what is the annual Market systems symposium?

​Dynamic forum exploring latest practice & research in market systems development
The purpose of the Market Systems Symposium is to provide the inspiration, capacity building, and connections you need to strengthen and transform your market systems development practice. Join leading experts, practitioners, and donors from around the globe to advance conversations exploring innovations in research and the application of market systems development strategies, through inspiring dialogues, capacity building breakouts, hands-on tool workshops, and abundant networking. ​

DIVERSE GROUP OF PRACTITIONER AND DONOR STAFF
Interact with practitioners and donors from around the world who are designing and testing the latest field-based analytical tools and development approaches. 

Who is involved? 

PROJECTS 
ENGAGED
COUNTRIES 
REPRESENTED
ORGANIZATIONS
PARTICIPATED

What Will you take away?

​Innovative strategies to leverage development practice to the next level

​​Explore the practical application of systems thinking to economic and private sector development strategies. 

Interested in learning more?

Symposium data points 

See who has supported and participated in the Symposium in recent years.
View and download the main resources published from the Symposium each year.
Read a detailed report of the 2019 Symposium, summarizing key learning.

Join the online market systems development community

Read the
​MSD Blog

Check out the MSS-affiliated blog series, hosted on one of our partner sites.

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The formal international development community will soon have been active for 60 years. Throughout that period - and even today - practitioners have asked how the positive effects of their projects can be continued after their Official Development Assistance funding runs out. This has been nothing less than the key question facing our industry for six decades, and I personally have heard it asked repeatedly since 1978. 

The advent of the Market Systems approach to international development offers a viable answer to that question. Addressing issues of economic prosperity and social inclusion through market participants is starting to be recognized as the best way to ensure the durability of our solutions. Attempting to address those problems by working around markets through direct interventions has simply not worked. The international development community is accepting the dramatic advantages offered by working through markets. The Market Systems Symposium is the key event on the international development calendar where these ideas can be exchanged robustly, and ACDI/VOCA, as a leading Market Systems practitioner, will continue to support the MSS as it performs that important role.

Charles J. Hall

President & CEO
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ACDI/VOCA

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​The Market Systems Symposium is an important touch point for the community to advance our impact.
The ability to engage, over multiple days, with a variety of people who are learning different things from their market facilitation practice enabled a much higher level of exchange. I came away energized with new thoughts and ideas. 

Kristin O'Planick

Market Systems Specialist
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USAID Bureau for Food Security

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"For me, it is not about numbers…It is more about our value-adding involvement which focuses more on cultivating processes which give birth to organic growth in the market place.” This symposium lays down the gauntlet for that. It provides an unflattering mirror for us to take a good look at ourselves and offers tools for our own betterment. It inspires.

Tonderai Manoto

Chief Technical Advisor
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ILO

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​I really enjoyed the clicker methodologies used, as they gave a voice to the more introverted people, which I found helpful. I appreciated the cross-sectoral elements, which brought together a lot of different learning we wouldn't get otherwise. I also enjoyed the space to have more candid conversations with people, so it was also a great opportunity for learning and networking.

Rana El Hattab

Commercialization and Scaling Advisor
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USAID Bureau for Food Security

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It was an eye opening experience to see that MSD practitioners around the world face the same type of challenges regarding organizational transformation from direct delivery to systems thinking. Perhaps, this kind of Symposium can bring the donors and the implementing agencies together to design a better world.”

Sadruzzaman “Tamam” Noor

Market Development Specialist
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CARE Bangladesh

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