Key takeaways on leveraging traditional markets and public food procurement for better nutrition

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and Rikolto hosted a technical workshop in June 2024 titled "Leveraging Local and Traditional Food Markets and Public Food Procurement to Improve the Availability of Nutritious Food". This article captures the key messages from the summary report of three days of in-depth discussions.

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Local and traditional food markets (LTFMs) are woven into the fabric of daily life for many people, often serving as more than just a convenient place to shop. For some, Sunday mornings at these markets are a cherished routine — a time to purchase fresh fruits, vegetables, and other essentials. Beyond their convenience, LTFMs play a vital role as public spaces that enhance access to nutritious food while supporting local economies.

Market dwellers often express appreciation for the unique experiences offered by local markets. Some mention the satisfaction of finding vegetables still covered in dirt, which gives them the reassuring feeling that the produce is freshly harvested. Others enjoy the occasional surprise of receiving an unexpected "extra"—an additional vegetable or product—adding a personal touch to their shopping experience.

These dynamics highlight the unique character of LTFMs: their close link to local production, their social nature and their potential benefits to consumers. In this way, the value of LTFMs goes beyond economic transactions, fostering social connections and stimulating demand for fresh, diverse and healthy food.

Similarly, Public Food Procurement (PFP) programmes, such as school feeding initiatives, are increasingly seen as tools to improve the sustainability of agrifood systems. These programmes can provide market opportunities for local producers but have not traditionally included specific nutrition objectives. However, as awareness of the link between public procurement and nutrition grows, these initiatives are beginning to shift towards promoting healthier diets.

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Connecting local food markets and PFP programmes to agrifood systems objectives

Against this backdrop, over 70 practitioners and researchers from around the world joined discussions at FAO’s headquarters in Rome from 24 to 26 June, to explore how LTFMs and PFP programmes can contribute to more sustainable agrifood systems and improve access to nutritious food. Participants also discussed the need to make these markets more accessible to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and to ensure that local actors are involved in shaping their agrifood systems. This points to a wider trend in agrifood systems - the need to reconcile economic and nutritional goals, taking into account the role of small producers and local enterprises.

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Healthy diets are central to FAO’s mission to improve food security and nutrition globally. Healthy diets are those that are adequate in nutrients, diverse, balanced in energy and moderate in consumption of unhealthy foods. But for people to choose healthy diets, nutritious food must be affordable, available, desirable, aligned with local preferences, and convenient. These remain critical barriers for billions of people. By improving food environments, local markets, and public procurement, we can influence consumer preferences and make progress towards healthier diets worldwide.

‍Lynnette Marie Neufeld‍

Director of the Food and Nutrition Division, FAO‍

Participants focused on three key objectives:

1. Synthesising evidence on the role of LTFMs and PFP in improving access to nutritious food.
2. Identifying challenges and opportunities for scaling up the involvement of small-scale producers and MSMEs in providing nutritious food.
3. Reflecting on how LTFMs and PFP can influence broader aspects of food environments and sustainability.

Key messages from the workshop

The discussions stressed several areas where targeted action can strengthen the role of both LTFMs and PFPs in improving food security, nutrition and sustainability.‍

PFP programmes and LTFMs must be framed as public goods

PFP and LTFMs are essential public goods that can enhance access to nutritious food and promote sustainability. However, global disparities in access to essential food groups—such as fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and seeds—persist, keeping healthy diets out of reach for many and contributing to widespread malnutrition. LTFMs and PFP programmes shape food environments by influencing supply, demand, convenience, and desirability, making them key to addressing malnutrition and ensuring equitable access to nutritious food worldwide.

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‍There is untapped potential to leverage LTFMs and PFPs for broader development goals

LTFMs are a key part of market and agrifood systems, playing a vital role in addressing food insecurity and malnutrition, especially in areas with limited access to nutritious foods and significant income inequalities. On the other hand, Public Food Procurement (PFP) programmes can serve as important market outlets from the perspective of suppliers. By making strategic decisions about sourcing (e.g. what to source, from whom, using what production practices), public actors can use PFP programmes as powerful tools to increase the availability of nutritious food and advance broader development objectives, from sustainability to equity.

