Coles Development Consulting Ltd. provides consultancy services in strategic, systemic approaches to inclusive economic development and natural resource management. Our Director, Dr. Chris Coles, is a published ecologist and senior economic development practitioner. 
During his 25-year career in rural and market development, Chris has worked in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East with individual enterprise owners such as smallholders, fishers and their organisations, and, at the other extreme, national Governments and organisations such as the African Union Commission (AUC), EU, World Bank, multinational consulting firms, companies such as Unilever and Starbucks, and UN agencies.
He has become a senior expert in the “market systems development” approach — which analyses and addresses root causes of observed issues for a more sustainable, impactful and scalable outcome — and authored a book on sustainable, inclusive rural economic development.
We have helped to build and manage some iconic, exemplary market systems development portfolios, with major roles in research, analysis, design and review work on programmes including Samarth Nepal, Èlan DRC and MOST Malawi. We also deliver training and mentoring in systemic approaches. In 2023, we supported the MUSIKA Zambia team to switch their agricultural development service client offer to a market systems approach, backstopping the development of a new organisational strategy based on market systems analyses and intervention design.
Most recently, we have been supporting Expertise France in their technical mission to the AU and developed a Strategic Action Plan for improved engagement by the private sector in the African Blue Economy. This is an example of our work in high-level stakeholder engagement, planning and strategy production.
In addition, we have particular expertise in sustainable, pro-local tourism analysis and development at scales from villages to global regions, with deep knowledge of eco-, adventure and special interest tourism products.