Results for Development works with change agents to shape global and country-level markets and dramatically expand access to affordable, high-quality essential commodities and services that help people lead healthier, more productive lives.
Market Shaping
The Challenge
Around the world, there are many proven health products that can save and improve lives. However, they are frequently out of reach for the children and adults who need them the most.
This is often the result of market and system breakdowns. Essential health products may not be available in low- and middle-income countries due to insufficient supply capacity, inadequate financing, inefficient procurement processes and outdated policies. Even when commodities are available in a country, they may be of inconsistent quality, priced too high or inappropriately used.
Our Approach
R4D supports change agents to shape markets for health products, systems and areas of intersection in Africa and Asia to advance health equity. We work to ensure that markets are transformed sustainably to drive increased access to (and improve appropriate use of) essential products, such as reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health products; nutrition supplements; safe blood; and assistive technologies, like wheelchairs or hearing aids. R4D achieves this by aligning the priorities and incentives of key market actors, including policymakers, procurers, manufacturers and financiers at the global and country levels, to develop and execute solutions for underserved markets at scale.
Specifically, R4D leverages four core technical approaches to systematically identify and holistically address market and system challenges:
- DIAGNOSE: We holistically assess the market landscape for a health product, service, or system to understand market-related barriers.
- DESIGN: Based on in-depth market analysis, we then co-create market shaping solutions or strategies with partners – including local change agents – to address market-related barriers.
- IMPLEMENT: We execute comprehensive and tailored market shaping interventions to catalyze sustainable impact.
- LEARN: We intentionally use evidence to track progress over time and inform decision making to support continuous improvement for current and future market shaping engagements.
Our Results
Since 2008, R4D has developed market shaping strategies at the global level and provided on-the-ground catalytic support to local change agents to achieve transformational impact domestically. Some examples include:
- Developed an interactive, customizable tool designed to support the costing of national and sub-national Multiple Micronutrient Supplements (MMS) introduction and scale-up roadmaps. This tool will help governments plan for a smooth transition from iron folic acid (IFA), the current standard antenatal supplement, to MMS to improve pregnancy and birth outcomes.
- Provided catalytic capacity building support to Ethiopia’s Pharmaceutical Supply Service (EPSS) on market shaping, ultimately resulting in a reduction of market inefficiencies and increased availability of essential health products through reductions in procurement lead time, improvements in forecasting accuracy and streamlining of their pharmaceutical procurement list, among other important outcomes.
- Identified major market shortcomings in the blood transfusion systems of Liberia, Malawi and Rwanda, leading to the development of national blood transfusion policies and guidelines for hemovigilance practices, as well as the development of blood quantification models to improve data for decision-making, resource mobilization and coordination.
- Conducted market assessments to identify access and market challenges for maternal, newborn, and child health and nutrition (MNCHN) products in Sub-Saharan Africa. The most recent assessment in 2024 focused on twelve products in Ethiopia, Kenya and Nigeria. Based on these findings, R4D supported the Government of Ethiopia to design and implement solutions such as widening the supply base, supporting regional harmonization of registration, and developing sustainable financing sources. These efforts have already led to measurable outcomes, including an increased government budget allocation for maternal health medicines procurement through a newly developed financing strategy for exempted service commodities.
- Designing and implementing a program to avert hundreds of thousands of child deaths from pneumonia in high-burden countries via the delivery of roughly 7.5 million treatments in Ethiopia and Tanzania, while shaping the local markets and systems to ensure sustainable access in the future. As part of this work, R4D is also conducting formative research to assess current levels of diagnoses and prescriptions, as well as designing and piloting potential cost-effective interventions to improve appropriate use of treatments and overall quality of care.
