Resilience in a Kenyan informal settlement during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Stephen Vertigans,Natascha Mueller-Hirth,Fredrick Okinda

doi:10.18820/24150479/aa53i2/7

Abstract

Informal settlements have been identified as locations both where the spread of COVID-19 has generally been slower than within the Global North and measures to restrain the pandemic have further intensified local peoples’ marginality as income decreases without welfare or financial safety nets. In this paper, qualitative fieldwork is detailed which commenced in Korogocho, an informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya, immediately prior to national COVID-19 restrictions. This March 2020, pre-COVID phase of the fieldwork focused on a community-based project and the basis for resilience in transforming local lives. During the next 12 months of the pandemic fieldwork continued, exploring experiences and reactions to restraining policies. These findings reinforce concerns about the impact of COVID-19 related restrictions on marginalised peoples’ income, food security, health, safety and gender-based violence. How the local people reacted to these effects highlights their creative resilience and adaptability. The paper concludes by examining the impact of, and responses to, the controlling measures on the social relationships and cohesion that underpins the community resilience.

Highlights

The paper draws on research to date on the effects of the pandemic in Kenya and aims to enhance understanding of the dynamics between social constraints, localised creativity, community relationships and layers of interdependency and the extent to which levels of resilience are weakened and/or reshaped during periods of crisis
The spread of COVID-19 in sub-Saharan Africa has largely been slower and less extensive than some other parts of the world such as the Global North
Countries in the Global South are considered to be vulnerable to the consequences of the COVID-19 controlling measures and informal settlements are believed to be at highest risk (Egger 2021, Pinchoff 2021, Population Council 2020a)

Summary

Introduction

The paper draws on research to date on the effects of the pandemic in Kenya and aims to enhance understanding of the dynamics between social constraints, localised creativity, community relationships and layers of interdependency and the extent to which levels of resilience are weakened and/or reshaped during periods of crisis. Risks to sustainable processes of resilience are shaped by influences such as family support, peer relationships, livelihoods, equitable employment, social connections, shared values, community, school and political action and uncertain conditions stemming from the largely unplanned, unregulated and poorly serviced residential areas and unstable local informal economy (Seeliger and Turok 2013).

Results

Conclusion