GAIN: Keeping Food Markets Working

The project aims to help sustain the availability and affordability of nutritious and safe foods and contribute to lowering the burden of ill health particularly for the most vulnerable. The project also supports food market continuity and protects the sustainability of key workers and supply chains in food systems across 10 countries in Africa and Asia which face potentially catastrophic supply and demand disruption due to the coronavirus (COVID-19). The 10 countries for this project include Bangladesh Ethiopia India Indonesia Kenya Mozambique Nigeria Pakistan Rwanda and Tanzania. COVID-19 poses the risk of worsening existing gaps in livelihoods incomes and assets unless support for markets and food system workers is done in a gender-sensitive way. Project activities include: (1) supporting emergency business guidance and grants for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to provide safe and nutritious foods; (2) sustaining and reinforcing the gains of large-scale food fortification; (3) keeping food marketplace infrastructure open but safer; (4) providing workplace nutrition protection for food system workers and their families; and (5) providing advisory and practical support to governments to help keep critical coordination mechanisms functioning and help food systems keep working.

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) 300 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are supported through the crisis and 200 SMEs are trained to adapt and survive; (2) SMEs are more able to withstand market uncertainty and SMEs are strengthened through technical assistance (3) sustained commitment and compliance with large-scale food fortification; (4) local government agencies are informed and equipped with capacity to improve market safety; (5) national/regional government policymakers are informed on market safety; (6) companies employing 500 000 food supply chain workers are equipped with support workers; (7) improved nutrition security to 200 000 vulnerable workers through grants; and (8) improved understanding (through cross-cutting research) of food system tracking systems/ of the impact of Covid-19 on nutrition/ of crisis impacts and survival of SMEs.