The term “Local Economy” comprises the totality of available resources at the area of intervention. It can be local production, local market and also local labour forces. The notion of area may also include neighbouring countries.

When possible, the partners should use local human and material resources, in order to help the economic recovery of the populations affected by the crisis.

During audit and monitoring, the partners will have to demonstrate that there is no extra disturbance to the local situation caused by resourcing its Action, i.e. that the partners are not doing more harm than good when using local resources. At the minimum, the partners need to ensure that the Action does not increase the vulnerability of the local community with its assistance.

For this purpose, and where relevant according to the principle of proportionality, partners are advised to carry out an assessment of the local market. This assessment should be documented. It should consider the purchase of the partner and, if known, the purchases made by other organisations in the same area. This assessment should also consider what is needed, what is available, whether the quality is sufficient, etc.
For this type of assessment, the partner can refer to tools such as the EMMA toolkit.