Blogs and publications

As the world reels from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, a key lesson it has taught us is the universality of our vulnerability.

The economic fallout engendered by COVID-19 has already been dire with many going without food and/or accruing different types of debt to stay afloat.

Unlike many Kenyans, Esther in rural Makueni is not yet too worried about the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) on her livelihood. 

The KHHEUS is a national household survey that explores health seeking behavior, the utilization of health services, health spending, and health insurance coverage amongst Kenyan households.

This data pack contains several files (in .csv and .dta formats) with information collected about households and household members participating in the 2012-2013 Kenya Financial Diaries study.

Agnes, 45, lives in rural Makueni with her children and elderly parents.  She had once been married, but her husband proved an unreliable partner.

Managing your money broadly means deciding how much to set aside for the future and how much to keep handy for short term uses.

Barriers to coronavirus prevention behaviour change in Kenya

Over the past four years, FSD Kenya’s Building Livelihoods programme in Northern Kenya has explored how extremely poor households can be transitioned out of poverty and into sustainable livelihoods through stronger engagements with markets.

This week is financial inclusion week, a good moment to take stock of the multibillion dollar ‘fortune at the bottom of the pyramid’ that has been so successfully reaped by the financial inclusion industry.

The agricultural sector in Africa is yet to take off despite being the dominant employer and the key contributor to the gross domestic product (GDP) for most countries on the continent.

The COVID-19 crisis is creating great uncertainty about what the future holds for the economy and well-being of all.

Desperate for income, many Diaries respondents have gone back to work, but find it nearly impossible to earn a living.

A little over a month ago, we confirmed an exciting hypothesis  that it is actually possible to predict the propensity of success for Kenyan “hustlers” based on data mining and qualitative research

This is clearly an unprecedented time. Over the past few months, the world has been battling the COVID-19 pandemic which has seen health systems burdened and unable to cope with the rising numbers of infected people.

The infection rate of COVID-19 is as yet low in Kenya, but the economic consequences are already biting.

In 2018, Kenya’s Ministry of Labour and Social Protection launched the newest phase of its social safety net programme Inua Jamii with an audacious goal: provide all beneficiaries with a full bank account and offer them a choice among four financial services providers.

Vera (45) lives in an informal settlement in Mombasa.  Usually it is just her at home these days.

A big question amidst the current COVID-19 has been, how are community-based finance models fairing?

The recent months have been quite surreal for many across the globe.

Coronavirus disruptions are giving some Kenyan woman a reprieve from domestic burdens and giving couples a chance to change their marriages

Kenyans’ reflections on security in the time of Covid-19

Urban and rural areas are coping to the coronavirus disruptions in different ways

Considering urban to rural migration as urban incomes dwindle

William lives in a small house in an informal settlement in Mombasa.  When we saw him last in 2015, he had recently married his girlfriend. 

Kenyan families are trying to cope with perpetual strain

Not only are Kenyans losing their incomes right now, they are also facing increased costs

How coronavirus adaptations are straining Kenyans’ most robust financial coping mechanisms