFI the state-of-the art in pro-poor market development facilitation

*In March 2010 we had a very interesting online discussion about SMART SUBSIDIES FOR AGRICULTURE KNOWLEDGE AND INFORMATION SERVICES. A synthesis document will be produced in the coming months.

• MaFI promoted online discussions before and after an ESRC Seminar on Sustainable Livelihoods and Pro-Poor Market Development which took place at the Uni of Bath in the UK on the 21st July 2009. Some of the questions and issues posted by MaFI members were shared with the presenters. THE SYNTHESIS DOCUMENT IS READY at http://bit.ly/auXlBA

• MaFI-licious has now almost 200 online resources for pro-poor market dev facilitators! (What is MaFI-licious? See below)

MaFI Learning Teams: What’s up?

- Linkages: A podcast on Lead Firms is being edited and in April/May the team will launch online discussions to learn more about facilitation techniques to engage lead firms of processes of pro-poor market development.
- Capacity Building: the team will continue building on the process started with Engineers Withour Borders (Canada) who have developed a guideline to build the capacity of facilitators in the field.

Overview: The Market Facilitation Initiative (MaFI) is a joint effort of the SEEP Network and the Livelihoods Network, with the support of Practical Action.

MaFI aims to assist practitioners working in Pro-Poor Market Development to move from market assessments and program design to implementation by advancing practical principles, techniques, and tools.

Currently, there is a wide body of resources on how to conduct market research and program design for market development programs. However there is far less available on the “how” in terms of program implementation.

What is Pro-Poor Market Development? Pro-poor market development can be understood as any process of change that contributes to the participation of marginalized producers and their families and to the benefits they get from existing and potential markets in which they do business, earn incomes and access products and services.

Learning Agenda 2009: MaFI is currently focusing on three areas:

• Subsidies: with emphasis on agricultural technical knowledge (including extension services)
• Linkages (vertical and horizontal)
• Capacity building (of facilitators)

Examples of other resources produced by MaFI:

• MaFI-licious: an online, live annotated bibliography on current practices, tools and methods used in pro-poor market facilitation. This resource uses the Delicious platform (Delicious is a popular bookmark service that allows people to share web-based resources). Only members can add and edit MaFI-licious but anyone can access its resources at: http://delicious.com/marketfacil

• State of the Practice in Market Facilitation: a synthesis document based on an online discussion amongst MaFI members (29 Sep – 3 Oct, 2008)

ATTENTION: MAFI HAS MOVED INTO NEW WEB PLATFORMS, AUTOMATIC SIGN UP HAS BEEN DISABLED. PLEASE FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS ABOVE TO JOIN.

Facilitator:
Lucho Osorio, International Coordinator of the Markets and Livelihoods Programme, Practical Action

Attachment	Size	Hits	Last download
MaFI meeting Washington DC, 7 Aug 2009.JPG	1.84 MB	645	5 days 23 hours ago
Learning+Agenda,+MaFI,+ver0.doc	62.5 KB	13	17 weeks 2 days ago
Market Facilitation Synthesis- FINAL.pdf	695.98 KB	275	10 hours 20 min ago
SLA-PPMD,synthesis,MaFIdiscussionFINAL,rev2,5nov09.pdf	249.63 KB	398	17 hours 44 min ago