Emergency Market Mapping and Analysis Toolkit

As a part of its National Humanitarian Capacity Building for Urban Risk Management, Oxfam organized a five-day EMMA training intended to enhance the capacity of WaSH actors in Nepal to design and implement market-based interventions during future emergencies.The training included practical research on the baseline drinking water market system in two IDP camps near Kathmandu that was intended to inform earthquake preparedness activities; in this sense, the study was more a PCMMA than an EMMA. This report documents both the training that took place and the market-related findings and does not follow the standard format for an EMMA or PCMMA report. Recommendations were made for each of the IDP camps visited during the training.

As the Syrian conflict enters its third year, the influx of refugees into neighboring countries continues to rise exponentially. In Jordan there are currently over 540,000 refugees, who are placing increasing pressure on service provision and infrastructure, including the already-strained water supply system. This EMMA assessment was planned and designed to inform an ECHO-funded project, Humanitarian Response and Assistance for People Affected by the Syrian Crisis, by analyzing water access and the water market in the pre- and post-crisis contexts, as well as during the winter and summer months in the current year. It found that, while water is available to meet the minimum needs of the targeted population, people’s access to water (particularly from May to September) depends primarily upon their purchasing power, geographic location, and water storage capacity. This report recommends supporting drinking water access through water vouchers linked to local water vendors and transporters, the provision of water filters at household level and increased water storage capacity for households as well as campaigns to promote water conservation and public health.

The Somali region in Ethiopia suffers from chronic drought and water shortages. Oxfam conducted this EMMA study on the water market system in Harshin woreda, comparing the system in a normal year (2009), a bad year (2011), and the current year (2012). The study found that private market actors in Harshin are able to supply sufficient water to meet the needs of the population, but there are issues with cost and access, especially for poor and isolated communities. The report recommends running a pilot project through community level trading entities; implementing public health promotion interventions appropriate for extreme water scarcity; providing support for the operation and maintenance of boreholes; and continuing advocacy efforts for the lifting of border restrictions to enable water to be transported from Somaliland.

Households in Moyale town in Ethiopia, located on the border with Kenya, have witnessed an influx of Kenyan migrants fleeing inter-clan violence, which has led to shortages of water and other basic resources. Oxfam Great Britain carried out an EMMA study to assess the functionality of Moyale’s water market system. This report recommends the implementation of flexible market-integrated relief that permits households to access water via their choice of the following mechanisms: water vouchers for public and private water stands, water vouchers for donkey carts, segregated access vouchers and monthly cash distributions.

2010 and 2011 saw the worst floods in the history of Pakistan. In Sindh Province, the floods led to loss of life and also damaged standing crops, household and livestock food stocks, health, education and road infrastructure, houses, irrigation and drainage facilities and protected drinking water sources. This report presents the findings and recommendations for a PCMMA of the drinking water market system in Badin, Ghotki and Sanghar Districts of Sindh. It finds that markets are limited in their ability to provide adequate drinking water to make up for the 50% loss of clean water provided by wells and hand pumps during floods. This report recommends the provision of bottled water for the first month for urban and peri-urban areas, to be replaced by the provision of water vouchers for bottled/filtered water. In rural areas, it is appropriate to distribute filtered/treated drinking water by jerry can or by water tankering. In addition, the following preparedness/DRR activities are recommended: installation of hand pumps in areas where displaced communities gather during floods; pre-positioning of water tankering equipment and pre-establishing agreements with district-level water treatment plants or suppliers to fill tankers; pre-positioning agreements with water treatment and bottled water retailers to accept vouchers for drinking water during floods; the cleaning, treatment and repair of wells and hand pumps in rural areas; promoting household-level water treatment strategies; and supporting the growth of private-sector water filtration businesses.