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Millions of people in Africa rely on informal trade for their livelihoods. In some African countries, the share of informal exports nearly surpasses the share of formal exports. Nevertheless, data surrounding informal trade remains scarce. This problem of invisibility makes it difficult for researchers and policy makers to understand the realities of informal trade, including the daily challenges and precarious existence that traders—particularly women—face.

The long-awaited implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), slated for January 2021, could transform agricultural value chains, agri-business, employment, and food security in the region, according to a new report from the Malabo Montpelier Panel. The free trade area could add as much as USD 76 billion to global income and increase intra-African trade by more than 50 percent.

Third in a series of posts on briefs by the Think20 (T20) task force on Sustainable Energy, Food, and Water Systems. T20 is a G20 engagement group that connects and collaborates with think tanks around the world to provide ideas and recommendations. The task force is one of 10 advising this year’s Saudi Arabia G20 Presidency, which just culminated in the Nov. 21-22 summit. Read the other posts here and here.

While global food systems have remained generally resilient to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, regional and local systems, especially in food-deficit countries, face growing challenges. These include diminished purchasing power, disruptions to domestic supply chains, and higher food import costs due to rising global prices, according to the latest AMIS Market Monitor. Understanding how COVID-19 is affecting local and global food value chains is key in establishing effective policy responses to mitigate the harmful impacts of the ongoing public health crisis.

Worsening conflict in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia has disrupted food access and threatened incomes for thousands of households, according to a recent emergency alert from FEWS Net. Displaced populations, both within Tigray and in neighboring Afar and Amhara Regions and Sudan, are in need of urgent food assistance; these needs are expected to persist at least through late 2021.