Thematic Insights
What the evidence says across all studies, theme by theme. Each synthesis draws on the 41 published studies in Evaluation Insights (baselines, midlines, endlines, and thematic and impact studies), and every finding links to the studies it comes from.
Productivity & Yields
Productivity gains are uneven across commodities: coffee and dairy pilots report the clearest yield increases, maize and horticulture show wide adoption of inputs but little proven yield gain and rising costs, and tea, oil palm, livestock and gold start far below their potential. The one controlled study (F4APK, dairy and horticulture) found no gain beyond comparison farmers.
Moderate evidence25 studiesIncomes & Livelihoods
Income results differ by commodity: coffee programmes and oil palm growers report higher incomes and dairy became more commercial, but maize farmers started at a loss, fresh-produce farmers keep only 11–20% of value, tea workers earn well below a living wage and most artisanal gold miners earn under USD 50 a week. The only controlled study found no profit improvement.
Moderate evidence22 studiesSocial Inclusion
Programmes that targeted women deliberately (Golden Line, LISEC, Coffee Resilience in Kenya) opened new roles, membership and earning opportunities, but baselines show deep gaps in land, income and decision-making, and women still carry most of the labour.
Moderate evidence17 studiesClimate Resilience
Farmers are almost universally aware of climate change and drought is the top shock, but support to adapt is thin: few use irrigation or receive disaster assistance, and endline evidence on resilience outcomes is limited to practice adoption and early carbon payments.
Limited evidence17 studiesMarket Access
Collective selling through cooperatives grew where buyers were reliable, but market uptake was the weakest pathway across programmes: buyer links, premium markets and EU sourcing targets were often missed, and middlemen still dominate sales in maize, horticulture and gold.
Moderate evidence17 studiesAccess to Finance
Formal credit reaches few farmers even where information is available, while savings groups (VSLAs, EA$E, community microfinance groups) are the finance channel that works and lasts; engagement with financial institutions largely failed.
Limited evidence16 studiesDecent Work
Workplace committees and standards improved conditions in leather and garment factories, but in artisanal gold mining protective equipment use stayed low and mercury use widespread across three rounds of Golden Line, and wages in tea and textiles remain far below a living wage.
Moderate evidence14 studiesFood Security
Food security improved little where it was measured rigorously: FOSEK saw no significant improvement and F4APK no difference from control farmers, while recent baselines show many households short of food for several months a year, and cash-crop expansion can crowd out food land.
Moderate evidence11 studies