To expand the evidence base for a market systems development (MSD) approach, USAID is supporting a global series of ex post evaluations to ask:  What happens to the sustainability and scalability of (1) systems changes and (2) the resulting outcomes, years after a program that adopted elements of the MSD approach ends? The research also offers observations on implications for programming in both the specific country contexts and for global practitioners.

This page presents the findings from studies conducted to date, and will be updated as new studies are finalized. Available publications are: 

• In Senegal: Lasting Roots: An Ex Post Study of Naatal Mbay and the Integrated Finance Model: Download the full report and a summary brief (in English and en Francais) from the first study in the series. The findings show a relatively positive evolution since program closure roughly 3.5 years prior, with three of the four intended systemic changes enduring over time.  For example: the integrated finance model has spread beyond the rice sector. The provision of commercial credit to buyers and processors, backed by the third-party holding system, has spread to five other value chains. Hence, across the entire agricultural sector, 37% more companies are accessing 377% more inventory-backed lending than at the close of Naatal Mbay.
• In Ghana: Lasting Roots: An Ex Post Study of ADVANCE II and the Outgrower Business Model: Download the full report and a summary brief- coming soon!

In 2016, USAID also published two ex post studies looking at similar themes, in Cambodia and Zambia.