Productive Safety Nets Gap Map: all populations

The purpose of this evidence gap map (EGM) is to provide easy access to the best available evidence on the effects of productive social safety net programmes on poverty and related outcomes in low- and middle-income countries, and to highlight important evidence gaps. The EGM identifies several systematic reviews of microfinance, employment assistance and business skills training and a large number of impact evaluations assessing the effects of a variety of productive safety net programmes on measures of income, consumption or savings. But the EGM identifies considerable gaps in the evidence on the effects of productive safety net programmes on inequality and poverty, with few studies evaluating outcomes for the extreme poor. The EGM is based on a comprehensive search for systematic reviews and impact evaluations. It allows users to explore the findings from 20 systematic reviews through links to user friendly summaries on the 3ie systematic reviews database. It also includes 248 impact evaluations (205 completed and 43 ongoing) of relevant interventions. We also provide a summary of our critical appraisal of all reviews included in the map. The colour of the bubbles indicates our confidence in findings about effects based on this appraisal, giving reviews an overall rating of high, medium or low confidence in findings about effects. Productive social safety nets are safety net programs that include livelihood or income generating components to expand market opportunities for beneficiaries. Productive social safety nets aim to reduce extreme poverty by a combination of interventions to stabilize consumption, increase and diversify incomes (including through employment assistance), build and protect assets, and improve food security. This EGM was developed by the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) and funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).