November 28, 2011?In the wake of President Obama?s attendance at the East Asia Summit in Bali, USAID announced the official start of MARKET (Maximizing Agricultural Revenues through Knowledge, Enterprise Development, and Trade).
Nathan Associates will run the three-year project, the fifth task order under the ADVANCE contract. The purpose of MARKET is to strengthen ASEAN?s institutional platform for regional food security by

• Involving the private sector and civil society in food security,
• Supporting the harmonization of agrifood sector regulations, and
• Improving the ability of the ASEAN Secretariat to monitor and evaluate food security programs.

Other Nathan-managed regional programs under ADVANCE include the ASEAN-US Technical Assistance and Training Facility and the ASEAN Single Window in Jakarta, the VALUE project in Bangkok, and the LUNA-Lao project in Vientiane. MARKET will benefit from the network of government, private sector, and civil society outreach started by the Facility last year.

Under the leadership of Dr. David Dyer, an economist and agribusiness specialist, Nathan Associates will provide technical expertise in agricultural sector diagnostics, food policy analysis, gender best practice mainstreaming, monitoring and evaluation, outreach to the private sector and civil society, and organizational management. Dr. Dyer will be assisted by Tim Moore, deputy manager of ADVANCE and project director of the VALUE project.

MARKET complements the U.S. Feed the Future initiative, which promotes private sector involvement in policies and approaches to food security in ASEAN Member States.