The concept of Making Markets Work Better for the Poor (MMWB4P) and MSMEs has over the past decade gained prominence not only in the developing nations, but also in the industrialised world. The issues on making markets work for the poor have been precipitated by the market reforms that Zambia embarked on in the 1990s. The case for Zambia shows that there is still a lot of policy, regulatory and operational imperatives that must be implemented in order to make markets work better for the poor. The liberalisation of the economy in the 1990s entailed government withdrawal from being the dominant player in economic activity. In the place of the state, the private sector became the main driver of economic development, growth and poverty reduction. It is non-arguable that in a growing economy like Zambia, the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) play a significant role in stimulating pro-poor growth. The main findings of study include: The chronic lack of access to capital, fair competition, information and physical markets among MSMEs are the major constraints that MSMEs face.
Smallholder farmers and MSMEs do not have ease access to the physical market infrastructures.
The non-compliance to labour laws and other laws that relate to MSMEs is due to lack of information among small scale entrepreneurs. The general policy framework for crop marketing is not complex, but it has not helped smallholder farmers much due to government controlled pricing of the maize, which is the main produce for peasant farmers. Smallholder farmers and MSMEs do not have easy access to credit. Lack of information on available providers of micro credit and inadequate skills to engage in rigorous processes of loan applications are the main impediments. Women face a lot of challenges such as lack of access to agriculture land and inputs. Moreover much of the land is under customary laws, which cannot be used to as collateral to access credit.