IFPRI GCAN phone survey team

1. Gendered Impacts of
Covid-19 in Feed-the-
Future countries
IFPRI GCAN phone survey team
23 November, 2020
Credit: Carla Roncoli

2. Gender Climate Change and
Nutrition (GCAN) Framework
▪ The impact of shocks and stressors on
people are not direct but follow different
pathways and are influenced by different
factors:
o Exposure and sensitivity
o Resilience capacities
o Decision-making context
o Responses
▪ Resilience is dynamic: well-being outcomes
influence future resilience capacities
▪ The Covid-19 pandemic triggered both health
and economic shocks
▪ Resilience to these unanticipated shocks
requires mainly absorptive capacity and
immediate coping responses

3. GCAN Framework:
Health and economic shocks from Covid-19
may result in the following gendered
responses/outcomes:
▪ Loss of control over income
▪ Asset dynamics
▪ Change in labor allocation, increase in care
burden
▪ Changes in mobility, implication for risk of
exposure
▪ Food insecurity, changes in dietary diversity
▪ Conflict

4. Key areas of enquiry
▪ Direct impacts:
o Has anyone in the household been sick in the last 7 days?
o Has the household lost income due to Covid-19?
▪ WASH environment (resilience capacity)
▪ Loss of control over income (bargaining power)
▪ Changes in migration of household members and remittances (labor/income)
▪ Asset, savings, borrowing, direct transfers (coping measures)
▪ Change in labor allocation, increase in care burden (coping measures/outcomes)
▪ Changes in mobility to buy food, seek medical care, fetch water/fuelwood etc., (coping
measures/outcomes)
▪ Food insecurity, changes in dietary diversity (coping measures/outcomes)
▪ Conflict—work together to solve problems, fear of partner (outcomes)

5. Survey Implementation
▪ Selected countries with previous face-to-face surveys that had collected
phone numbers: Ghana, Kenya, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Uganda
▪ Working with partners on the ground or phone survey companies with local
call centers
oTradeoffs in terms of response rate, sensitivity/knowledge of subject
▪ Developed a common questionnaire (20-30 mins long), 3-5 rounds over 6
months, each round lasting <2 weeks
▪ Will sample half women, half men from the original survey and follow the
same respondent across rounds
▪ Programmed in SurveyCTO (or proprietary software of survey company)

6. Survey Locations
▪ Samples drawn from two
USAID supported face-
to-face surveys in
Northern Ghana: ILSSI
(380 households,
intrahousehold) and
Africa Rising 163
households) focusing on
small-scale irrigation
and sustainable
intensification,
respectively, in Upper
East and Upper West
Ghana
▪ Approximately 50%
women and 50% men
participants
▪ 5 rounds
GHANA
▪ Approximately 600
households drawn
from a BMZ-
supported women’s
climate change
adaptation survey in
Busia, Laikipia and
Nakuru counties that
took place in 02/2020
▪ Includes the WEAI
and paper planned to
assess impacts of
empowerment on
coping with Covid-19;
about 2 thirds are
women participants
▪ 3 rounds
KENYA
▪ Draws on 2 surveys:
Local Economy Effects
of Migration” Maradi and
Tillaberi (2019); and
Social Network Analysis
in the Diffa region of
Lake Chad (2020)
▪ Starting with 880 HHS
and 581 valid phone
numbers still challenges
to find enough
households with working
phones, challenging to
reach enough women
▪ 3 rounds
NIGER

