The document summarizes a study on the gendered impacts of Covid-19 in Uganda. It found that both women and men experienced substantial income losses, but coping strategies differed by gender. Men relied more on savings and selling assets, while women borrowed more. Around two-thirds of respondents reported challenges accessing food. Women reported greater food insecurity and poorer diets. The document recommends policies to address income shocks, food insecurity, and support rural households through credit programs and asset development targeting women.

1. Gendered Impacts of Covid-19 in Uganda
Elizabeth Bryan, Senior Scientist, International Food Policy
Research Institute (IFPRI), e.bryan@cgiar.org
Presented on behalf of the IFPRI FAO-GCAN phone survey team:
Naureen Karachiwalla, Claudia Ringler, Harriet Mawia, Muzna
Alvi, Shweta Gupta, Prapti Barooah and Homeland Data Services
28 March 2022

2. Gender Dimensions of How People
Experience Shocks and Stresses
Health and economic shocks from Covid-19
may result in the following gendered
responses/outcomes:
▪ Loss of income (control over income)
▪ Coping strategies (e.g. savings and asset
dynamics)
▪ Change work and care burden
▪ Changes in mobility
▪ Changes in food insecurity, dietary diversity
▪ Water security
▪ Intra-household conflict
Image: GCAN Framework

3. Study Design and Survey Implementation
▪ Phone numbers were drawn from a previous face-to-face survey conduced in
2017 for the FtF AgInputs project
▪ 8 districts: Iganga, Kasese, Kiboga, Luwero, Masaka, Masindi, Mbale, and
Mubende
▪ 4 rounds* of the phone survey: 1) October 2020, 2) February 2021, 3) April
2021, 4) June 2021
▪ The sample in Uganda consists of 1,000 households (rds 1-3, 500 in round 4)
▪ One respondent per household: half women, half men (target achieved)
▪ Respondents were reached over the phone, interviews lasted 20-30 mins
▪ Note: biases related to contacting only those with phone numbers, difficulty
reaching rural women
*Survey rounds 1-3 supported by USAID, round 4 supported by FAO

4. COVID-19 and Study Timeline
July 2020:
Curfew from
9pm to 5:30 am
Businesses
allowed to open
Lockdown:
March-June
2020,schools
and
businesses
closed
Sept 2020:
New lockdown.
Public transport
banned
~6,000 cases
From Oct
2020 to Feb
2021:COVID-
19 cases grow
from 10,000 to
48,000
Round 1:
Oct 2020
(1091
respondents;
44% women)
Round 2: Feb
2021 (1636
respondents;
50% women)
Study timeline in Uganda
COVID-19 timeline in Uganda
Round 3:
April 2021
(1102
respondents
54% women)
Round 4:
June 2021
(555
respondents,
55% women)
June 2021: New
lockdown
measures and
Curfew; ~75,000
cases. Schools
closed for 42 days.
Nov 2021:
lockdown eased.
Curfew remains.
Nov 6:126,348
COVID-19 cases

5. Income Losses Due to COVID-19
88
83
77 74
51 47
71**
59**
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female
Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4
Percent
Share of respondents that experienced income loss due to COVID-19, by gender

6. Labor and Care Burden
Time spent on work compared to pre-covid times, by gender
(% reporting that they worked less than before)
22**
16**
19
15 15 14
36
39
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female
Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4
Percent

7. Results from Uganda: Coping Strategies to Address Income Losses
79 76 73 73
52**
42**
62
57
67 67
71***
62***
47
42
29**
20**
47*
41* 39
47
36***
48***
24 27
-
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female
Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4
Percent
Used savings Sold assets Borrowed money

8. Food Security Impacts, Round 4 (June 2021)
33%
39% 37%
5% 6% 5%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Men Women All
Moderate + Severe Severe

9. Other Key Findings
▪ Uganda had more schooling disruption compared to other
countries in the region with detrimental effects on girls
▪ Large shares of households reported having household members
who had migrated before the pandemic but returned home
resulting in a decline in remittances
▪ Large shares of respondents reported that COVID-19 affected
their access to inputs, health services, extension services,
transportation, and schools (rd 4)

10. Gendered Policy Response in Uganda
▪ Expanded GBV services
▪ Social protection measures (including food distribution, cash transfers)—
more common in urban centers, more during first lockdown
▪ Awareness campaigns to reduce transmission
▪ E-vouchers to access inputs—no gendered targeting
▪ Distancing guidelines for market interactions

11. Key Conclusions
▪ Income shocks pervasive in rural areas affecting both
women and men
▪ Coping strategies are gendered: Men relied more on using
savings and selling assets, women more likely to borrow
▪ Access to food changed for about two thirds of all survey
participants and women generally reported larger challenges
▪ Women more likely to report food insecurity: including
worrying about food, accessing health foods, and skipping
meals
▪ Diet quality for women was poor

12. Suggestions for Policy Interventions
▪ Immediately address income shocks and food insecurity challenges that
affect rural households through food banks, food-for-work or other
programs that target poorer rural households in rural areas
▪ Consider credit support programs at highly favorable rates and support
rotating savings groups
▪ Over the medium to longer term invest in rural asset development
programs to counteract potential long-term indebtedness of rural
households due to income shocks
▪ Target asset-building programs to women particularly in places where
women’s income losses are high and/or women’s savings and assets are
being rapidly drawn down
▪ Ensure access to healthy foods but also BCC

13. Thank you!
Additional Resources:
Report: Gendered impacts of COVID-19: Insights from 7 countries in
Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia
Brief: Assessing the impact of COVID-19 on rural women and men in
Uganda
Data: Harvard Dataverse Gendered Impacts of COVID-19 Datasets