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.

Mobilizing Investment for Development with Transaction Advisory Services: Learning Brief

July 21, 2023
USAID's Private Sector Engagement (PSE) Policy recognizes that private sector resources and capabilities are required to work at the scale needed to address development challenges effectively and sustainably. Mobilizing private capital has become an increasingly important part of this effort.
  • By: Kristin Jangraw
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USAID Invest DRC Cocoa and Coffee Sector Guides

These reports, produced by USAID’s Investment Facilitation Activity in the DRC (USAID Invest, or the Activity), provide an overview of the cocoa and coffee sectors in the DRC. The reports highlight production trends, challenges, and opportunities. They profile relevant sector stakeholders across the value chains, including existing cocoa and coffee farmer cooperatives, traders, processors, exporters, and major international customers. The reports also describe existing enabling organizations, such as government agencies, NGOs, development programs, and relevant financial institutions.

USAID DRC Invest Capital Map Report December 2021

This capital map report provides an analysis of the investment ecosystem of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) with a focus on the current and potential investors in the DRC that could be relevant to USAID’s DRC Investment Facilitation Activity (USAID Invest, or the Activity). As USAID Invest seeks to catalyze investment for businesses in agricultural value chains and agriculture-enabling sectors, this report also scopes investors based on their interest and past activities in the agricultural sector. 

Mobilizing Investment for Development with Catalytic Funding: Learning Brief

Catalytic funding is the provision of resources to an investment fund or vehicle designed to mitigate risk and improve the fund's overall viability to attract new investment for development goals. These intermediaries pool resources and distribute risks among investors and are a primary vehicle for blended finance. In many markets in which USAID is present, funds or financial vehicles capable of addressing USAID priorities are few in number and/or too small or inexperienced to make an impact at the needed scale.
A Laiterie du Berger milk collector receiving milk from pastoralist Fulani farmers in the Richard Toll area.

The BD4FS Ambassador Firm Approach: Example from a Dairy Value Chain in Senegal

Dairy farmers in northern Senegal are pastoralists who travel nomadically and seasonally to find greener pastures for their animals. This makes it difficult for processors like Laiterie de Berger (LDB) to collect milk. Therefore, LDB has set up a collection system that allows independent or salaried collectors to collect milk from farmers daily by motorcycle or tricycle. LDB created a subsidiary company, Kossam SDE, that provides milk collection and services to farmers to build their loyalty.
Castor Market, Dakar, Senegal

Food Safety Assessment of Senegalese Markets through Mobile App Technology

Inadequate food handling practices and poor infrastructure across supply chains increase health risks to consumers, in addition to being root causes of pre-consumer loss and waste in the overall food system. Feed the Future Business Drivers for Food Safety (BD4FS), implemented by Food Enterprise Solutions (FES) and funded by USAID, is a multi-country effort that works alongside agrifood actors to codesign and implement incentive-based strategies to accelerate the adoption of food safety practices in local food systems.
Fish Landing Site, Lompoul, Senegal

Consumer Awareness of PAH Contaminants in Smoked Fish in Senegal

Fish is an important contributor to the Senegalese economy and diet, with Senegal having one of the highest consumption rates of fish in Africa (29 kg/person/year according to a 2017-2018 study; ANSD, 2020).  It serves as important protein source for many because of its low cost and its high availability. Due to its perishable nature, fish are commonly processed after capture to increase the longevity of products. In 2018, over 38,924 tons of fish were processed in Senegal, worth an estimated $47,523,252 USD (Ministere Despecheset De L’Economie, 2019).
Man holds egg while standing inside a hen house in Indonesia. Photo: DAI Global.

Towards Transformational Impact: Synergies of Private Sector Engagement and Market Systems Development

This brief offers insights into how private sector engagement (PSE) and market systems development (MSD) can contribute to transformational impact, with a focus on opportunities for more intentional, strengths-based collaboration and learning. For personal perspectives on these synergistic opportunities from USAID’s Market Systems Team Lead and the Deputy Director of the PSE Hub, check out this accompanying blog.
Cover for Advancing Family Planning Access and Use through Social Enterprises: Lessons from the HANSHEP Health Enterprise Fund, with an image of a mother and her child with two doctors.

