It is hard to believe it has been more than a year since the first COVID-19 case was confirmed in Kenya, forcing us to make many unanticipated adjustments about the way we worked.

Most significantly, we had to shift to remote working. One year down the line, I am immensely proud of our team for staying the course so far and maintaining our momentum despite the disruption of COVID-19.

On the afternoon of Thursday, November 19th, 2020, Researcher Julie Zollmann defied the COVID-imposed absence of a live audience to deliver FSD Kenya’s 2020 Public annual lecture on inclusive finance, via YouTube from the University of Nairobi’s Chandaria Auditorium.

In this series of mini-interviews, researchers and respondents in the Kenya Financial Diaries reflect on their experiences. 

Parents across Kenya are receiving ambiguous messages about the timing of school re-openings amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The year 2020 will undoubtedly go down in history as the point in time when COVID-19 paralysed the world.

As we completed a new round of COVID-19 Diaries interviews in mid-October, we noticed a shift in the story of economic hardship.

On average, families in the Kenya Financial Diaries started to see improvements in their economic situation as of October 2020, but incomes are still far from normal.

“Things are getting bad,” Vanessa told us. When we spoke with her in late June, her family had just about run out of food and were waiting for the next harvest.

How Kenyan mothers are keeping food on the table through the coronavirus crisis

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

Barriers to coronavirus prevention behaviour change in Kenya

When we spoke with Benson in April, he was feeling optimistic about getting through the COVID-19 crisis unscathed.  He worked in a factory that manufactured paper products, and toilet tissue was in high demand.  He was sure he would keep his job.  In June, like many of our respondents, his outlook was gloomier.

After three months of Covid-19 restrictions, Jennifer’s economic options have run out.  She is five months pregnant, and the baby’s father has blocked her calls.  She hasn’t been able to pay rent in three months and worries that she and her children are on the verge of eviction.

Amidst the COVID-19 crisis, FSD Kenya and BFA Global have been working to understand the human impacts—social, financial, and economic—by conducting qualitative phone interviews with previous respondents from the Kenya Financial Diaries.

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.

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

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

The inability of low-income households to access quality healthcare is a major challenge in dealing with unanticipated shocks. The challenge is bigger for rural households. Small rural pharmacies stock almost entirely generic medicines because these are the products that patients can afford.