The objective of this publication is to provide insights on the policy and institutional reforms required for developing and implementing IFPPs, based on a cross-analysis of lessons from eight country case studies covering WFP’s P4P and Brazil’s PAA and PNAE. At the level of the enabling environment, evidence shows that for the successful integration of small rural actors into institutional food procurement value chains, systems require: first, national-level policies that place small rural vulnerable actors as central to agricultural modernization; second, a clear alignment between policy and legislation to institute rhetoric and institutional reform on procurement; and third, a cross-sectoral platform that establishes clear institutional roles and mandates, facilitating collaboration between interrelated programmes and institutions. However, the absence of a perfect enabling environment – which rarely exists – does not preclude countries from embarking on IFPPs. Rather, in an effort to facilitate programme implementation, IFPPs can act as motivating catalysts for the revision of policy and legal frameworks, with the overall impact that the integration of small and vulnerable actors into ongoing agricultural transformation processes is accelerated