Summary

Among the 27 markets assessed, four markets are assessed as having low risk, 20 as high risk, and 3 as very high risk for CBT interventions.
The overall assessment of the three states indicated that out of the nine dimensions, six dimensions namely assortment, resilience, competition, Infrastructure, food quality, and access and protection in each state were satisfactory. This means that most essential needs items were found in the markets assessed, most markets can respond to demand, there were little or no issues with the way traders relate to each other, the shops are in moderate to a good state, and finally little or no issues with the quality of food and access and protection.
Nevertheless, the availability, price, and service dimensions were underscored as not satisfactory by most traders. The traders reported that certain products were scarce or are likely to become scarce in the short run, price unpredictability and volatility were emphasized in most of the markets. Most traders interviewed expressed deep concern about the rising price of food products and non-food products. In terms of services, customers’ overall shopping experiences were not good enough.
Between the first iterations of the MFI held in December 2021 & the second one held in June 2022, notable improvements were observed in the dimensions of assortment, infrastructure, service, food quality, access, and protection. On the other hand, availability deteriorated during the same timeframe, and further continued to deteriorate during the third iteration in October 2022.
Between June and December, further deterioration in the service and food quality dimension across all the three states, while the access & protection dimension worsened in Adamawa.

Proposed Mitigation Measures for High Risk CBT Interventions

Availability Dimension: Adequate notice time (2 weeks) to be issued to retailers to allow them to replenish their stocks adequately in advance. This will increase supply due to the demand proposal to cushion the scarcity of commodities in the market. SC to provide better market linkages and advice to retailers on procurement and transport services.

Hybrid modalities (different modalities to the same beneficiaries, splitting the assistance into in-kind and CBT) to complement the missing items.

Price Dimension : Calculation of the Minimum Expenditure Basket (MEB) and Survival Minimum Expenditure Basket (SMEB) from the monthly market monitoring and frequent review of transfer value if necessary due to price unpredictability. Vouchers with capped prices should be agreed upon with retailers.

Service Dimension : Set up Retailer Capacity Strengthening Training as part of Market Development Activities. For cash or e-voucher interventions, it is important to make it compulsory for retailers to display the prices of every item in the retailers' shop.