Resource Library

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID)/Zambia requested the Learning, Evaluation, and Analysis III project (LEAP III) to conduct an ex-post evaluation of the Production, Finance, and Improved Technology Plus (PROFIT+) project, which was implemented from 2012 to 2017. The objective of PROFIT+ was to improve productivity, expand trade, and increase investments by developing functional market systems in rural areas.

We sat down with Richard Kohl and Dan White to discuss lessons learned around scaling projects; specifically, different aspects of the agricultural input supply market evolution.

“Financial inclusion means economic empowerment, particularly for women, rural communities, and the poor. Financial services offered through electronic means, like mobile phones, are key contributors to that vision.” Paul Folmsbee, U.S. Ambassador to Mali, shared this in Bamako this past October. He was speaking before a workshop of 144 people on digital financial services (DFS) organized by USAID.

CARE’s Pathways program is based on the conviction that women farmers possess enormous potential to contribute to long-term food security for their families and substantially impact nutritional outcomes in sustainable ways.

Grounded in an overview of CARE’s approach to resilience, this session features evidence and lessons learned from some of CARE’s most successful market engagement initiatives.

This profile discusses Parmalat, a large-scale dairy company, which is using a direct deposit scheme to pay its network of small-scale milk farmers in Zambia.

This profile discusses Dunavant, the largest cotton company in Zambia, which is pilot testing the use of e-vouchers that are redeemable for cash, merchandise, and other services including school fees.

This Evaluability Assessment was completed prior to embarking on an impact assessment of the PROFIT Zambia Program. The document assesses the causal model underlying the program, the appropriateness of program design in light of its causal model, the program time frame, and other program characteristics. The results of the analysis are used to determine the appropriateness of conducting an impact assessment of the program and, if so, what the design/methodology of the impact assessment should be.

This document, produced under a primer series on social safety nets, assesses the role of food aid in improving food availability and food access. It is based on a synthesis of experiences in four countries:  India, Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Zambia. It concludes that food aid does not have to create negative impacts, particularly if it is tied to the development of infrastructure that supports production and market linkages, avoids creating negative price effects for food producers, and reaches the food insecure.

The goal of this study is to enhance food security by identifying actions that could be taken to increase the competitiveness of food staple value chains and raise rural incomes in West Africa.