GAIN's 'Keeping Food Markets Working' during and beyond COVID-19's, Policy and Urban Food Governance stream, is actively engaging urban food systems stakeholders, especially around traditional markets, in Beira and Pemba (Mozambique), Machakos and Kiambu (Kenya) and Rawalpindi and Peshawar (Pakistan). Like elsewhere in the world, people in Africa and Asia increasingly live in urban and peri-urban communities, with an accompanied shift towards unhealthy diets. In Africa and Asia, traditional markets such as the informal, wet and wholesale food markets, provide essential access to food, nutrition, social relations and livelihood prosperity, for the most vulnerable urban residents.
The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the diversity and scale of needs and opportunities for city governments and urban food systems stakeholders to take action on. It also underscored the value of participatory good governance in urban food systems and evidence to better inform actions towards inclusive, equitable, prosperous, sustainable and resilient urban food systems which advance improved nutrition for all.
This webinar will discuss the findings of a total of 533 Informal Urban Markets Vendor 'snapshot' surveys, as well as of the 35 interviews and 21 focus groups with a range of urban food systems stakeholders from vendors to local and national government policy makers, and SMEs. These findings are part of a wider rapid assessment, conducted between late 2020 and early 2021, in the aforementioned 6 cities, and which also comprised activities, such as, desktop research and satellite imagery.