What are the consequences of Corona for women in Africa? Jan Ruebel asked Léa Rouanet - the economist works at the Africa Gender Innovation Lab of the World Bank.
Together against discrimination: Participants of a support group in Bamako, the capital of Mali. Photo: Christoph Püschner/Brot für die Welt
Léa Rouanet is an Economist working at the World Bank Africa Gender Innovation Lab. Her current research identifies and addresses gender-based constraints to economic activity in sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on agriculture, youth employment, socio-emotional skills, gender-based violence and adolescent girls programming. She is currently involved in several impact evaluations on these topics across Africa. Before joining the World Bank, Rouanet was a PhD candidate and Research Fellow at the Paris School of Economics, where her research focused on nutrition, child mortality, fertility and gender preferences in Africa. She holds a PhD from the Paris School of Economics.
The World Bank’s Africa Region Gender Innovation Lab (GIL) conducts impact evaluations which assess the outcome of development interventions in Sub-Saharan Africa, to generate evidence on how to close the gender gap in earnings, productivity, assets, and agency. GIL focuses on five thematic areas: Agriculture, Private Sector Development, Property Rights, Social Norms, and Youth Employment.
Does any data already show what effect Corona is having on gender inequalities in African countries?
It is still a bit too soon for strong data. One of the reasons is that with the lockdowns, development agencies have stopped doing interviews and collecting data. Hence, a lot of planned surveys haven’t happened yet. Instead, we moved to telephone surveys. But speaking on the phone about mental health and gender based violence is tricky. And, most women do not own the phones you are calling. It is hard to ensure confidentiality… However, some early findings suggest that the pandemic may indeed be widening the already large gender inequalities in developing countries. We’re working with researchers at Facebook and the OECD to examine COVID’s impact on business closures. Based on a sample of ca. 27,000 business pages on Facebook, we find that about 26% of businesses have closed in the past six months. When we control for the region where a business is located, we find that women entrepreneurs are about 6 percentage points more likely to close their business than men. For example, in Sub-Saharan Africa, 41% of women-owned businesses were shuttered in the past six months, a level that is 7 percentage points higher than that of male-owned firms. This is likely due to women entrepreneurs‘ sector of operations, lower capital base, and higher care responsibilities. The Gender Innovation Lab also surveyed female entrepreneurs in Ethiopia: 64% of female owned firms in the sample have closed; many say it’s temporary; 24% of respondents said they were having trouble paying their loans; and 70% say they could use loans to get through the crisis.
With Covid-19, the vulnerability of women and mothers has increased. Symbolic photo: Christoph Püschner / Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe
So, what do you do?
As much as possible, we are moving to phone surveys to follow up with our existing sample and understand what is happening to them. For instance, we are starting data collection for a youth employment project in Ivory Coast, conducting telephone surveys with young men and women of Abidjan and Bassam.
What results do you expect?
The health aspect of the Coronavirus pandemic might be of greater importance for women because they work more as caregivers and health workers. The economic impact on them is also expected to be worse, since women are more likely to be in informal sectors, spend more time on household and care activities, and have fewer assets to cushion them from shocks.
Corona strengthens social structures that have been around for generations. Does this destroy prior achievements for women’s rights?
A lot of achievements from the last decades are threatened by lockdowns, school closures and reductions in health services. Take female farmers, for instance. They are mainly responsible for domestic chores and caretaking duties. Even before Covid-19, they had less time for their farms and had lower productivity compared to men. Now, with all these measures in place, it is more likely that they will have to shoulder more domestic responsibilities.
What happens when adolescent girls are affected by lockdowns, closed schools and reduced job chances?
We have good informative evidence from Sierra Leone during the Ebola pandemic. It shows that girls spent an additional 1.3 hours per week with men during the Ebola crisis. In areas with high prevalence of Ebola, girls were also twice as likely to become pregnant. Pregnancies are highly linked to the likelihood of leaving school, and they have long-term consequences. Now, with closed schools and a reduction in health services, this means less access to sexual and reproductive health services and contraceptives. Basically, this can interrupt the trajectories of adolescent girls at a point in life so critical for their outcomes.
Female entrepreneurs with less income need social protection via money transfers and graduation programs.
How should health systems respond to gender-based violence, for instance?
