What you need to know:

• The National Gender and Equality Commission is  rooting for stakeholders to address the multiple challenges rural women are facing during the Covid-19 pandemic.  
• Each beneficiary of Inua Jamii program receives Sh2,000 stipend per month, which NGEC wants extended to rural women.
• Commission also rooted for the government to equip rural women with adequate tools, information and incentives to prepare for and mitigate the negative impacts of the pandemic.

The Covid-19 pandemic has had major impacts on the lives of women, especially those living in rural areas, unplanned settlements and hard-to-reach parts of the world.

Rural women have been hardest hit by disruption of distribution of some agricultural inputs, produce and shrinking markets for their produce and wares.

According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), of the 32.7 million people living in rural areas, 16.7 million are women, a majority of whom depend on small scale agriculture and informal sector for their livelihoods

Some rural women engage in subsistence farming while others participate in economic activities like mat making, yoghurt and soap, among other activities. The shrinking markets for their farm produce and other wares due to the Covid-19 disruption resulted in dwindling economic prospects for them.

Social protection

The National Gender and Equality Commission (NGEC) is now rooting for the stakeholders to address the multiple challenges rural women are facing.  

The commission, through its chairperson Dr Joyce Mutinda, recently issued a statement that pushes the government to consider disproportionately expanding the social protection program to rural households to cover a higher number of female-headed households, households with children or family members with 

severe disabilities, and rural women suffering from acute hunger and food insecurities. 

The government has a social protection program commonly known as Inua Jamii, a flagship of National Safety Net Program, which offers cash to orphans and vulnerable children, elderly persons, and persons living with severe disabilities.

There are about a million beneficiaries under the program drawn from across the country. Each beneficiary receives Sh2,000 stipend per month, which NGEC wants extended to rural women.