Harnessing innovation in the informal food services sector: insights for public policy

Abstract

Across the globe, the pandemic impacted negatively on livelihoods, increased unemployment and deepened poverty, especially in the Global South, and particularly severely for those citizens already marginalised and vulnerable (FAO, 2020; Mahler et al., 2020; Yaya 2t al.,2020). In Africa, historically, millions of households and individuals have sought their livelihoods in the informal sector, often in response to economic crises, with growth in the informal sector widely believed to be a counter-cyclical 'shock absorber' (Khambule, 2020). Under the restrictions of the pandemic, the informal sector was not insulated from the economic shocks and global volatility resulting from 'lockdown strategies' to prevent the spread of the coronavirus and may have been more severely impacted than the formal sector (Koveos, 2020; Rogan and Skinner, 2020).