Record numbers of displaced people and growing humanitarian needs require our sector to change the way aid is funded and delivered. This challenge was globally recognised at the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit and is at the centre of multi-lateral debates related to coherence, self-reliance and the nexus. Humanitarian and development actors agree that the complex and shifting nature of crises mean people’s needs extend far beyond short-term support. The question remains: how can humanitarian and development donors and implementers collaborate across historically divided aid bureaucracies with siloed tools, funding cycles, decision-making processes and incentive structures? In response to this global call for durable solutions, a few organisations are working on practical approaches in protracted crises and refugee contexts. Their programs focus on strengthening local actors’ ability to serve crisis-affected populations, rather than directly delivering relief and livelihood support.

The following thought piece highlights Mercy Corps’ learning from one such systemic approach — market systems development (MSD) — which focuses on the widespread impact local businesses and market institutions have on their communities over the long-run. This approach has risen to the forefront of many humanitarian-development debates because markets are a key back drop — and flashpoint — for relief and development programs.

As aid agencies look to help crisis-affected people by working through markets, they are caught between the competing demands of generating sustainable change through systems-level work and guaranteeing needs are met for the most vulnerable. Early attempts by aid agencies to implement market approaches in crisis contexts have shown promise but evidence remains thin due to the inherent challenges of operating and measuring systems-based changes within such environments, as well as the institutional barriers and traditional aid practices that continue to hinder innovation both within and across agencies.

Building off the experience of a 12-month market systems development pilot responding to the latest influx of South Sudanese refugees in Uganda’s West Nile region, this paper reflects on the operational challenges and learning questions teams face when designing, implementing and evaluating market programmes in the context of wider relief efforts.While these reflections represent the experience of one team, in one location, they speak to broader themes in the ongoing global debates around coherence and self-reliance. With the goal of informing future strategies and practice, both internally and externally, experiences like the one shared here bring our humanitarian and development colleagues together in the same room to reflect on what coherence looks like in practice. While this may take many forms depending on the context and poses some significant technical questions, these challenges make the call to action more compelling and reinforce our commitment to supporting long-term solutions for crisis-affected populations.