The COVID-19 pandemic was the origin of a global shock that affected food, health and socio-economic “systems,” leading to multiple supply - and demand- side disruptions to food systems. In the spirit of using crises to enable fundamental change, research on food and COVID-19 aspires to build food systems back better and achieve improved health, sustainability, inclusion plus resilience. In this context, the CGIAR’s COVID-19 Hub commissioned a systematic review of what relevant lessons were learned in 2020 and how these lessons can inform future food systems research. It contains a global assessment of the impacts of COVID-19 on food systems and their actors, focusing specifically on the consequences that the pandemic had brought on the food security and nutrition of those who have been affected by the crisis.