Abstract

This project uses a crowdsourcing platform to analyze the impact of the COVID-19 virus and its accompanying economic effects on pastoralist populations. We rely on a network of pastoralists in the arid counties of Kenya who have firsthand knowledge of economic and health conditions in the regions we are studying. These contributors complete surveys on a daily or weekly basis. Survey topics include livestock and commodity prices, household health, and government support. Our contributor network began submitting surveys about two months before the first case of COVID-19 in Kenya. As a result, we have data on economic and health conditions just before and just after the outbreak. Moreover, we have geographic variation in the extent of health and economic impacts and the extent of government assistance. This data collection effort will allow us to track economic, health, and welfare changes among our sample population, as well as these outcomes, vary with government interventions in response to the pandemic. Unlike many prior studies on economic shocks to pastoral communities, our shock does not directly affect livestock health (unlike, for instance, drought or livestock disease).

Questionnaire Description

Livestock and commodity prices, COVID trade, current events, welfare

Respondent Population Characteristics

Adults, rural only, pastoralist

Project Data Collection Mode

Researchers (*corresponding author)

Elizabeth Lyons, Philemon Chelanga

Partners

International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)

Questionnaire File Type

Reader-friendly survey instrument

Questionnaire Language(s)

English

Questionnaire Stage

Data Collection in Progress