PROTOCOL: The effects of agricultural output market access interventions on agricultural, socio‐economic and food and nutrition security outcomes in low‐ and middle‐income countries: A systematic review

Abstract

Development agencies and international donors’ efforts are increasingly focusing on better integrating poor and remote farmers into agricultural markets to address the chronic issues of rural poverty and hunger in low‐ and middle‐income countries. Using systematic methods for information retrieval, critical appraisal and evidence synthesis, this research aims to examine evidence on the effects of five focal types of agricultural market access interventions: (i) farm‐to‐market transport infrastructure interventions; (ii) output market information interventions; (iii) initiatives creating new marketplaces and alternative marketing opportunities; (iv) contract farming initiatives; (v) interventions improving storage infrastructure. In this review, we will study evidence of the magnitude and direction of intervention effects on agricultural, socio‐economic, and food and nutrition security outcomes. We will examine evidence of the distribution of reported effects across different contexts, interventions and sub‐groups of the population (e.g., according to sex, socio‐economic status, farm size, etc.). We will also report on included studies’ risk of bias and on what evidence is available on intervention costs, or their cost‐effectiveness. This protocol outlines this review's planned methods and the criteria for selecting and including studies in its analysis.

The effects of agricultural output market access interventions on agricultural, socio‐economic, food security, and nutrition outcomes in low‐ and middle‐income countries: A systematic review

“…The analyzed studies cover all 19 outcomes included in our framework specified in the protocol (Villar et al, 2023). The most frequently analyzed outcomes are total income and wealth ( n = 28), farm income ( n = 27), followed by food security and nutrition ( n = 20), use or adoption of improved inputs, technologies and practices ( n = 20), sales ( n = 19), produce type ( n = 17) and prices ( n = 17) (Figure 119).…”

“…The analyzed studies cover all 17 outcomes included in our framework specified in the protocol (Villar et al, 2023). The most frequently analyzed outcomes are farm income (n = 86), followed by yields (n = 46), total income and wealth (n = 43), use or adoption of improved inputs, technologies and practices (n = 20), farm investment (n = 20), and prices (n = 20) (Figure 79).…”

“…Trained reviewers independently screened studies, and those that were relevant and met the inclusion criteria were flagged for a full-text review in the second stage of the selection process. More information on this screening is available in the Protocol (Villar et al, 2023).…”

PROTOCOL: Effectiveness of home‐based interventions to prevent child neglect: A systematic review

“…We will also use random effects meta-regression to investigate the association between moderator variables and heterogeneity of treatment effects (Higgins, 2023). If these strategies are not possible (e.g., if we do not have sufficient number of studies or data), we will discuss and explore the factors which may be driving the heterogeneity of results narratively (Villar, 2023).…”