Ethiopia Rural Market Monitor

As fighting continues in Tigray and other regions of Ethiopia, widespread food shortages are becoming a concern (WFP). At the same time, the insecurity impedes the functioning of traditional market monitoring systems. Using daily PlanetScope satellite imagery, I here provide biweekly updates on remotely-sensed activity in periodic marketplaces in Ethiopia.

Scroll through the images to see previous updates and see below for descriptions of the underlying methodology.

Method - short description

As part of a broader research project, I have compiled maps of periodic markets across Ethiopia using a novel algorithm based on satellite imagery. The algorithm returns outlines of periodic marketplaces and their days of operation. In order to track market activity, I use daily PlanetScope imagery measure the intensity of specific reflective patterns that are indicative of crowds, stalls and vehicles congregating on market day. The monitor aggregates the measured market activity across all markets in an administrative zone within the preceeding 28-day period. See below for regularly updated comparisons of market activity to the previous 28-day period or relative to the pre-Covid activity levels in 2017-2019.

Method - detailed description

For a more detailed description of the algorithm and its validation, please see the working paper here.

Get in touch

Are you interested in data for individual markets or different aggregations? Do you know of periodic markets that are not covered in the dataset? Please get in touch! tillmann.voncarnap[at]iies.su.se