Report

Supporting small food businesses to build resilience during crises

Think tank: Institute of Development Studies

Author(s): Evert-jan Quak; Jodie Thorpe

August 1, 2022

This report from UK think tank the Institute for Development Studies looks at delivering affordable, nutritious food to low-income communities.

Yet food systems are under threat from multiple stressors. During the Covid-19 pandemic, government support was directed at maintaining business activity, so understanding how this affected small food businesses offers insights for future policy design. Most policies aligned primarily with the short-term financial needs of larger businesses, leaving a gap for timely support for small enterprises. The recurrent nature of shocks means that such businesses also require longer-term agility to respond to shocks. Interventions to build this capacity can be integrated into nutrition programming.