Advancing Family Planning Access and Use through Social Enterprises: Lessons from the HANSHEP Health Enterprise Fund

SHOPS Plus project conducted a longitudinal study with 3 of the 16 grantees of the HANSHEP Health Enterprise Fund, a challenge fund that identified and supported private sector solutions to address family planning and other health priorities in sub-Saharan Africa under the SHOPS project from 2013 to 2015. The study examined how grantees have increased access to family planning products and services since the end of the fund, and its findings document the value of investing in private sector social enterprises as a means of increasing access to family planning.
Vegetable Market (iStock photo from FES)

Food Safety and Nutrition - Feedback from the Field. Technical Learning Note

Food safety is an integral part of growing food businesses, economic development, and public health. Food businesses, government, policy makers, and researchers all have different perspectives on promoters and barriers that affect food safety, and they provide important contributions to ensuring food safety practices occur in low- and middle-income (LMICs). In order to obtain insight on how to develop policies and programs that ensure food safety practices are present in LMICs, we conducted a rapid assessment with selected food safety experts.

Philippines: The Private Sector's Contributions to Family Planning Market Growth

The Philippine family planning market has grown at different rates from 1993 to 2017, with the modern contraceptive prevalence rate among married women increasing from 24.9 percent to 40.4 percent. The private sector played a significant role in this growth. A SHOPS Plus analysis revealed several economic, sociocultural, policy, and programmatic factors that facilitated the private sector’s contributions to increase the modern contraceptive prevalence rate.

Tanzania: The Private Sector's Contributions to Family Planning Market Growth

The Tanzanian family planning market experienced significant growth from 1991 to 2016, with modern contraceptive prevalence rate among married women increasing from 6.6 to 32.0 percent. The private sector played a large role in this market growth. A SHOPS Plus analysis revealed several macro-environmental, sociocultural, policy, and programmatic factors that facilitated the private sector’s contributions to increase the modern contraceptive prevalence rate.

Accelerating Private Sector Engagement: Public-Private Engagement

Public stewards in many countries are increasingly interested in working with the private sector to achieve health goals, and there is wide recognition that the sector can improve access to care. This brief shares a range of approaches and experiences in public-private engagement from SHOPS Plus work in Nigeria, Senegal, and Tanzania. It provides lessons learned and practical tips for donors who want to support future efforts in public-private engagement in health.  
Two ways for private providers to access government-managed commodities - direct access from supply chain and access from public facility as an intermediary

Public-Private Partnerships for Family Planning Commodities

Many governments and donors support the use of public-private partnerships to distribute publicly managed commodities through the private health sector to overcome barriers to access for the full range of family planning methods. This brief draws on country experiences with commodity partnerships for family planning in Kenya, Nigeria, and Tanzania. It documents approaches used to place government-managed commodities into the hands of private providers and ultimately the women seeking the method.

Cambodia: The Private Sector's Contributions to Family Planning Market Growth

The Cambodian family planning market experienced significant growth from 2000 to 2014, with the modern contraceptive prevalence rate among married women increasing from 18.8 to 38.8 percent. The private sector played a large role in this market growth. A SHOPS Plus analysis revealed several economic, sociocultural, policy, and programmatic factors that facilitated the private sector’s contributions to increase the modern contraceptive prevalence rate.

LEAP III Vietnam Public-Private Partnership Implementation Support

To strengthen and transform the nature of public-private partnerships (PPPs), the Government of Vietnam embarked on a new PPP Law that aimed to change the rules, systems, and processes for PPPs in Vietnam to attract new PPP players and investments (both domestic and foreign).
Cover of brief.

Public-Private Partnerships for Family Planning Commodities

Many governments and donors support the use of public-private partnerships to distribute publicly managed commodities through the private health sector to overcome barriers to access for the full range of family planning methods. This brief draws on country experiences with commodity partnerships for family planning in Kenya, Nigeria, and Tanzania. It documents approaches used to place government-managed commodities into the hands of private providers and ultimately the women seeking the method.

Analysis of the North American Jewelry Market

USAID’s Commercially Viable Conflict-Free Gold Project, known locally as “Zahabu Safi” (Clean Gold), is a five-year program, implemented in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) by Global Communities and Levin Sources. The project aims to establish a responsible, commercially viable and conflict-free ASM gold supply chain from eastern DRC. A key objective for achieving the project’s vision is to increase demand for and co-investment in responsibly sourced ASM gold from eastern DRC.
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The Enabling Environment for Food Traceability System Success

Widespread adoption of food traceability systems (FTS) holds the potential to provide several benefits for agricultural market systems, including mitigating food safety risks, improving market access and increasing productivity gains. Improvements in supply chain transparency from FTS adoption can also lead to an expansion of mutually beneficial trade between countries.