In late March 2020, Nairobi County instituted a mandatory curfew and business closures in response to COVID-19 which left hundred’s of thousands without access to jobs or food. The government responded with centralised food distribution that descended into stampedes in many communities, and left the most vulnerable households without food when they could not jostle to the front of crowds.
Nicera Wanjiru Kimani, a lifelong resident and experienced community mapper in Africa’s largest slum, Kibera, sought to identify the most food insecure and vulnerable households in Kibera and see that they received food. With Dana Thomson and other household survey experts, they created a public 17-question OpenDataKit survey form that can be re-used in any informal settlement to understand, prioritise, and respond to urgent food and security needs, sensitise neighbours to COVID-19 symptoms, and provide practical COVID-19 guidance tailored to informal settlements.4
Between the 5th and 13th of May, 2020, Nicera led a team of 15 interviewers in a randomised household survey of 538 households across Kibera using their personal phones and limited funding raised from donors. Here is what they found Kibera Food Security and COVID-19 Needs Assessment Survey:
1 in 4 household (28%) were extremely vulnerable, headed by a single mother or widow.
4 in 6 households (68%) had lost jobs and income, and nearly every household (98%) said they needed food. More than half of households had run out of food (56%) and skipped meals (46%). One third had gone a whole day without eating (28%). Food needs were being met by dipping into savings, or relying on handouts from family, neighbours, community associations, or NGOs.
6 in 10 households (58%) reported an increase in crimes such as thefts and looting. 1 in 5 respondents (19%) said that women and children, specifically, were experiencing more violence.
In Kibera’s context, following standard COVID-19 guidance was “difficult” or “very difficult” for many: 68% had difficulty staying at home except to buy food and essentials, 62% could not minimise use of public toilets, water pumps, and showers, and 45% had difficulty performing routine handwashing with soap and water.
The Community Mappers in Kibera connected with Mama Kwa Mama, a volunteer food relief group established in Nairobi during the early days of the pandemic, to provide one month food packages to 100 of the most vulnerable and food insecure households identified in the Kibera Needs Assessment.
Since May, Nicera and her team of Community Mappers have presented findings from their needs assessment at several international online meetings (PPT summary), and conducted additional surveys in Kibera including the Impact of COVID-19 on Young Women in Informal Settlements with YADEN East Africa.
