The travails faced by rural African women during COVID-19

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic which engulfed the world from 2020 had an immense impact on societies at large. It especially had a greater impact on women in third world countries, specifically those in the African continent. This is true because in mainly the rural areas of many African countries, it is women who take care of households while men migrate to urban areas in search of employment. Taking care of households involves providing food and energy for cooking, amongst others, which has proved to be even more difficult during the pandemic. In addition, it has been shown that it is mainly women who are involved in small scale rural economic and productive activities. As a result of the closure of borders and lockdowns which aimed at combating the spread of the disease, these women were impeded to continue with their trade, which negatively affected the welfare of their families. This is an indication that under COVID-19 women faced unique burdens as compared to their male counterparts. There is, therefore, a need that a concerted effort be made by the powers that be to prioritise the specific needs of women to help ameliorate these negative impacts post the pandemic. Through a thorough survey of available literature, this paper seeks to present the specific impacts that Covid 19 had on rural African women. The paper will also suggest policy measures that governments may adopt to lessen the degree of painful and laborious duties that some African women had to face as a result of the Covid 19 pandemic.