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Effective governance of LTFMs can significantly improve inclusivity for small-scale supply chain actors and SMEs

Strengthening governance in Local and Traditional Food Markets (LTFMs) can boost inclusivity for small-scale supply chain actors and SMEs, while improving access to diverse, fresh, and seasonal foods. Examples from African markets illustrate the growing complexity and size of the midstream SME sector and the evolving role of wholesale markets amid agricultural commercialisation and evolving consumption habits. Effective governance requires transparent pricing mechanisms, better access to financial services, infrastructure investment, and support for diverse nutritious food production and marketing (e.g. through incentives for agroecological production). Addressing logistics, social factors, and cultural norms is also essential for inclusive market systems.

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More data and research is needed on the impact of LTFM and PFP programmes

While PFP programmes and LTFMs hold great promise for improving access to nutritious food and advancing sustainable agrifood systems, further research is needed to fully understand their impact. A key point of attention is to evaluate the effectiveness of various governance models, particularly by examining power dynamics, the political economy, and the necessary resources—financial, knowledge, and skills—required for driving meaningful change. Both qualitative and quantitative data are needed to form a comprehensive picture of how markets interact with the wider food environment and to identify factors that promote or hinder success. Additionally, significant gaps still exist in data that connects food environments with their effects on diets and overall nutrition. Experts stressed the need for longitudinal studies to strengthen the evidence base and guide effective nutrition-focused interventions.

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Balancing the trade-off between affordability and inclusivity requires engaging marginalised voices

Balancing the needs of small-scale producers and SMEs with the provision of affordable food for low-income consumers is a critical challenge, requiring informed, inclusive approaches. Market managers and decisionmakers must navigate this trade-off by prioritising the perspectives of those directly involved in agrifood systems, including informal and small-scale actors.

Entry points for action

Participants also identified several entry points to strengthen the role of PFP programmes and LTFMs in increasing the availability of nutritious food: ‍

1. ‍Integrating policies between urban development, nutrition, and wider sustainable development policies
2. Investing in key infrastructure such as transportation and storage
3. Improving coordination and knowledge management among stakeholders to align actions
4. Providing basic services – such as water, sanitation, and childcare facilities – to create a more supportive business environment for small and micro enterprises
5. Designing practical, scalable market interventions in collaboration with traditional market actors
6. Addressing spatial factors and ensuring markets are carefully considered in urban planning processes
7. Recognising that food behaviours are influenced by systemic issues, which require deeper, contextualised consideration
8. Investing in research and data utilisation to inform strategies and policies for LTFM and PFP programmes
9. Building creative partnerships between public and private actors to drive resource mobilisation and innovation
10. Empowering small-scale producers to enhance their capacity to supply nutritious food effectively and sustainably
11. Establishing mechanisms for continuous feedback and learning to adapt strategies to emerging situations
12. Developing place-based, systemic strategies that take a holistic approach to addressing nutrition challenges

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Discover our joint publication with FAO, Enhancing the Operations of Local and Traditional Food Markets in the Context of the Transition to Sustainable Agrifood Systems. This report examines how subnational governments can enhance local and traditional food markets management to improve food safety, nutrition, and social inclusion. Drawing on case studies and exchanges between markets experts from Latin America and Africa – facilitated by Rikolto in 2022 – it highlights practical approaches for integrating sustainability into market operations. The publication underscores the importance of collaborative governance among local, regional, and national authorities to ensure these markets contribute to resilient and sustainable agrifood systems.
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In the closing session, Ann Trevenen-Jones, Programme Lead, Food Systems Governance Programme at GAIN emphasised:

Food markets are vital hubs of nourishment within food systems. Especially in the regions of sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and Latin America, these markets are the heartbeat of low-income communities, where informality meets resilience, and where culture, various forms of knowledge, and livelihoods intersect with food security, nutrition and sustainability. To unlock their full potential, we must embrace innovation, equity, and inclusive investment, to foster enabling environments with infrastructure, basic services, security and capacitated market stakeholders. This requires leadership, space for multiple stakeholder voices to be heard and be part of solutions, evidence, skills, finance, robust governance and management frameworks and networks of opportunity, learning and inspiration. Opportunity comes in many forms; public food procurement and food waste pathways are a few of the opportunities that exist between markets and the public, private and non-profit sectors- from school meals to composting.

Ann Trevenen-Jones
Food Systems Governance Programme, GAIN