The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had unprecedented effects on all dimensions of human life. The full economic and social impacts are still unfolding, as the disease continues to spread in all regions around the world. On top of the death toll and overstretched health systems, the virus and the measures to contain its spread have caused a deep global economic recession and increased extreme poverty and acute and chronic food insecurity. Concerning agricultural markets, COVID-19 has resulted in a dual shock affecting both supply and demand. Measures to control the spread of the disease have affected many supply chain related activities, including production, processing, logistics, and retailing. Border and travel restrictions have often led to shortages in agricultural labour; limited access to inputs such as seeds, fertilizers and pesticides; lower capacity in the food processing industry; and challenges in the distribution of food products. At the same time, significant reductions in income, restrictions on the movement of people and the closure of restaurants and food services induced rapid changes in food consumption patterns. Despite these shocks, however, the efforts of governments and agricultural sector stakeholders worldwide to keep agricultural markets open and trade in food flowing smoothly have contributed to remarkably resilient agricultural commodity markets. Overall, effects on global trade in food and agriculture remained limited to short-term disruptions at the very beginning of the pandemic. While disruptions of global trade in basic foods such as cereals, oilseeds, fruits and vegetables were minimal, trade in products affected by shifts in consumption patterns (e.g. beverages and fish) and non-food commodities (e.g. cotton, live plants and cut flowers) declined more sharply during the first months of the COVID-19 outbreak. The pandemic and its potential effects on agricultural value chains and the global trading system induced concerns over food security and food safety worldwide, leading countries to implement policy measures to curb potentially adverse impacts on their domestic markets.