Thank you for visiting our new Covid-19 Poverty Monitor. To find out more about the project, visit our blog about the project.
Areas of concern for the poorest and potential impoverishment
Easing of restrictions but markets not stabilised: All respondents observed that the price of staple goods, namely food and transportation have not reduced despite the easing of many restrictions on market trading and public transportation. One respondent noted, for example, that the cost of a bajaja ride (motorised tricycle) increased from 15 Birr ($0.34)[i] pre-Covid-19 to 20 Birr ($0.45) yet has not gone back down despite the easing of restrictions on the number of passengers that could be carried.
Heightened prices for staple foods such as cooking oil, rice, maize, sugar and pepper were a particular concern for households entering the lean post-harvest season and are struggling to grow new crops due to drought. Many households are reporting that they have to buy more from the market than usual due to poor harvests, where they are confronted with higher-than-normal prices, magnifying the severity of their food shortages. Multiple respondents attributed inflation of the price of local goods to traders taking advantage of the Covid-19 crisis and the government’s inability to control these traders.
“In earlier times there was a restriction on transportation and household members were afraid of Covid-19 to go to market. However, now there are no more restrictions and household members freely go to market and access goods and services although the price is still expensive.” Female respondent (45), SNNP
“Things have become expensive because of Corona and have remained as they are, they did not return to their place. When the government asks them to reduce the price, the retailers have started to change their place and sell things at the back of their yard saying whoever wants will buy and who does not want to will leave it.” Female respondent (27), Amhara
“Before there was a high level of hysteria as people used to say that there is someone infected around here or there or that the virus reached a nearby town. That has reduced now, but the effects like the price rise have remained the same.” Female respondent (36), Amhara
“The price of maize crop in the market is so expensive. The price of maize is about 1,600 Birr ($36.43) now. It is so expensive as compared with the previous months. We could not even get the seeds of maize to sow. Some people already sowed it, but the poor are still waiting for a miracle to get the seeds. People who have cattle are selling their cattle and buying maize both for food and for seed.” Male respondent (70), Oromia
Two respondents reported benefiting from the increased price of livestock and animal products they trade, such as butter and milk. A third respondent reported increased income from rent collection and the sale of capsicum.
Limited livelihoods alternatives: Households that normally supplement their incomes with casual day labour and informal trade continue to struggle to find work. Agricultural labourers are also faced with limited opportunities as a result of delayed sewing of crops due to the absence of rain. Two respondents reported that they or their neighbours have begun selling firewood to support their incomes, either by chopping trees on their own land or from nearby bushes.
“My husband was engaging in paid work in the town before Covid-19, but the jobs are not promising now, and he could not get the daily labour every day. I have been engaging in pottery and sell it in SH market. My husband can’t get a job now and he stays at home without any job.” Female respondent (45), Oromia
“We have been selling firewood to earn income. Poor people who do not have livestock and other sources of income are dependent on selling firewood.” Male respondent (40), Oromia
[i] All currency conversion as of 12 July 2021 from www.xe.com.
Lack of testing but evidence and denial of Covid-19: Based on reports of illnesses among respondents, there is evidence to suggest that Covid-19 could be present in the sampled communities without being reported. Three respondents described having Covid-like symptoms since we last spoke with them in March 2021. In each case, other members of the household had similar symptoms, but no respondent reported being tested for Covid-19, including the one respondent who did attend a health centre.
This respondent explained that since we last spoke with him, he fell ill with coughing, headache, shortness of breath and loss of appetite. He also noted that the illness spread through his entire family and most of them, including himself, have yet to recover. Despite these possible Covid-19 cases, most respondents report that concern for the disease has significantly diminished among local officials and the local population, with many respondents themselves believing that Covid-19 is no longer a risk in their area.
“There is no corona here. It does not exist in this area. It may exist in other places, but it is not here. We do not care about it.” Female respondent (45), Oromia
“I still feel tired, and weak. I feel illness around my chest. I could not travel to distant places and sit for longer hours. Sometimes, I cannot breathe properly. I may fall when I walk. I cannot work. Only other people can help me in farming because the illness made me very weak. My child who became sick also dropped out of school. He stopped his education from grade 3 due to the illness. He is not fully recovered.” Male respondent (70), Oromia
“At the moment there is no government direction and focus to prevent Covid-19. Rather the government focuses on election campaigns. All parties engaged in the election campaign are moving in the area using cars and wearing t-shirts.” Male respondent (45), SNNP
Vaccination rates: Despite its wide acceptance (one study shows that COVID-19 vaccination acceptance is as high as 98.6% in Ethiopia), vaccination rates for Covid-19 are very low in rural areas. Only one of the respondents, who works as a health officer was vaccinated.
“As a member of the staff in the health centre, I have been given the vaccine. However, my wife and my parents have not taken the vaccine because there is a critical shortage of the Covid-19 vaccine. Only a few people have had the chance to get vaccinated.” Male respondent (40), Oromia
Compounding effects of climate change: Delays in rains needed to plant next season’s major crops – namely teff, maize and potatoes – are among the top concerns for agricultural households, both those with landholdings and also farm labourers. Persistent drought in all three sample areas is posing a significant risk to households’ livelihoods and food security over the coming year. Some respondents observed that these concerns have usurped concerns over the pandemic as the threat of poverty and hunger due to drought feel more immediate than the risk of falling ill from Covid-19.
