Africa UN Knowledge Hub for COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to multiple disruptions in food demand and supply, and while in general food systems have proven more resilient than many expected so far, the poor and vulnerable have been hit hardest. In this regard, food prices are a critical indicator. Most food price tracking systems aggregate data that may miss short-term price spikes in specific locations—information that could be used to target relief. Here, researchers from the European Commission's Joint Research Centre and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture describe the development of a crowdsourcing tool for collecting real-time local price data. They used it to capture food prices in locations in northern Nigeria during a 4-week pandemic lockdown period, showing important temporal and spatial price variations for staple foods. Based on their experience, they discuss the benefits and challenges, in emergencies and more generally, of crowdsourcing approaches for food prices.—John McDermott, series co-editor and Director, CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH).