In Latin America, the so-called informal sector associated with family farming and the agroecology movements were instrumental at coping with and adapting to the COVID-19 challenges.

The objective of this communication is to characterise the initial responses that the family farming and the agroecology movements developed to overcome the threats and limitations to food security within the first three months of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a regional focus in Latin America. We combined key informant consultation with an online survey and detailed description of illustrative case studies. We emphasize on the first months' responses to capture informal, early emerging dynamics. We are aware however that our methodological choices may have compromised depth and representativeness of our analysis. More detailed, follow-up studies on the relationship between COVID-19 and food security are now being developed.