Guidance on Supporting Safe and Functioning Food Markets During COVID-19

The guidance was developed by the USAID Bureau for Resilience and Food Security to help support safe and functioning food markets, while maximizing safety precautions to limit COVID-19 transmission.

Lockdowns, marketplace closures, and restrictions on internal and cross-border movements threaten access to markets for basic supplies and food, especially in low and middle-income countries.

This guidance details illustrative programming for USAID Missions to consider and adapt to country and community context to support safe and functioning food markets, while maximizing safety precautions to limit coronavirus transmission. It includes guidance for physical marketplaces, agriculture and food supply chains, and the enabling environment. 

The principles in the guidance also apply to livestock markets. We anticipate that reduced purchasing power, consumer caution, and preference for dry staples will reduce demand for higher-cost animal-source foods. For producers, there will be a desire to sell livestock as other sources of income dry up. In combination, this will likely result in deteriorating terms of trade. Local milk markets (informal and semi-formal exchanges outside of a marketplace) may have increased importance if other food supply chains become disrupted. There is forthcoming guidance on wildlife trade and COVID-19.