Scale of outreach in market systems development: building the evidence base

This document presents findings from a study of the outreach of eleven agricultural market system development projects . All of the projects reviewed were funded by USAID or DFID and included significant market system facilitation components.

Main findings

• Measurements of the total number of direct and indirect beneficiaries for each project. 
• Of the eleven projects, the review found that there were several projects reporting outreach to more than half a million smallholders.
• Many projects reported outreach results ranging between 30,000 and 120,000 smallholders. From these results, the review provides recommendations for closing the evidence gaps in a project's outreach by measuring beyond direct beneficiaries using innovative measurement methods. 

Intervention description

The assessment reviewed projects that included a range of market facilitation components for agricultural value chains ranging from enhancing inputs to increasing access to information and finance. 

Evidence methodology

The information for this study came from a combination of document review and in-depth interviews of expert informants. The reports reviewed for data included performance reports, annual results reports, annual reviews, and business cases. Data from these sources were used to determine the direct and indirect beneficiaries of each project.

Useful for:

Project/Programme implementers that are interested in assessing the scale of outreach for agricultural market system development projects.