This stage involves:

1. Reflecting on producers' experience of market engagement

It's important to understand what buyers are looking for and why. There are two types of buyers to consider: wholesale buyers who purchase products to resell and end consumers who purchase products to use themselves. Producers’ groups may begin by selling directly to end consumers but many groups may wish to consider also selling to wholesale buyers because, even though they will receive a lower price per unit, the volume they can sell may be greater and yield a greater overall profit.

Reflecting on producers' experience with market engagement will help them identify the channels they use to access markets and the actors with whom they are working. By combining this information with the insights gained from the market analysis below, producers can identify the players with which they wish to build stronger relationships and those they should not include in their value chains.

A number of questions need to be answered to empower producers in achieving market access that moves the needle on poverty. They need to how their product gets to the end consumer, how it is used, what would make it more valuable to buyers, the price that wholesale buyers or brokers receive for their product, and who they are competing with to supply the product. 

Participatory tools:

• Flow Chart
• Pairwise Ranking Matrix

2. Analysing the market situation

It is important that producers’ groups understand the existing 'channels' in the market (selling to wholesale buyers, selling to end consumers, selling to brokers) and who the actors are in relation to the products or services they are thinking about. At this stage in developing market access, the producers’ group has not yet determined the focus of their value chain. The market situation should be analysed with respect to several of the products or services the group already produces, has produced in the past, or is considering producing. 

There are also different types of markets to consider (local, regional, urban, etc). This component offers producers an opportunity to learn about markets with which they are not familiar, for example institutional markets like school feeding programmes or public health programmes. It also offers them the opportunity to meet new players, and stimulate thinking about products that would meet demands of which they were previously unaware. 

Participatory tools:

• Transect walk
• Focus Group Discussion