“In the past, this was the month in which people harvest teff and potatoes but due to the dry weather condition, there is no such production this year which contributed to food insecurity in the areas. Everything is being purchased from the market and many people do not have any income to buy food items from the market. People could not buy the food items, and many are being starved at home.” Male respondent (40), Oromia
“The teff crop which we sowed two months ago is now drying due to shortage of rain. We are crying to God to give us rain. The teff crop is burned in the soil because of shortage of rain and the dry and hot temperature.” Male respondent (70), Oromia
“Regarding Corona, people are becoming careless because the worry has become another issue. The worry has shifted to drought. It is now April and people have not sowed for the season. People are worried about their life being taken away by starvation.” Female respondent (27), Amhara
Increased child protection risks: There appears to be an increase in child protection risks among households interviewed by comparison to the last bulletin. While these protection risks may have existed in the sampled areas prior to the pandemic, there is evidence to suggest that children’s exposure to these risks has increased due to disruptions caused by the pandemic. Leading drivers of these risks include reduced incomes, increased costs of staple goods and earlier school closures that disrupted children’s education. The two leading protection risks discussed in interviews were child marriage and child labour, though there may be others that were not discussed due to the sensitivity of the topic.
The impact of COVID-19 on child marriage in Ethiopia has also been highlighted in other studies. For example, a Save the Children case study shows that following the closure of schools due to the pandemic, in one district of the Amhara region the Bureau of Women and Children’s Affairs had recently rescued more than 500 girls from child marriage.
“One of my sons was married last year during the Covid-19 period. He is a small boy, and the marriage is early marriage. His wife is also a small girl aged 15. He dropped out from grade 8 and married. He was convinced by other people and decided to marry. That was a mistake because he was not physically mature enough for marriage. He is really a young boy. He made a big mistake for marrying early. I have a plan to re-enrol him in school for next year.” Female respondent (45), Oromia
“Some of my children engage in paid works but they are not strong enough to do hard work because they could not get quality food that can give them strength.” Male respondent (42), Oromia
Mixed experience in returns to education: A contributing factor to child protection risks is children’s absence from school, even though schools have been open since late 2020. Some respondents reported that their children have returned to school since they reopened in their area, but a number said their children have yet to return - and that some are unlikely to return. The leading reported cause of school dropouts was a lack of funds to send children back to school – either due to lost livelihoods or higher living costs. Some reported illness as a reason their children remain out of school. A Young Lives study in Ethiopia found remote learning during the closure was only 10%, a significant disruption of education due to Covid-19 - making it less likely children will return to school when they reopen.
“They [her three daughters] were in school before COVID-19 but they stopped their education during the COVID-19 period. When the schools were reopened last November, they did not return to school because we did not have the money to buy education materials for them.” Female respondent (45), Oromia
“My children are attending the schools but because of the hunger, they could not focus on their education. Most of the children attend their education in the morning shift and they engage in working on horse/donkey cart.” Male respondent (42), Oromia
Coping strategies employed
Prolonged nature of the crisis weakening vulnerable households’ abilities to cope: Several respondents, particularly those with limited livelihood alternatives or assets such as land, have expressed concerns that the duration of the crisis, compounded with other crises such as drought, are straining households’ capacity to cope. Some expressed concerns about famine, either for themselves or those around them. Aside from households classified as resilient, most households appeared to have limited options remaining to support their wellbeing and some have already employed adverse coping strategies such as child marriage, child labour and significantly reduced food intake.
“People have consumed all they had because of Corona, and since the period has become long, now people have started living without fulfilling what they want even for food. Because of market instability people have finished what they had saved.” Female respondent (27), Amhara
“The prolonged drought season, shortage of food, increasing cost of living, especially an increase in the price of food items, and other consumption items have contributed to decreased wellbeing.” Male respondent (70), Oromia
Absence of support from the government, NGO and informal support networks: Many respondents expressed frustration that there has been little to no external support from the government or NGOs to help households cope with the economic strains of the crisis. This is also found in other studies: a Young Lives phone survey of June/July 2020 shows that only 6% of the studied households have received government support.
Some respondents are participants Government of Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Project (PSNP), but few indicated that the transfers were helping them to cope. Some reported that they are health insurance beneficiaries and expressed appreciation for the programme, yet some noted that there were still prohibitive costs to healthcare even with insurance, such as the (inflated) cost of transportation to a health facility or medicine costs.
Other respondents observed that traditional support networks are under strain because households across the area are struggling and those that might have supported poorer relatives or neighbours are no longer able to.
“People could not support each other because most of the people are poor and many of them are buying food items from the market. So, it is difficult to support poor people as the poverty and food shortage is affecting everyone in the community.” Female respondent (45), Oromia
“The government support only the poorest of the people with food subsidies, but now almost all the people do not have food items at home, and they need support from the government. Even the provision of food items for the poor is not consistent or regular, which makes their life more difficult.” Male respondent (40), Oromia
Methodology
CPAN Covid-19 Poverty Monitor bulletins are compiled using a combination of original qualitative data collection from a small number of affected people in each country, interviews with local leaders and community development actors, and secondary data from a range of available published sources. Interviews for this bulletin were conducted between April and May 2021 in Amhara (eight households), Oromia (nine households) and Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s Region (SNNP) (seven households).
Key external sources
To find out more about the impacts of Covid-19 on poverty in Ethiopia, please explore the following sources that were reviewed for this bulletin:
This project was made possible with support from Covid Collective.
Supported by the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), the Covid Collective is based at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS). The Collective brings together the expertise of, UK and Southern-based research partner organisations and offers a rapid social science research response to inform decision-making on some of the most pressing Covid-19 related development challenges.
CMI