Resource Library

The Resource Library serves as a broad resource hub, including over 1000 documents, training materials, wikis, and curated reports to increase readers' awareness, understanding, and proficiency of several topics in market systems development. Users have access to proposals, evaluation materials, and USAID policy updates, as well as training modules and wikis to boost skills and knowledge.

These resources are bolstered by the inclusion of curated USAID reports published on the USAID Development Experience Clearinghouse (DEC) which serves as a repository of reports from completed or ongoing USAID development projects around the globe. The full USAID Development Clearinghouse website can be accessed here.

Case Study Series: Women-Inclusive Return on Investment (WI-ROI)

These case studies profile select small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that have implemented a women-inclusive intervention and can demonstrate financial returns for that investment. The case studies help address a gap in evidence from firms in lower- and middle-income countries on the return on investment (ROI) from women’s inclusion and unpack themes from USAID’s Women Inclusive Return on Investment (WI-ROI) Framework.

The case study series features:

  • By: Erin MarkelSabine GarbarinoYaquta Fatehi
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1.4.5. Monitoring and Evaluation - Overview

What is Monitoring and Evaluation? Monitoring and evaluation (M&E)—one of the five phases of the project cycle—consists of two basic components: performance monitoring and evaluation (see table below). Monitoring and evaluation serve distinct purposes.

2.5.2. Information and Communications Technology

Introduction Value chains encompass the full range of activities and services required to bring a product or service from its conception to sale in its end markets—whether local, national, regional or global. Value chains include input suppliers, producers, processors and buyers and are supported by a range of technical, business and financial service providers.

3.4.9. Recommended Good Practices for Design and Implementation

Focus on a long-term industry vision and maintain a systemic perspective: End goals and a long-term vision for the industry should guide the design and implementation of value chain development projects. Results in the short term are very important for building trust and instilling confidence amongst stakeholders, but a project design that does not keep in mind longer-term objectives is unlikely to see the desired results from its interventions.

3.4.10. Understanding Knowledge Flows

There is often an underlying assumption that the main constraint facing microenterprises and smallholder farmers is a knowledge gap. Taking a value chain systems perspective requires asking additional questions.

3.4.7. Facilitation

Facilitation can be defined as an action or agent that stimulates a value chain to develop and grow but does not become part of the chain.

3.4.8. Direct Intervention

Traditional enterprise development projects often take the route of direct intervention in response to value chain constraints. Either the development agency directly delivers the services that are required for MSE upgrading or they subsidize private-sector service providers to provide these services to MSEs.

3.4.6. Leverage Through Lead Firms

Lead firms can be an easy option for gaining leverage in a value chain. Lead firms can be sellers of inputs or buyers of value chain products and are targeted because of their potential to shift the norms of behavior in an industry.

3.4.4. Leverage Points

Leverage is the process of targeting an intervention at points in a system that can generate broad change throughout the value chain.

3.4.3. Program Design Process

Value chain program design should address systemic constraints to sustaining competitiveness. Underlying systemic constraints are incentives that limit the quality and types of inter-firm relationships, reduce the value placed on innovation and learning, and maintain inequitable benefit distributions.

3.4.5. Plan for Scaling Up

A value chain facilitation approach looks at scaling up in a different way. It refers to greater depth and breadth of behaviors that are critical to achieving sustainable competitiveness.

3.4.2. Knowledge Management System

Developing a knowledge management system that can deliver both the reporting requirements and real time knowledge of behavior change to inform resource allocation decisions is essential and requires a combination of data capture techniques and staff management methods.

3.4.1. Industry Pathway

An industry pathway is a management tool that integrates the incremental behavior changes required to make an industry more competitive with the project process.

5.2.15. Lessons Learned in Value Chain Finance

Opportunities There are opportunities for leverage within many value chains to reduce costs, manage risk and build trust. Three examples are: Increasing Leverage Examples of how to increase leverage include: (i) expanding on existing credit-oriented relationships and (ii) delivering services or products through key ‘points of contact’; and (iii) utilizing enabling environments to create more complex types of value chain finance.

3.3.3. Plan to Sustain Competitiveness

The guidelines for developing an end-market competitiveness strategy and an upgrading plan focus on achieving competitiveness at a single point in time. Sustaining competitiveness over the long term requires a willingness and ability to continuously adapt to changes in consumer preferences, the availability and scope of supporting markets, competitors' capabilities, enabling environment policies and regulations, etc.

3.3.2. Upgrading Plan

The industry upgrading plan follows the development of a common vision by industry actors. It addresses what needs to be done to achieve the vision for competitiveness, particularly through fostering investments and sharing information.

3.3.1. End Market Competitiveness Plan

An end-market assessment is the first step in determining where it is possible and most advantageous for a value chain to compete. In some cases, there are several end markets, each having different needs.

2.5.1. Value Chain Finance

What is Value Chain Finance? Value chain finance refers to financial products and services that flow to or through any point in a value chain that enable investments that increase actors' returns and the growth and competitiveness of the chain. Whereas financial transactions within a value chain are not new (production finance could be considered "value chain finance"), several emphases distinguish a value chain finance approach.

1.4.3. Competitiveness Strategy - Overview

What is a Competitiveness Strategy?  Designing a competitiveness strategy is the third of the five phases of the project cycle. A competitiveness strategy is a plan for moving the industry toward sustained growth. Industry competitiveness, as opposed to firm competitiveness, is systemic, the result of complex and dynamic interactions between national-level social and economic factors.

3.2.6. Value Chain Analysis Table

Value Chain Analysis Table This exercise is best conducted on two levels: one with the value chain team and the other at the vetting workshop. Looking at the value chain through the framework lens helps us to identify: