From October 2020 to December 2021, EatSafe conducted bi-weekly consumer and vendor surveys in traditional markets to assess the functioning of markets and market actors under COVID-19. The resulting Bulletins and Traditional Market Reports present detailed reports on trends in consumer resilience, vendors' business impacts, and food price changes.
Understanding the rapidly changing situation for vendors in traditional markets and the consumers that rely on these markets can provide vital information for determining what is needed to ensure the availability of affordable, safe, nutritious food during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The COVID-19 pandemic is a multiplier of vulnerability, compounding threats to food security and nutrition (FSN) while exposing weaknesses in food systems. In response, the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) developed the Keeping Food Markets Working (KFMW) programme to provide targeted support to help sustain core food systems.
This Situation Report—the fifth in a series—finds that COVID-19-related control measures continue to have an impact on food systems in 10 countries where GAIN works: Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Pakistan, Rwanda and Tanzania.
Reducing post-harvest loss is one promising way to make nutritious foods more available, accessible, and affordable - all while improving the environmental sustainability of the food system. While viable technologies to reduce loss exist, they have limited uptake, particularly in low- and- middle income countries (LMICs).
The COVID-19 pandemic is a multiplier of vulnerability, compounding threats to food security and nutrition (FSN), while exposing weaknesses in food systems. In response, the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) developed the Keeping Food Markets Working (KFMW) programme to provide targeted support to help sustain core food systems, workers, and markets during the COVID-19 emergency.
Ethiopia is experiencing a growing demand for dairy products, which can make a major contribution to the intake of essential nutrients in the population. However, as a developing country, a large part of the residents do not have access
to dairy products, primarily due to both limited financial resources and availability.
Although eggs are highly nutritious, they remain scarce and relatively expensive in many low-income settings, including across many of the countries where GAIN operates. Moreover, they are only rarely consumed by children in many regions. Globally, the average egg supply is around 3.5 eggs per person per week.
Lack of diversity in many people’s diets means that more than two billion people globally are deficient in at least one micronutrient, which has a transversal impact on individuals, communities, and nations. It is within this context that GAIN’s Large Scale Food Fortification (LSFF) portfolio of projects, which operate both at national and global levels, has been deployed, with the aim of increasing micronutrient intakes through the addition of bioavailable micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) to commonly consumed foods.
These manuals have been prepared for use by persons and organisations wishing to manufacture and supply complementary foods in different countries. The manuals have been specifically prepared for use in the countries of Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique and Rwanda and contain generic information that will be applicable irrespective of the country concerned but also contain specific information relating to the four aforementioned countries.
