2026-06-27http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/57477Despite widespread use of government policy response instruments to placate impacts that COVID-19 lockdowns had on agri-food value chains, there is limited evidence on their effectiveness and impacts on value chain actors, particularly those in the ‘missing or (hidden) middle.’ 1 To shed on one such policy, we examine whether a fresh fruit and vegetable (FFV) procurement program operated by self-help groups (SHGs) in the state of Odisha, India during the world’s most severe COVID-19 lockdown 2 was able to smooth fractured value chainapplication/pdfOpen Accessagricultural value chainsfresh productscovid-19social capitalcadenas de valor agrícolasproductos frescoscapital socialBrief