The COVID-19 global pandemic has prompted governments to resort to or allow quasi-formal means to provide basic goods and services to communities that were forced into quarantine. We analyze how grassroots self-help strategies interact with the adaptation mechanisms of formal governance under crisis conditions. Drawing on empirical insights in Manila (Philippines) and Hanoi (Vietnam), we examine the practices that have enabled street vendors in the two metropolises to earn a living and to provide needed services to city residents. We explain how some lessons on co-production practices might inform post-pandemic recovery strategies and future policy-making processes in global South cities.