Recovering from the COVID-19 crisis in southern Africa
People in urban areas in southern Africa continue to suffer the economic impacts of COVID-19 pandemic — in countries such as the Republic of Congo, Madagascar and Malawi, the World Food Programme (WFP) usually responds to the needs of people in rural areas whose lives have been hit by conflict, climate change and the crisscrossing of these two key drivers of hunger. Below we hear the voices of people on the front line
Story by Volana Rarivoson
Madagascar
Majunga is a port city located on the northwestern coast of Madagascar. On the seafront, a long boulevard ornamented with palm trees and street vendor stalls leads to the city’s emblematic baobab tree. The city is a flagship of the country’s shrimp fishing and aquaculture industry.
It is also a popular holiday destination, providing the local population with income-generating opportunities.
Jenny lives here with her mother Chantal, her husband Brice and their two-year-old daughter Lorie. Her husband is unemployed. Jenny runs a fast-food shop at a bus station located in the city centre. The bus station used to be buzzing with bus drivers and passengers connecting Majunga to and from the country’s capital, Antananarivo.
When the first COVID-19 cases in Madagascar — which has a population of nearly 27 million — were reported in March 2020, Jenny’s shop was forced to close for six months.
Vulnerable urban households, especially informal laborers and traders were badly affected by lockdown. Their food security deteriorated rapidly due to loss of employment opportunities, reduced incomes and spiraling food prices. The price of one kapok (can) of rice has doubled from 500 Malagasy ariary (US$ 0.13) in April 2020 to 1,000 ariary.
“We quickly moved into survival mode and dipped into our savings,” says an exhausted Jenny. “If you cannot manage to make money in the morning, there is no food to put on the table for lunch.’’
WFP wasted no time in facilitating cash-based assistance to poor urban households, helping to improve their livelihoods and food security.
Overall, WFP serves 1 million people in Madagascar, with a combination of emergency food assistance for those most at risk, cash assistance, nutrition support and school feeding.
Over a two-month period, each household received 100,000 Malagasy ariary (US$ 26) monthly, through mobile payment using digital platform.
Jenny used her first cash transfer to buy rice and other necessities.
When things opened up in October, opportunities didn’t. “Many people suffered a sudden loss of income and have no spare change in their pockets so my business suffers along with them,” says Jenny.
The World Bank estimates 1.38 million Malagasy were pushed into extreme poverty due to job losses in key manufacturing and services sectors — this led to the sudden loss of income for informal workers in major cities.
The pandemic’s direct and indirect effects on livelihoods and food systems have also reduced poor households’ access to food, creating new food insecurity and malnutrition hotspots in both urban and rural areas.
With a prevalence of chronic malnutrition among children aged under-5 estimated at 42 percent, the island ranks tenth among the most affected countries globally.
Jenny’s second cash payment helped towards alleviating the soaring food prices which typically escalate during the current rain season.
“WFP offered my family a hand up and put food on our table during a very difficult time, however life has not yet returned to normal.” says Jenny.
By March, WFP had provided a cash-based assistance to 113,000 households in eight major cities of Madagascar with funding from the EU and US.
The cash-based transfers helped in improving their livelihoods and food security.
Malawi
In Malawi, thanks to the support from Norway, WFP delivered assistance to 12,000 households in seven cities through cash distributions from December to March, in response to the economic impact of COVID-19 in urban areas. Each household received 23,000 Malawi Kwacha (US$ 30) per month to buy food at the local markets.
“This support has reached some of the country’s most vulnerable people, who risked slipping further into hunger,” says Benoit Thiry, WFP Country Director for Malawi.
During cash distributions, several COVID-19 prevention measures are in place to minimize the risk of exposure of personnel, partners and the community. These measures include conducting staggered distributions, having hygiene and sanitation measures in place and leading sensitization campaigns throughout distributions.
Zione is a mother of four children. She lives with a disability and her family only depends on her husband who operates a bicycle taxi business (locally known as kabanza).
“The business has badly been affected by the pandemic as many customers are scared to use bicycles as a mode of transport because some believe kabanza riders are at risk since they are in contact with a lot of people every day,” she says.
“We did not have any other alternative means of earning which made life tougher and we could sleep on empty stomach some days. The cash we received is a relief. I am happy that I will be able to buy food for my family and start a small business of mandasi (fritters),” she says.
Republic of Congo
In the Republic of Congo, a WFP assessment of the impacts of COVID-19 on food security highlighted that urban areas suffered the worst consequences of the pandemic. In these areas, households do not have vegetable gardens and many informal laborers and petty traders depend on a daily income for survival. One-third of all urban households became food insecure because of lockdown measures restricting movement.
WFP started to provide food assistance in May 2020 via cash transfers. Some 75,000 vulnerable households received money to purchase basic food items. Currently, 35 000 severely food insecure households are still receiving WFP assistance thanks to support from Dresden City, the German Cooperation and USAID.
WFP estimates that the number of people in need of assistance in the Republic of Congo’s urban areas has doubled from 150,000 to 300,000.
By the end of 2020, WFP reached over 1,380,000 vulnerable people in six southern African countries through the urban emergency response, using cash transfers to buffer the economic shocks of COVID-19 with the aim of replacing the lost income due to COVID-19 impacts and improving food security at household level.
WFP will continue supporting the integration of Social Protection programs with development and humanitarian responses in Southern Africa and strengthening governments’ capacity to respond to shocks. This includes strengthen coordination and ensure complementarities of activities with partners.
Read more about cash transfers.