7. Survey Locations
▪ Sample drawn from
‘Agro-Processing
Productivity
Enhancement and
Livelihood
Improvement Support
(APPEALS)’ survey
(WB) with ~1000
female respondents,
focusing on two FTF
states (Kaduna and
Cross River)
▪ Approximately 50%
women and 50% men
participants
▪ 5 rounds
NIGERIA
▪ Sample drawn from a
4000-household
survey supported by
USAID (PAPA) in the
FTF zone of Senegal
(Fatick, Kaffrine, Kaolack,
Kedougou, Kolda, Matam,
Saint Louis, Sedhiou,
Tambacounda and
Ziguinchor)
▪ First round
oversampled FHHs
(16% of respondents);
second round asked to
talk to spouses to
balance sample
▪ 5 rounds
SENEGAL
▪ Draws on
enumeration of 1000
maize farmers in
Dang District,
Province 5 under the
CSISA project with
survey focuses on
pest management
intervention for
maize
▪ Two thirds of sample
ended up being
women farmers
despite numbers
being listed for men
during enumeration
▪ 5 rounds
UGANDA
▪ Sample draws on FTF
AgInputs activity in 8
districts in the Zones
of Influence in Uganda
(Iganga, Kasese,
Kiboga, Luwero,
Masaka, Masindi,
Mbale, and Mubende,
most recent face-to-
face survey in 2017
▪ Interviews 1000
households, future
focus on adolescent
girls
▪ 3 rounds
NEPAL

8. Potential Challenges to
Reaching Women with
Phone Surveys
Gender gaps in mobile phone
ownership and data use
Systematic bias: older, poorer,
women less likely to have
phones
Source: https://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/wp-
content/uploads/2020/02/GSMA-The-Mobile-Gender-Gap-Report-
2020.pdf

9. Potential Challenges to Reaching Women with Phone Surveys
▪ Privacy
oCan respondent be alone when answering?
oRequired to use speakerphone?
oHow to identify, note the restrictions without putting
respondent in jeopardy
▪ Time
oFinding convenient (less inconvenient) times to call—
may differ for men, women
oLimits on length of calls
Credit: Melissa Cooperman

10. Potential Ways to Address Gender Challenges
▪ Build on existing surveys where contact, rapport is established
▪ Contact through trusted women’s groups
▪ Use female enumerators
▪ Cautions against sensitive questions, especially re. domestic violence
▪ Word questions so that answers would not reveal much to those who overhear
▪ Check use of speakerphone (indicator of disempowerment?) and omit
sensitive sections if others can hear questions

11. 0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Has your household experienced a loss of income due to
Covid-19? (share of respondents)
Source: IFPRI GCAN phone surveys

12. Has your household experienced a loss of income due to
Covid-19? (2 rounds, share of respondents)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Source: IFPRI GCAN phone surveys

13. What coping mechanisms have you used to address the loss of
income due to Covid-19? (share of respondents, several answers possible)
0 50 100 150 200 250
Niger M
Niger W
Senegal M
Senegal W
Ghana M
Ghana W
Nigeria M
Nigeria W
Kenya M
Kenya W
Uganda M
Uganda W
Nepal M
Nepal W
Used savings Sold assets Borrowed Received transfer
Source: IFPRI GCAN phone surveys

14. Share women/men who did not work (outside the home)
during the last 7 days (percent)?
0 10 20 30 40
Niger M
Niger W
Senegal M
Senegal W
Ghana M
Ghana W
Nigeria M
Nigeria W
Kenya M
Kenya W
Uganda M
Uganda W
Nepal M
Nepal W
Source: IFPRI GCAN phone surveys
Note: In Uganda, the question was not worked during the lockdown

15. How does the amount of time you spend caring for others compare
to a “typical” day before the COVID-19 epidemic? (Share of
respondents)
0 20 40 60 80 100
Niger M
Niger W
Senegal M
Senegal W
Ghana M
Ghana W
Nigeria M
Nigeria W
Kenya M
Kenya W
Uganda M
Uganda W
Nepal M
Nepal W
More than before About the same Less than before Source: IFPRI GCAN phone surveys

16. Has your access to food changed since the COVID-19
pandemic affected your community? (Share yes)
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Source: IFPRI GCAN phone surveys
Note: Areas with light blue indicate women expressing larger challenges

17. How has your access to food changed, following Covid-19?
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Senegal M_2
Senegal W_2
Senegal M_3
Senegal W_3
Nigeria M_1
Nigeria W_1
Nigeria M_2
Nigeria W_2
Ghana M_1
Ghana W_1
Ghana M_2
Ghana W_2
Get food from different sources Unable to obtain enough food
Eat different foods Eat less food Source: IFPRI GCAN phone surveys