The fact that most women don’t have their own smartphones makes it even harder for us to work with them as we don’t know how to reach them. It also makes it difficult for women to reach services when they need help. Although the rigorous evidence on this topic remains limited, UN and WHO recommendations offer several approaches that governments and NGOs can consider. First, they can increase the capacities of existing helplines. If a woman is threatened, she will eventually find a phone to call and we need to make sure that somebody takes these calls. Second, in the current crisis we need to think about the mental health consequences of gender-based violence and start to think about how to address it. For sure, we need to train community healthworkers and give them the skills to respond to this violence – not only as an intermediate response, but also for the mental health problems that will arise as a result. This will be very crucial when we enter the recovery phase of the Covid19 crisis.
During the lockdown, where can women go when they have been attacked at home?
They can’t escape easily. Shelters need to be expanded. You mentioned health systems, but when we talk about gender-based violence, we need to address behavoural changes, too. We need campaigns, using all the media available. And we need to bring in religious and community leaders. At the World Bank, we have programmes mobilizing community and religious leaders, for instance under the Sahel Women’s Empowerment and Demographic Dividend Project, and now we are retailoring them to the current situation.
Psychological help in African countries is not particularly widespread…
The level of psychological counseling and psychosocial support is indeed low. However, you can increase and develop the number of trained people everywhere. I have seen more and more interventions and improvements, and there are promising avenues. I have been working in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and we are currently doing an impact evaluation of Narrative Exposure Therapy, which can help survivors of gender-based violence suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Congolese healthworkers are trained and, while they are not mental health professionals, they can help. Initial results from this work are encouraging. There is room for improvement on this topic, using the available rigorous evidence.
What is the role of cash transfers for women – and how can this reduce violence against them?
They are important in the context of violence. A recent review found that, out of 14 cash transfer programmes that had been evaluated, 11 of them led to a decrease in intimate partner violence due to the transfers. This is one incentive for providing transfers during the current crisis. Reducing household poverty and stress helps reduce conflict and violence. These transfers are disproportionately important for women for other reasons, too. Before COVID-19, we already knew that women had less savings and lower access to credit and that they worked more in sectors with less of a safety net. Basically, cash transfers are one of the only options for these female business owners to buffer them from the crisis.
Democratic Republic of Congo: Women carry their crops in plastic trays to the market in the next larger village. Photo: Christoph Püschner / Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe
Female entrepreneurs work more in the informal and operate strongly in less profitable sectors. Does that make it more difficult to reach out to them? What can be done?
The poorer women business owners need social protection through cash transfers and graduation programs. Female enterprises are strongly affected by shocks, so that they need support through the crisis and beyond. For more established firms led by women, impactful financial tools include lines of credit and meso-financing with flexible terms, as well as psychometrics and alternative collateral technologies. Another avenue would be to adapt the mindset entrepreneurship training, that we evaluated in Togo, to the COVID context, using a digital platform. In the agricultural sector, you can provide inputs, seeds, and fertilizers; to women farmers who already have access to mobile technologies, you can provide digital extension services. If we don’t help women farmers now, their productivity will be down next year. Now is the planting season, so it is the right time to act.
Does the choice of sector matter for women? Is it important that women enter branches where they are typically less likely to operate?
It matters a lot. Sector choice explains a big part of the gender wage gap – that is true everywhere in the world. At the World Bank, we did several studies in Sub-Sahara Africa to examine what happens when women “crossover” into male-dominated sectors. Women who transition into these sectors generate the same profits as men. But now, during COVID-19, sectors matter even more.
Teams at the Worldbank plan to combine programs of money transfer with the delivery of phones.
Do you fear more conflicts? That men are defending their privileges even harder?
Yes, I do fear that. A working paper in April looked at the link between pandemics and violence against women. Based on existing literature, it documents nine direct and indirect pathways, from pandemics to violence.
For example?
First, economic insecurity and poverty-related stress. However, what is very specific for this crisis now, the social isolation, is that women can end up being stuck at home with their perpetrators.
Women are crucial for maintaining the food system. What are the most powerful tools to help them?
