COVID-19’s Economic Impacts on Women in Tanzania

Eugeniah Chuma stares at her sewing machine as if expecting it to respond to her questions. “When is this coronavirus going to end? How am I going to feed my four children?”, she asks while shaking her head before she slowly went back to sewing the cloth face masks’ she started selling in Mbagala, Dar es Salaam over a week ago.

“I am hoping these masks can provide some relief as business is now rock bottom. People here are beginning to realize that they also need to wear the face masks in addition to washing their hands with soap and maintaining some distance from each other to prevent the spread of the coronavirus,” she said.

With single mothers such as herself adamant to continue operating their small businesses in Mbagala, Chuma says poor female-headed families are caught between a rock and a hard place. The reality in Mbagala is that, the majority of breadwinners operating in the informal sector cannot afford staying at home owing to how this would affect the wellbeing of their families.

Chuma says there is no other livelihood option other than continuing to work in her small shop. “At least my customers can see that the shop is open and bring business. I understand the risks posed by the coronavirus and I am doing all I can to protect myself and family,” she said.

She is not the only woman who is putting up a brave fight despite the risks. Maria Mwangila, a mother of two from Mwananyamala, in Dar es Salaam, says business has gone down but she too cannot quit her small vegetable stall. Every morning, she displays some tomatoes and a variety of green vegetables in a marketplace a stone-throw away from her home, hoping to sell something.

 “Times are hard, people are not buying as they used to before this coronavirus.  Some of my customers said they are not getting their salaries due to the temporary closure of their companies,” Mwangila said. This statement may sound familiar in many African countries, particularly those on lock-down. Currently the world is on the brink of an economic recession owing to the impacts of the Corona Virus Disease-19 (COVID-19).

A prolonged search for a cure will spell devastating effects on women’s incomes and labor force participation. The effects will be strongly felt by women who are already vulnerable, many of whom are concentrated in the informal sector. Globally, 740 million women work in the informal sector while women aged 25 to 34 years are 25 percent more likely than men to live in extreme poverty.

In Tanzania, 51 percent of women work in the informal sector as employees and owners of micro and small enterprises. These women often depend on public spaces and social interactions which are now restricted to curtail the pandemic.

A United Nations Policy Brief on the Impact of the COVID-19 on women warns of different impacts on economic and productive lives of women and men. This is attributed to the fact that across the globe, women earn less, save less, hold less secure jobs and are more likely to be employed in the informal sector.

“As women take on greater care demands at home, their jobs will also be disproportionately affected by cuts and lay-offs. Such impacts risk rolling back the already fragile gains made in female labor force participation,” reads part of the Policy Brief.

In Tanzania, women who depend on cross border trade for livelihood are hit harder following the restrictions imposed on movement between countries and reduced consumer demand in export markets.

According to the Tanzania Women Chamber of Commerce Director, Ms. Mwajuma Hamza, in times like these, economic resilience initiatives are critical to increase women’s capacity to absorb shocks and ensure quick recovery in the aftermath of the crisis.

“As we continue devising immediate ways to help avert acute impacts on women, particularly those in the informal sector and agriculture, we are also looking at their ability to recover from this shock, which can take months. Cash transfers can help to provide immediate relief, but we also know that when businesses are grounded, it would be difficult for poor households to rebuild their enterprises after the emergency. We therefore need to start implementing intervention packages that will provide immediate relief while at the same time building economic resilience,” Hamza said.

Although putting some cash into the hands of women hardest hit by the pandemic through financial platforms such as mobile money credits can provide some immediate relief, lessons emerging from some countries in the Sub Saharan Africa show that governments and development partners are struggling to expand safety nets and cover all poor people.

Tanzania’s first woman Pan-African Parliament Speaker and member of the African Women Leaders’ Network (AWLN), Tanzania Chapter, Dr. Getrude Mongella said what is emerging from the coronavirus crisis is that it  may be prolonged than expected, hence the need for development partners to collaborate with the government in strengthening social protection alongside placing women’s livelihoods at the heart of socio-economic response and recovery plans.

“The epidemic is telling us that there is need to ensure that all women in all sectors, including the informal sector have access to some form of regular support such as paid sick and maternity leave, pensions, health insurance and unemployment benefits,” Mongells said.

She further further explained that, while ensuring that women were operating in safe environments and protecting themselves is crucial, so is investing in building women’s economic resilience to ensure Tanzania continues to strengthen a gender equal, inclusive and sustainable economy.

“The idea is to ensure that we use innovative strategies to survive the pandemic and also importantly, protect the women to remain safe and productive. It is a fact that women are at the front-line of addressing the coronavirus epidemic both at home and in the health sector. The national interventions should therefore respond to their needs for their protection and safety of all. In this crisis, we have learnt that when we protect ourselves, we also protect others. I really believe that a Tanzania free of the coronavirus is possible!” Mongella said.

She explained that women such as Eugenia Chuma to remain productive, they can be engaged to provide face masks while working from home. “We also need to look at other businesses run by women and see how we can support them to contribute in sustaining the economy,” Mongella said.

The United Nations Resident Coordinator in Tanzania, Mr. Zlatan Milišić said the UN will partner with the government and development partners to support the designing of fiscal stimulus programs that target women.

“Through our interventions, we can look at the most effective ways to put cash in women’s hands, through expanding cash and food transfers and other non-food items. It's also important to ensure that women can both access and control the cash as well as other commodities,” said Milišić.

On her part, the UN Women Representative, Ms. Hodan Addou said her agency will partner with the government to conduct a Gender Rapid Assessment, which will help to examine the impact of the coronavirus on livelihoods. The assessment, she explained, will also look at circumstances of women and girls in Tanzania and identify policy and program recommendations for key stakeholders and partners to improve the wellbeing of women and girls.

Addou further explained that UN Women’s economic interventions are targeting sectors where women are a large proportion of workers and where supply chains have been disrupted, such as in the agriculture sector and trade.

“We will collaborate with the government to establish short and long-term gender-responsive recovery plans to address the expected economic recession on women-led businesses,” Addou said.

She further explained that recovery measures will include, removal of barriers that prevent full participation of women in economic activities, promotion of equal pay and equal opportunities for women and men, access to finance for women entrepreneurs left behind and application of various mechanisms that can promote women’s self-employment.