Market Sheds

This surface divides sub-Saharan Africa into market sheds by measuring the nearest city or ‘market’ with a population of 20,000; 50,000; 100,000; 250,000; and 500,000 respectively. Nearness is determined by measuring the least accumulated ‘cost’ or travel time to each market center. The market shed is the total area surrounding each market for which that market has the lowest cost in terms of travel time. Travel time was estimated based on the combination of different spatial data layers, or variables, which affect the time required to travel across to the given points (i.e. cities). Market shed data can be used to determine the number of people or households that are more than likely dependent on a given market center (assuming that most people would travel to the closest market for their needs).

This surface divides Sub-Saharan Africa into market sheds by measuring the nearest city or ‘market’ with a population of 20,000; 50,000; 100,000; 250,000; and 500,000 respectively (year 2000 estimates from GRUMP alpha data). Nearness to a city or market is determined by measuring the least accumulated ‘cost’ or travel time to each market center. The market shed is the total area surrounding each market for which that market has the lowest cost in terms of travel time. Travel time was estimated based on the combination of different spatial data layers, or variables, which affect the time required to travel across to the given points (i.e. cities). These variables include: elevation, slope, landcover, roads, road type, rivers, borders, and major water bodies. For more details on the travel time see the Travel time to cities dataset.

Market shed data can be used to determine the number of people or households that are more than likely dependent on a given market center (assuming that most people would travel to the closest market for their needs). It is a good indicator of the value of a city in terms of market accessibility as well as the nearness of that market center to other market centers in terms of total area and people served.

The data is presented in a geodatabase format and besides the marketshed locations, the individual crop productions, population and livestock are also summarized into each market shed.

Data

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