Even when women do not work directly in the food industry as vendors or producers, they are responsible for bringing food to the table. If businesses are affected disproportionately, unless there is a reallocation of who is in charge of food expenses in the household, food security might be disproportionately affected by this crisis. This concern is even greater because we know that women work a lot in the food system. In urban areas of Sub-Saharan Africa, informal food markets are a major source of accessible and affordable food. Most of the street vendors and informal traders are women. Measures being taken now threaten both the flow of the food trade and the incomes of these female traders. Again, cash transfers are probably their best option.
But how does that work if they don’t own phones?
It’s true that digital payments can be tricky for such population. For that reason, some teams at the World Bank are thinking about matching cash transfer programs with delivering phones. Mobile money still sounds like a promising option in many contexts. The Supporting Women’s Livelihoods component of the World Bank Zambia GEWEL project includes digital payments for women that are quite innovative as the project provides women beneficiaries with a choice between payment service providers, including commercial banks, mobile operators, and the post office. Over 90 percent of beneficiaries choose a mobile money provider. The choice-based, multi-provider system doesn’t just facilitate implementation, but also empowers women by promoting their agency and financial inclusion. There isn’t an explicit COVID component under GEWEL, but the project continues to be implemented during this period, providing economic relief and recovery for extremely poor households in rural areas.
So, providing a mobile phone, money and business skills will aid women’s rights – is it really that easy?
No, this will support women’s productivity and women staying in employment and income. These are key for women’s empowerment. And let us not forget the clear link between poverty and violence.
All this would be needed, too, without Corona? How much more urgent are things now?
Many of these women-led businesses would not necessarily need cash transfers and support if we didn’t have the lockdown and economic crisis, simply because trade would and could continue freely. However, helping women access labor and non-labor inputs, including credit and assets, is always important – there is still a huge gender gap in terms of access. The same applies to human capital and education! We are worried girls won’t come back to school when they reopen. We must make sure they do!
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Rising food and gas prices, physical destruction and supply chain disruptions: Why the Black Sea region matters and how the war in Ukraine affects global food security.
A Contribution of the 'Initiative for Sustainable Agricultural Supply Chains' (INA)
Fair Trade organisations and the Initiative for Sustainable Agricultural Supply Chains (INA) have launched the #ichwillfair campaign during COP26 to highlight the link between global supply chains and climate change.
New insights on trade and value addition in the rice sector in West Africa
Low import tariffs, smuggling activities, unpredictable tax exemptions and weak enforcement of food safety standards: The potential of local rice value chains is undermined in West African countries.
The Corona pandemic is hitting economies around the world very hard - but developments in African countries are quite diverse. There are different speeds, resiliences and vulnerabilities. What are the reasons for this? Apl. Prof. Jann Lay of the GIGA Institute provides answers.
A contribution by Prof. Dr. Anna-Katharina Hornidge
In the video format "#99SecondsWith" of the German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS), Prof. Dr Anna - Katharina Hornidge talks about the new Africa-Strategy of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
Four interviews kick off the relaunch under the new name „Food4Transformation“, asking the same questions from different perspectives. Mareike Haase and Stig Tanzmann from Brot für die Welt explain why the right to food, inclusivity, agroecology and food sovereignty are the central levers for a successful transformation.
Four interviews kick off the relaunch under the new name „Food4Transformation“, asking the same questions from different perspectives. Dr Julia Köhn, Chair of the German AgriFood Society, points out in the interview: Only if innovation and transformation are profitable in the medium term can they close the food gap in the long term.
The Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) has released a video on the transformation of agricultural and food systems. In the video, Federal Minister Svenja Schulze also speaks about the urgent need to combat global hunger and contribute to resilient agricultural and food systems.
Four interviews kick off the relaunch under the new name „Food4Transformation“, asking the same questions from different perspectives. Dirk Meyer, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, thinks: less individual solutions are needed, but more systemic approaches. Because in addition to the goals for food security, the issues of climate and biodiversity must also be taken into account.
A Contribution by Dr. Fatima Olanike Kareem and Dr. Olayinka Idowu Kareem
High agricultural prices affect developed and developing countries alike, but the problem is aggravated for the latter through the lack of or inadequate resilience measures. Dr. Fatima Olanike Kareem, AKADEMIYA2063, and Dr. Olayinka Idowu Kareem, University of Hohenheim, explain what can be done to mitigate the negative effects on food security.
The consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine have enabled many countries to open up new export markets for their agricultural goods. However, smallholder farms have been largely left out. Drawing on his experience in India, our author gives a brief overview of how this can be changed.
A contribution by the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development
Two years following the UN Food Systems Summit, the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development and the Shamba Centre for Food & Climate hosted an official side event at the UNFSS+2. The event explored how public donors can increase the impact of their investments.
Iraq suffered many years of war, sanctions and economic crises. However, Ally-Raza Qureshi from the World Food Programme in Iraq sees progress. But now the effects of climate change are becoming apparent in the country. What is to be done?
The world is currently experiencing a historic food crisis. High fertiliser prices are part of the problem. In addition to the necessary short-term aid measures, the crisis ought to be made use of to develop and implement longer-term fertiliser strategies for sustainable, in particular smallholder increases in production in the Global South.
In a world facing crises – from pandemics, armed conflicts, and climate change – how do we ensure everyone has enough food within planetary boundaries? A new podcast by Food4Transformation discover solutions talking to government officials, scientists, NGOs and farmers around the world.
The Gaza Strip depends heavily on humanitarian aid, more than ever with the current war. Gaza population is very young: Half of them are children. What is their situation on the ground? Questions for Lucia Elmi, Unicef Special Representative to the State of Palestine.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, not all financial institutions (FIs) have access to knowledge about how to implement processes to enhance rural financial inclusion. The pan-African Community of Practice (CoP) plays a pivotal role in supporting these institutions along this transformative journey.
How can agriculture engage more young people in rural areas? Advocacy and education campaigns can play an important role here. Simeon Kambalame, Timveni Child and Youth Media Organisation, has launched such a campaign in Malawi.
Women and girls in poorer countries are affected in particular ways by the multiple crises the world is currently facing. Uncovering the linkages between gender, resilience and food security, experts from International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) look at ways to support women and girls’ capacity to respond to crises.
The armed conflict between Israeli forces and the Hamas is escalating. What does this mean for a Gaza, region that was already heavily dependent on external aid? Questions for Dr. Muriel Asseburg, Senior Fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) in Berlin.
Chancellor Angela Merkel in the Podcast of the Federal Government
At the start of World Food Week around World Food Day on 16 October, Chancellor Angela Merkel stressed that the fight against global hunger will only be successful with international responsibility and solidarity (german only).
From measures to promote biodiversity in Germany to more sustainable cocoa cultivation methods in Ecuador: WWF works at many different levels. At the Green Week, it will be demonstrated just how multifaceted nature conservation work is and what role each individual's decision plays.
The Agriculture and Food Security Cluster of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in Zambia shows how synergies among different projects and partner organisations can help people to eat healthier, diversified food. A delegation of the Bonn based Division of Agriculture and Rural Development learned this in a field visit in the Eastern Province of the Southern African country.
Every second, worldwide, we lose valuable and healthy soil with the size of four football fields. This was only one of the many facts being presented to a wide audience in Bonn and worldwide via livestream at the World Desertification and Drought Day on 17th June 2024. This was the 30th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on Combatting Desertification (UNCCD), which was celebrated at the Bundeskunsthalle in Bonn.
In Himachal Pradesh, India, natural disasters are becoming more frequent and climatic conditions are changing – with negative consequences for apple production and farmers' livelihoods. Holistic and multidimensional innovation bundles are required for the entire value chain in order to make the food system more resilient in the future.
Africa’s largest youth generation has the potential to transform agriculture sustainably. Young entrepreneurs like Febelsa in Mozambique are building agricultural businesses that fuel local growth.
The guiding orientation framework developed by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) summarizes the requirements for the transformation of agriculture and food systems – and identifies principles and approaches for transformative change.
A Contribution by Emmanuel Atamba & Larissa Stiem-Bhatia
Drawing on dialogues with experts in Kenya, TMG Research releases its latest policy brief highlighting the critical need to strengthen coordination mechanisms in food systems governance. Emmanuel Atamba and Larissa Stiem-Bhatia from TMG Research summarize the results.
Diversifying our protein supply to include plant-based foods and cultivated meat can be a game-changer for climate mitigation and climate adaptation, especially in the countries of the Global South. However, a great deal of research is still required to capitalise on this potential. And political support, as Ivo Rzegotta, Good Food Institute, demonstrates.
