Ben Taylor
Ben is an expert in systemic approaches to development. He has assisted in the development and refinement of new concepts in private sector development included most recently in the Making Markets Work for the Poor approach and systemic change.
His specialisms include applying market systems development approaches to new contexts such as education, water, post-conflict states, resilience and fragility, and basic services. He has global experience across six continents and specialises in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly Ethiopia, where he has spent the last 15 years working.
He has extensive experience in programme and intervention design, monitoring and evaluation, and technical advisory services. He has worked for a wide range of public and private funders including DFID, USAID, SIDA, SDC, the World Bank, humanitarian focused NGOs such as GOAL and Mercy Corps, and Gatsby Africa. He currently holds academic positions on the board of several journals, guest lectureships, a Senior Research Fellowship at the University of Durham, and is a member of the Markets in Crisis Advisory Board.
Contributions
Blogs
- Localisation and systems approaches [2023]
- How to herd cats: LIWAY’s approach to MSD in an urban context [2022]
- Sustainability in a failed state [2021]
- The Art of the Pivot…in the context of results-based management [2020]
- What is adaptive management? [2016]
- The system of evidence [2016]
Resources
- Systems, sapiens, and systemic change in markets: the Adopt-Adapt-Expand-Respond framework [2022]
- Assessing the contribution to market system change of the Private Enterprise Programme Ethiopia [2022]
- Incentive and capability scorecard [2021]
- Decisive structures: procurement format options for MSD programmes and their different implications [2020]
- Designed to fail [2018]
- Katalyst’s contribution to systemic change in the maize market [2016]
- Katalyst's contribution to systemic change in the fish market [2016]
- Katalyst’s contribution to systemic change - the Adopt, Adapt, Expand, Respond cases [2016]
- New approaches to old problems: systemic change as a unifying objective [2016]
- Systems and systemic change [2016]
- To boldly go: new directions in applications of market systems approaches [2016]
- Katalyst’s contribution to systemic change [2016]
- Making Information Systems Work for the Poor: The case of media [2016]
- Evidence-based policy and systemic change: conflicting trends? [2013]
- Effectiveness, scale and sustainability in WASH programmes: a review [2013]
- Who wants to give forever? Giving meaning to sustainability in development [2013]