By Reagan Kandole, Mia Perry, Vanessa Duclos, Raihana Ferdous and Deepa Pullanikkatil

The Covid 19 pandemic continues to expose the most vulnerable people in Uganda’s communities. As the country transitioned towards a total lockdown, banning public transport, strict regulations on the labor force and only essential services — monitored by the health and security sector — the progress and gains made by community initiatives like ECOaction have been threatened. ECOaction is a non profit organisation that creates income and livelihood opportunities for the most marginalised urban youth and women through innovations in waste management. ECOaction is located in Banda, an unplanned settlement of Kampala City, Uganda. The organisation works with the most vulnerable groups of plastic collectors, mainly elderly women and young adults, and provides them with alternative markets for recycled products. ECOaction also builds the capacity of its beneficiaries around waste management and environmental conservation. One of the main challenges in our community right now is that they are not able to sell any of the plastics they collect to the recycling companies during the lockdown, which means they have no money to pay for food to feed their families.

“For most of the women we support, the main source of income is collecting plastics and if they cannot move around to collect and sell these bottles, then they are not able to feed their families. Even with the government’s attempts to distribute food to the most vulnerable, not everyone will be able to access that support and there is an urgent need for more basic supplies to be distributed. Otherwise, there is a risk that many people will die of starvation, malaria, stress and many other diseases”. Reagan Kandole, Executive Director of ECOaction.

The photo story below depicts the journey that ECOaction’s team took, despite public transport bans and distancing policies, to reach out to this community

By Kyauta Giwa and Grace Awosanmi, Nigeria Hub

Ever since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic around the globe and in Nigeria in February 2020, the effect of the different measures has taken its toll on the survival and livelihood of the rural population. Farming and small-scale businesses, which is largely dominated by women in agrarian and rural communities, have not been exempted from its effects. A large percentage of these women are not educated, and they earn their living through homestead farming/gardening or petty trading. Many of these women who survive on daily sales were shut out of business for weeks. The restriction of movement caused an increase in the cost of living and the prices of goods and essential services, thereby affecting household incomes. Moreover, the women who engage in daily subsistence businesses have found the situation especially difficult. Considering they cannot carry out their business activity as usual, they face a serious threat and a huge economic challenge to their survival and that of their families.

The women that are involved in small scale farming produce food for immediate consumption and sell the remainder to help meet their families’ other needs. Rural women are known for transporting goods and farm produce on trucks and pick-up vans when accompanying their goods to the various local markets. The closure of the interstate borders and the stay at home directives issued in the country affected the movement of farm produce from one part of the country to another, leading to an increase in the prices of staple food items. Most people have complained that their food produce is getting spoilt. Despite the lockdown, these women have still found ways of getting their goods to different neighbouring markets. They usually transport their farm produce to the market in groups by hiring vehicles and each person must accompany her produce, which does not permit adherence to physical distancing and thereby exposes them to the pandemic. Sales at the market during at this period were stated to be general low.

For rural children, the means of getting an education during this period has been impossible. Most rural women are household heads, and most of them do not own internet enabled phones and therefore cannot afford data for internet connectivity to engage their children on online educational programs. Some of the children run errands or hawk petty wares, wander around or are at the mercy of the neighbours or elders within the communities during the lockdown. Information on the spread of the disease by the Centre for Disease Control was not relayed in local languages, thereby making it difficult for these women to access credible information. Most women lack access to basic information about preventive measures to ensure personal hygiene, thereby exposing them to infection. Poor responses have been seen in most rural areas where people do not believe in the outbreak of the disease and act ignorantly.

The low cost of living in rural communities makes it difficult for people to be able to afford hand sanitizer. Most people have never used hand sanitizer before, so many have resorted to producing homemade hand sanitizers using chemical products within their reach. These homemade sanitizers might be unsafe to use, or inefficient. The government should empower and protect the rural women and children in this time of coronavirus by ensuring that they are included in targeted information concerning COVID-19. They should also ensure the inclusion of the agricultural produce by the women in the palliative package as good source of income.

By Olúwafúnmiládé Eunice Ṣóbọ̀wálé, Ọláwálé Micheal Adébọ̀wálé, Grace Ìdòwú Awósanmí, ADÉYẸMỌ E.O and Samir Halliru

COVID-19 pandemic is a great peril, daunting and daring humanity by bringing extreme contrasts in relationships and communications in our present world. The patterns of communication engaged in the Global South are crucial to the social changes experienced by the population. The use of correct modes and methods of communication enhances participatory and mass communication, bringing about positive and unexpected outcomes. In the Global South, interpersonal relationships and social ties play a vital role in the cultural and traditional communities while embracing changes and developments. These age-old customs of cultural ties have revealed the sensitivity of the communities to spontaneous changes and developments. Perhaps this explains the poor compliance with the measures laid down to lessen the spread of the virus. Most of the traditional communities in Nigeria have found it difficult adapting to:

1. The lockdown protocol or the restrictive movement order, which suggests everyone should stay home and only go out when necessary.
2. Avoidance of social distancing or gatherings of large groups at burials and weddings, and also in market and worship places.
3. No shaking of hands.

For people in the Global South, the importance of complying with these measures has been questioned as a result of their disposition to their culture and traditions. This contrasts with those in the Global North, where the pattern of social interaction is more private. Assenting to the new rules stated above has introduced serious hurdles in stopping the spread, especially in Africa. This is connected to the fact that a large percentage of the population get their means of livelihood daily, which means following the stay-at-home order results hardship. Further conversations with some of the individuals on why they are not obeying the order exposed some pertinent factors that make staying at home problematic. Some of the typical responses are ‘What are we going to eat? and ‘Staying home does not feed my large family’. What is provided is not sufficient for all those in need when compared to the supplies available. Our government’s efforts should be geared towards providing information on the danger of breaking the lockdown.

Whenever the lockdown is relaxed, overcrowding occurs at marketplaces due to the influx of many people coming for supplies within the allotted time. The mingling by the people and the ineffective crowd control at such places raises alarms about the poor adherence to individual safety measures. These situations could be prevented with adequate education and public awareness to ensure the safety of everyone.

No shaking of hands is another measure used to curtail the spread of the virus. Handshaking is an age-old part of the culture of most communities in the Global South; it is used as an expression of gratitude, respect or agreement. The new rule of avoiding handshaking is causing individuals that obey or enforce the rule to face stigmatization and be looked at by members of the community with disdain. In the Global South, addressing this issue will require creative and sensitive local-based education strategies to ensure that everyone adopts this measure.

The communications on COVID-19 by the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in Nigeria are broadcast in the English language, meaning only the rich and educated receive the information and suggesting that that is the only demographic at risk. The crucial information needs to be translated into all the local languages and must be transmitted through local radio programs to educate the masses about taking the appropriate safety measures and how to contain the spread in local markets and places of worship. Also, engaging the use of different social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and discussion groups (zauren hira) will help with compliance. The above strategies will increase public awareness and compliance with the guidelines and bring about a positive connection in moulding the lives of individuals or groups, thereby encouraging the adoption of the COVID-19 measures issued by the government.

In addition, recruitment of local ambassadors within the local communities is essential. Such recruitment will actively involve religious leaders who have influential bonds with their followers. This is important because many local people appreciate a closer link to their local perspectives rather than adhering to concepts that originate at a central.