From January 9 to 11, 2025, heads of state and government of the African Union met in Kampala, Uganda. With a clear vision and concrete measures, the Kampala Agenda aims to make the continent's agricultural and food systems climate-resilient, fair and future-proof by 2035.
The Federal Ministry ofor Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) presented a revised version of the 10-Point Plan for a sustainable cocoa sector. The plan takes into account new supply chain legislations and current developments. A particular focus is paid to a living incomes, responsible purchasing practices and ecological and climate-friendly cocoa cultivation.
Peasant farmers tend to fail due to bank credit limits. But investment could help them generate a sustainable income. This has given rise to an intense discussion about potential digital solutions.
Companies in Africa that need financing between $20,000 and $200,000 find relatively few investors, as this sector is too large for microcredit and too small for institutional investors. This creates a "gap in the middle" where companies have limited options. A project of the World Resource Institute provides a remedy with the Landaccelerator 2020.
Startups are booming in African agriculture. What are the current trend and challenges – and can other regions benefit from innovative approaches? A Video-Interview with Claudia Makadristo, Regional Manager of Seedstars
Lots of apps are entering the market, but what really makes sense? For African agriculture, some of it seems like a gimmick, some like a real step forward. So this is what a smallholder farm in Africa could look like today - with the help of smartphones, internet and electricity.
What Africa is experiencing in the course of digitisation is a disruption. Here three steps are taken in one, there you remain. In any case, the changes are enormous and bring some surprises. A graphic walk.
As President of the IABM cooperative in Muhanga, Alphonsine Mukankusi is not simply focused on the figures. She has learned how to deal with people and how to take on responsibility. At the same time, her work helps her to come to terms with the past
How investing in healthy soils provides incentives for more sustainable agriculture even as it demonstrates the need for far reaching changes in the agrisector.
At the 8th German-African Agribusiness Forum (GAAF) representatives from business and politics discussed successful investment models to improve living conditions in Africa.
The potential the African food sector holds is still far too strongly associated with the continent’s natural resources, Ben Leyka maintains. He seeks to change this with the African Agri Council.
The CompensACTION Initiative for food security and a healthy planet, launched by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in 2022, is gaining momentum. It aims to financially compensate smallholder farmers for their contribution to preserving ecosystems. Initial successes have been achieved in Ethiopia, Lesotho and Brazil.
Small farmers in developing countries must modernise their farming methods, but poorly understood reforms could exacerbate poverty instead of alleviating it.
Happy youngsters in rural areas, green development and the connection to the digital age – professor Joachim von Braun believes in this future sceneraio for Africa. For three decades the agricultural scienties has been researching how politics can create prosperty on the continent.
The Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2020 shows that the world is not on track to meet the international goal of “zero hunger by 2030”. If we continue at our current speed, around 37 countries will not even have reached a low hunger level by 2030.
A conversation with aquatic researcher Shakuntala Thilsted on the long-neglected nutrition benefits of aquatic diets and the empowering qualities of a sustainable aqua-food systems transformation.
At the UNCCD COP15, the Töpfer Müller Gaßner Think Tank (TMG) hosted four side events. The agenda of the kick-off event included discussions for the Human Rights and Land Navigator.
A Contribution by Adrian Muller, Catherine Pfeifer and Jürn Sanders (FiBL)
Taking Biodiversity Focus Areas under production or abandoning lower yielding, more extensive production systems is the wrong approach to mastering the looming global food crisis, say the authors of the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL).
Taking a look at the data (as of February 11th 2022) what the current price hike means for world hunger and what can be done to prevent from another food crisis.
Interview with Caroline Milow and Ramon Brentführer
Groundwater resources remain dormant in the soil of African regions. Where does it make sense to use them – and where does overexploitation of nature begin? Caroline Milow (GIZ) and Ramon Brentführer (BGR) talk about potentials in the future and lessons from the past.
Agriculture is coming under pressure worldwide: bacteria, viruses and insects are causing problems for crops. In Palestine, Dr. Rana Samara from the Palestinian Academy of Science and Technology is researching solutions to the problem. And she finds them in nature itself.
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