The Bureau for Food Security, through its Feed the Future Learning Agenda, seeks to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of all programs in the short and long term by generating, synthesizing and communicating evidence related to key questions in specific areas, including market systems. Evidence from the Learning Agenda will inform the design of Feed the Future-related strategies, programs, projects and activities.

The main assumption of the Feed the Future Learning Agenda with regard to market systems is that a growing, resilient, competitive, inclusive, nutritious and sustainable agriculture and food market system increases producers’ income through productivity and profitability improvements. Market system strengthening contributes to the Global Food Security Strategy's (GFSS) overarching goal “to sustainably reduce global hunger, malnutrition and poverty."

This report highlights key insights and information obtained through a rapid literature review to inform this agenda. The key insights focus on two related learning areas:

• How do we measure a strengthened market system?
• How do market system approaches maximize indirect impacts?

A total of 65 pieces of literature were identified and then examined to feed into addressing these two questions.