This project intends to investigate the impact of COVID-19 containment measures on women informal food vendors in Nairobi’s urban informal settlements. Although the feminization of the informal food sector has been recognized, its gendered dimensions, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic have not been fully grasped and researched. The negative economic, health-related and food security impacts and challenges of COVID-19 have been most intensely felt by women employed and self-employed in the informal food sector. Furthermore, women carried a different kind of burden from the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 deprived people of sources of income and led to the closure of businesses, vending sites and market places, and women were among the worst affected.
The objectives are:
- To establish the characteristics of informal food vending enterprises operated by women in Nairobi’s informal settlements.
- To examine the opportunities and challenges of women’s informal food enterprises in Nairobi’s informal settlements.
- To investigate the impacts of COVID-19 on women informal food enterprises, as well on their households’ health and well-being.
- To determine the coping strategies adopted by women informal food vendors during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- To assess the governance and gendered dynamics of informal food vending.