The purpose of this technical guidance sheet is to provide guidance to WFP Country Office andpartner staff in conducting a simple trader survey with limited or no external technical support. For complex trader surveys, or in situations where local capacity is insufficient, experienced WFPstaff in the food security units at the Regional Bureaux and Headquarters may provide furtherguidance, training or additional capacity. Also, training modules have been developed on the basis ofthis guidance sheet, which can be used during training sessions.
The starting point of this guidance sheet is that trader surveys are an integral part of food securityanalysis, contributing to answering basic questions about food security and response strategies. Thisimplies that trader surveys focus on the actual markets delivering services to the population ofinterest, instead of a stand-alone overview of the structure, conduct and performance of markets ingeneral.