18. Share of respondents eating less food due to Covid-19
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Source: IFPRI GCAN phone surveys
Note: Areas with light blue indicate women expressing larger challenges

19. Share of women with adequate diet (5 out of 10 food groups
consumed, MDD-W, as share met)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Niger Senegal Ghana Nigeria Kenya Nepal
Round 1 Round 2
Source: IFPRI GCAN phone surveys

20. In the last 2 weeks, how frequently have you or anyone in your
household had to go without washing hands because of problems
with water?
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Never (0 times) Rarely (1 times) Sometimes (2-5 times)
Often (6-10 times) Always (more than 10 times)
Source: IFPRI GCAN phone surveys

21. In the last two weeks, have you been afraid of your spouse or
partner?
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Kenya
M
Kenya
W
Niger
M
Niger
W
Ghana
M
Ghana
W
Nigeria
M
Nigeria
W
Nepal
M
Nepal
W
Never (0 times) Rarely (1 times)
Sometimes (2-5 times) Often (6-10 times) Source: IFPRI GCAN phone surveys

22. Key Conclusions so far
▪ Income shocks pervasive also in rural areas, with lowest income
shocks experienced in Niger; this is reflected in the lowest resulting
change in food consumption habits in Niger; but Niger is also nutritionally
most disadvantaged, so starting from a low level of nutrition security
▪ Income shock experiences have slightly declined in later survey
rounds, but are still experienced by 50-80% of all participating households,
women tend to experience slightly higher shocks in later rounds than men
▪ Diverse coping measures were used, including using savings, borrowing,
selling assets, and receiving transfers. Few transfers were received with
the exception of Senegal. The long-term impacts of the loss of savings,
indebtedness and asset sales can be severe and need to be further
studied

23. Key Conclusions so far
▪ Care work has increased overall, presumably because children stayed
home from school and sometimes urban (or foreign) migrants returned,
changes again lowest in Niger
▪ Access to food changed for about two thirds of all survey participants
and women generally experience larger challenges; more than half of all
survey participants, on average, noted that they could not access as much
food as they wanted to
▪ Food intake declined between 16% (Nepal-Men) and 56% (Uganda-
Women) of all participants reduced food intake as a result of Covid-19;
substantial gendered differences in some cases (f. ex. Niger , Nigeria,
Nepal)

24. Key Conclusions so far
▪ Dietary adequacy for women very poor in Niger and inadequate for more
than half of female respondents in Kenya, Nigeria and Senegal round 1
▪ Poor WASH environments affecting fighting Covid-19 More than half of
female survey participants and about half of male participants in northern
Ghana do not have water for washing hands after defecating, changing
diapers, cleaning animal dung; a third in Niger, and 25% in Senegal.
▪ Conflict levels highest in Ghana and Niger, and with the exception of Kenya
and Nigeria affect women more

25. Early Suggestions for Policy Interventions
▪ Immediately address the large food insecurity and nutrition challenges that
affect rural households in Kenya and Uganda, but also Nigeria and Niger
(where dietary adequacy for women is extremely low as well) → through
food banks, food-for-work or other programs that target poorer rural
households
▪ Consider credit support programs at highly favorable rates as well as rural
asset development programs (f. ex. through food-for-work) to counteract
potential long-term indebtedness of rural households due to income
shocks
▪ Immediately address the critical WASH environment situation in northern
Ghana, but also Niger, Senegal and Nigeria
▪ Provide conflict resolution support for rural households in Ghana and Niger
(phone messaging, local NGOs, etc.)

26. Next Steps
▪ Rebalance samples, if needed, based on
income/asset indicators from original survey
samples (if poorer households are consistently
excluded from the phone survey)
▪ Add some questions, such as number of girls and
boys not in school and likelihood of returning post-
Covid; solutions to heavy borrowing; role of
government and NGO support; remove selected
other questions
▪ 7-country descriptive paper with key results,
conclusions and recommendations
▪ 1 paper on role of WE for coping with COVID-19
using Kenya data
Credit: C. de Bode, CGIAR