The Contribution of Informal Trade for Food Security in Developing Economies - GOV.UK

This rapid review will provide additional understanding on the importance of informal trade in food security. Additional data on regional food movement in sub-Saharan Africa, and remittance

trends is explored by request. Specific country case studies are also presented. Key points to highlight include the negative connotation of Informal cross-border trade/ICBT, as ‘informal’

can be easily confused with ‘illegal’ and this term also inaccurately reflects the reality of trade flows on the ground. Although the types of goods carried by informal cross-border traders

varies widely, the trade in sub-Saharan Africa is dominated by food, especially small-scale groceries and fresh produce. There is considerable data valuing food security in Sub-Saharan

Africa, however, it is not always current. For some regions, data on the scale of ICBT’s contribution to food security and food movement (trade, remittances, in-kind, etc.) is limited and

based on estimates. Evidence for this rapid review was mostly taken from grey literature, including working papers and policy briefs. Data on the contribution of informal trade for food

security was obtained from informal regional economy reports (e.g. Economic Community Of West African States, ECOWAS; Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, COMESA), as well as

research projects such as the Southern African Consuming Urban Poverty (CUP) project. Estimates of informal food trade e.g. from USAID’s Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), were

used when data was unavailable.

This report was prepared for the UK Government’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and its partners in support of pro-poor programmes

The Contribution of Informal Trade for Food Security in Developing Economies