Minimum Standard for Market Analysis (MISMA)

With growing recognition of the importance of market analysis in the humanitarian sector, a plethora of tools and guidance has been developed to support such exercises. While this has provided an opportunity to reflect on the evolution of the practice, it has also left practitioners wondering which tools to choose and what makes for a good quality market analysis.

The objective of the Minimum Standard for Market Analysis (MISMA) is to guide the work of humanitarian practitioners across sectors and to ensure that, irrespective of the tool used, the key standard of market analysis is being met. By supporting high-quality market analysis, the MISMA intends to contribute to improving response analysis and programme implementation. The MISMA covers five key actions to ensure the quality of market analysis.

The MISMA is a market-specific standard and does not comprehensively cover response analysis, design and implementation (for which users should refer to other humanitarian standards). While this document provides practical steps and guidance on what needs to be done, it is not a ‘how to’ tool and therefore does not provide users with a step-by-step process for conducting market assessment and analysis.

This document was originally written in 2016 by Helene Juillard (Independent Consultant) under the technical guidance and coordination of Isabelle Pelly (Technical Coordinator, CALP Network), with funding from the Swiss government. CALP updated the MISMA in 2018, to include updated hyperlinks and references to new documents and tools such as the Sphere Handbook 2018. This latest version follows a light-touch revision completed in October 2023 by Edward Fraser (Independent Consultant) under the supervision of Kate Hart (Head of Policy, Evidence & Learning, CALP Network) and a temporary Internal Task Team comprised of five CALP staff (Abdoulaye Hamidou, Greg Rodwell, Holly Welcome Radice, Kate Hart and Lynn Yoshikawa), with funding from the Swedish government (SIDA).