We work with governments, development partners, businesses, and industry organisations to understand what constrains inclusive economic growth and to design practical responses.
Our work spans enterprise development, entrepreneurship ecosystems, private sector development, livelihoods, jobs, markets, and trade — with particular attention to who participates in economic opportunity, who is excluded, and what needs to change for growth to become more inclusive and resilient.
We analyse the systems in which SMEs and entrepreneurs operate — including finance, regulation, business services, skills, technology, networks, and market access. Our work helps clients distinguish between visible enterprise constraints and the deeper institutional and market conditions producing them, and design interventions that strengthen commercially viable and inclusive enterprise ecosystems.
We help governments and development partners work more effectively with businesses and markets. Our work includes private sector mapping, engagement strategies, partnership frameworks, business model analysis, market facilitation approaches, inclusive business models, and mechanisms that align commercial incentives with wider development objectives.
We analyse how markets and value chains create, distribute, and sometimes concentrate economic opportunity. Our work examines actors, incentives, margins, market access, power relationships, services, and institutional constraints to understand where women, small producers, informal workers, SMEs, and other groups participate — and what prevents them from capturing greater economic value.
We design and evaluate programmes that strengthen household livelihoods, employment, enterprise opportunities, and resilience to economic and social shocks. Our experience includes economic inclusion, graduation approaches, cash-plus programming, displaced and crisis-affected populations, skills and employment interventions, and livelihood recovery in fragile and vulnerable settings.
We support clients to understand and address the policy, institutional, and market constraints affecting competitiveness and trade. Our work includes export and market development, trade facilitation, sector competitiveness, regulatory and policy analysis, regional economic integration, and the implications of emerging trade and sustainability requirements for firms and producers.
SME ecosystem assessments · Entrepreneurship ecosystem diagnostics · Private sector mappings · Private sector engagement strategies · Market systems assessments · Value chain studies · Enterprise and business model analysis · Inclusive business assessments · Livelihoods assessments · Economic inclusion programme design · Jobs and employment studies · Graduation programme evaluations · Cash-plus evaluations · Market and demand assessments · Competitiveness studies · Export development strategies · Trade facilitation studies · Policy and regulatory analysis · Investment climate assessments · Gender and social inclusion analysis · Programme design and feasibility studies
Across these assignments, we look beyond individual firms or beneficiaries to understand the wider economic system — the incentives, institutions, relationships, capabilities, and rules that shape who can participate, compete, and benefit.
A market assessment of the agriculture sector in GB&C examining production systems, value chains, market linkages, and investment opportunities across key commodities. Commissioned by Accelerate Prosperity (AKDN) with EU funding to inform programme strategy, combining primary field research with value chain and market analysis. Praxsys served as Principal Investigator.
A sector study on the production and market potential of non-timber forest products in Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral, covering high-value wild and medicinal products including sea buckthorn, wild cumin, morel, chilghoza, wild thyme, and other wild teas. The study assessed production systems, collection and processing practices, market channels, price dynamics, and the constraints limiting commercialisation at scale.
Product design research for ten women's agribusiness cooperatives under the GROW-Pak project, combining a supply-side cooperative assessment, demand-side market analysis, and a structured multi-criteria prioritisation to answer which value chains should be supported to raise incomes and create sustainable livelihood opportunities for women and youth. Fieldwork across all ten cooperatives informed a five-archetype strategic framework recommending apricot value-chain reform, dairy monetisation, and targeted vegetable development as the portfolio priorities.
A study tracing returnee migrants from GCC countries and Europe in Pakistan and analysing livelihood opportunities in agriculture and agriculture-related sectors. The assignment assessed the skills and assets returnees bring, the constraints they face on re-entry into the labour market, and where agricultural and agribusiness opportunities are viable at the household level.
Design and delivery of a private sector matchmaking initiative for the SUN Business Network Myanmar, culminating in a partnership facilitation event in Yangon. The assignment identified partnership opportunities between private sector actors and nutrition programmes, supported relationship-building, and facilitated agreements that led to multiple active collaborations on nutrition. Work also included development of a food safety handbook for SMEs and delivery of training-of-trainers sessions to strengthen food safety practices in the sector.
Managing Partner — Economic Development & Inclusive Growth
Noor Alam Khan oversees Praxsys's economic development practice, with 14+ years of experience in market systems development, private sector engagement, and inclusive growth across South Asia. He has led assignments for USAID-funded programmes, Palladium, and bilateral donors across enterprise ecosystem, value chain, and livelihoods work.
For practice enquiries: contact@praxsysassociates.com
We work with governments, donors, INGOs, and foundations on long-form research, evaluation, and program design. Tell us about the problem.