3I Navigating Risk Through Insight: Facing power and conflict in market systems

Systemic change is not neutral: it creates winners and losers. In politically charged or conflict-affected markets, these shifts can trigger resistance or backlash that undermines programme outcomes. Faced with entrenched power and contested interests, do too many market systems programmes gravitate away from the most sensitive sectors? Are we avoiding the very systems where transformative impact is most needed?

This session explores what it means to take power and conflict seriously in MSD programming through experiences from Somalia, DR Congo, and Fiji in sectors ranging from agriculture to renewable energy. A panel discussion and facilitated dialogue with session participants will examine where conventional approaches fall short—and where thinking and working politically opens up new strategies for transformative change.

The discussion will focus on practical challenges: identifying politically informed entry points, engaging powerful actors without reinforcing harmful dynamics, and adapting how funders and their programmes manage incentives, expectations, and risk.