Transforming Kenya’s Agricultural Inputs Sector

  • Partner: Kenya Markets Trust, Gatsby Africa, UK’s Department for International Development (DFID)
  • Publication Type: Case Study
  • Date: August 2019

This case study examines how Kenya Markets Trust’s agri-input initiatives improved smallholder farmers' access to quality inputs, enhanced market systems, and fostered collaboration across the value chain.

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7 Lessons in Shifting Social Norms for Women’s Economic Empowerment

  • Partner: The SEEP Network Women’s Economic Empowerment Working Group
  • Publication Type: Blog
  • Date: July 23, 2019

MarketShare Associates moderated a side event on “Shifting Social Norms for Women's Economic Empowerment” hosted by the SEEP Network at the 2019 Women Deliver Conference in Vancouver, Canada. This blog post summarizes seven lessons learned in shifting social norms for women’s economic empowerment. The session explored how members of SEEP’s Women’s Economic Empowerment Working Group have tackled gender norms in the context of their work in developing countries. Speakers from Oxfam, IPSOS, Women for Women International, ICRW, World Vision International, and MEDA drew on practical examples and strategies for understanding, measuring and changing social norms.

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Feed the Future Mozambique Agricultural Innovations Activity (FTF Inova) Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Plan

  • Partner: Feed the Future Mozambique Agricultural Innovations Activity (FTF Inova), United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
  • Publication Type: Report
  • Date: May 2019

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Feed the Future Mozambique Agricultural Innovations Activity (FTF Inova) seeks to stimulate sustainable, agriculture-led economic growth, which is critical to reducing poverty and hunger. The aim is to contribute to this change by catalyzing more inclusive and competitive agricultural market systems. This Plan sets out FTF Inova’s Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) System and explains how results are monitored and measured to support strategic, informed, and adaptive management of interventions, while allowing FTF Inova to report on achieved results.

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Crafting Kuza: Towards a Systemic Approach to Job Creation for Youth in Mombasa

  • Partner: International Labour Organization (ILO)
  • Publication Type: Case Study
  • Date: 2016

This case study examines the Kuza project, a 3.5 year initiative that operated in coastal Kenya, and distills lessons for initiatives seeking to facilitate inclusive job creation, as well as methods for understanding impact. MSA conducted an analysis of Kuza’s job creation and job measurement strategies with a specific focus on the micro-retail sector. The study profiles Kuza’s approach to capturing direct, indirect and induced job creation.

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Businesses create impact: adaptive management, feedback loops and the role of businesses in results measurement

  • Partner: Donor Committee for Enterprise Development (DCED), The BEAM Exchange
  • Publication Type: Presentation
  • Date: February 21, 2018

Presentation at the 2018 DCED-BEAM Seminar in Nairobi, Kenya on the role of feedback in driving adaptation and improvement

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Market Systems and Job Quality: What Do We Know and What Can We Do About It?

  • Partner: International Labor Organization (ILO)
  • Publication Type: Report
  • Date: August 2017

If you’ve ever wondered (or been skeptical about) if or how the market systems approach can address job quality, we’ve mapped the evidence from the field to learn what’s been done, what’s been effective and what projects and donors can to better address job quality in the future.

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Social norms in market systems development: A practitioner-led research brief

  • Partner: The BEAM Exchange, ACDI/VOCA, ‎Habitat for Humanity International
  • Publication Type: Brief
  • Date: April 2017

Research brief capturing the experience of practitioners interested in integrating knowledge on social norms from fields outside of market systems into their work on identifying and measuring systemic change.

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Social Norms and Systems Change: Final Performance Report

  • Partner: Leveraging Economic Opportunities
  • Publication Type: Report
  • Date: December 2016

This research brief captures the experience of a group of practitioners interested in integrating knowledge on social norms from fields outside of market systems into their work on identifying and measuring systemic change. This research brief outlines key ideas from social norms theory and explores implications for research and implementation by market systems development (MSD) programmes.

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Leveraging Economic Opportunities: Final Performance Report

  • Partner: Leveraging Economic Opportunities (LEO)
  • Publication Type: Report
  • Date: December 2016

This report presents key activities, lessons learned, and accomplishments of the Leveraging Economic Opportunities (LEO) project. Over the course of three years (October 1, 2013 – November 13, 2016), LEO served as USAID’s primary vehicle for learning in the area of market systems approaches and a convener of knowledge and best practices amongst its implementing partners.

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What’s All the Fuss About? How USAID is Embracing Systems Thinking With Supporting Frameworks and Tools

  • Partner: United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
  • Publication Type: Webinar
  • Date: November 9, 2016

This webinar sheds light on how the market systems development community can better understand indications of systemic change. Experts share findings from a multi-year trial conducted by the USAID-funded Leveraging Economic Opportunities (LEO) activity that applied ‘complexity-aware’ monitoring tools in Bangladesh, Sierra Leone, Georgia and Mozambique to assess their utility for capturing systemic change.

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