To improve understanding of commercial areas and how business management can be leveraged to reduce congestion and solid waste issues, HOT and iLab Liberia will collect data on Duala Market covering: geographic layout and infrastructure, economic activity, solid waste, and traffic.

In collaboration with iLab Liberia, HOT is supporting a World Bank research project looking into the dynamics of market environments in Liberia, starting with Monrovia’s busy Duala Market.

Detailed information will be captured through field data collection including qualitative, quantitative, and geospatial surveying. Geospatial data will include buildings, roads, waterways/drains, businesses/vendors, solid waste sites and water points. Subsequent qualitative and quantitative surveys will focus on understanding types of market actors, food loss waste (FLW), as well as spatial and temporal flows within the market.

Focus group discussions will be held with key stakeholders including the Monrovia City Corporation, Market Association representatives, vendors, and community leaders in order to gather temporal and flow information using basemaps generated through remote mapping. Participants will be able to identify on a basemap: flows and congestion sites of people, vehicles, and commodities; and temporal dimensions such as the changes in activities by time of day and day of the week. Participants will use pencils to map these patterns on tracing paper which is set on top of the basemap. This is then scanned, and the contained data is digitized into shapefiles and relevant data uploaded into OSM.

In addition to these activities, HOT and iLab are facilitating UAV imagery capture of the entire city, conducted by Uhuru Labs. Following completion, all imagery will be uploaded to OpenAerialMap.

This wide range of activities will provide partners and stakeholders with a holistic and unique view of market dynamics through the use of geospatial and innovative technologies. Data will be compiled and analyzed to present recommendations on improving economic and living conditions surrounding Duala Market.