New research funded to study local markets in the context of urban crises

IIED has announced details of five projects that have received funding following a call for research proposals.

News, 28 September 2016
A local market in Kampala, Uganda. One of the winning proposals will study refugees and markets in urban Uganda (Photo: Hendrik Terbeck, Creative Commons via Flickr)

A local market in Kampala, Uganda. One of the winning proposals will study refugees and markets in urban Uganda (Photo: Hendrik Terbeck, Creative Commons via Flickr)

Five research projects in Africa, Asia and the Middle East have received funding for work to improve our understanding of the effects of urban humanitarian crises on the functioning of local markets. 

The funding for the research has been provided by the Urban Crises Learning Fund, a three-year project that aims to build an in-depth understanding of how the humanitarian sector can most effectively operate in urban contexts and work with urban actors. 

IIED is working with the International Rescue Committee on this DFID-funded initiative.

Urban Crises' third call for proposals opened in June 2016. It sought research that will contribute to an improved understanding of local markets in the context of responses to urban humanitarian crises.

The extent and scale of urban formal and informal markets, the interplay between consumers and suppliers, and the diversity of livelihood activities they host, mean that a closer examination of the impacts of a humanitarian intervention on these features and on their recovery from a crisis is required. IIED received more than 30 proposals. 

The successful projects

The five proposals that were selected for funding are:

The proposals were assessed for relevance, quality, and methodological approach. The final selection also took care to ensure a spread of research topics, locations, and research collaborations. 

IIED senior researcher Diane Archer said: "We look forward to working with the research teams over the coming months and seeing the results of their research."

The final call for proposals to be issued under the Urban Crises Learning Fund will be released in October 2016.

Contact

Diane Archer (diane.archer@iied.org), senior researcher, Human Settlements, and team leader, Cities and climate change