Abstract:

This report synthesizes the literature on the Hidden Middle of agrifood systems-the midstream segment that connects producers to markets through processing, logistics, and intermediation. Based on the work of seventeen leading authors and the analysis of 3,500 policy recommendations from 568 publications, it identifies common priorities and canonical policy orientations. The evidence reveals a strong convergence around bundled interventions that combine finance and risk mechanisms, logistics and processing infrastructure, food-safety and quality systems, and information and coordination platforms. These policy bundles form a coherent theory of change: competitiveness and inclusion depend on reducing the costs of investing, complying, and coordinating within food value chains. The study concludes that the Hidden Middle should be understood as a strategic lever of transformation, where integrated investments and institutional coherence can drive both efficiency and equity in agrifood systems.