By Wim Marivoet and Abdallah Cisse (IFPRI-AFR)

1. Impact of COVID-19 on the welfare of
rural households in Niger – First
round data
Wim Marivoet and Abdallah Cisse (IFPRI-
AFR)

2. COVID-19 in Niger
▪ First case was March 19, 2020
▪ Round 1 (October 12) : 1202 cases (9 were active cases), 69 deaths
▪ Government action (with limited means):
oIsolation and testing
oAirport closed, social distancing, schools and mosques closed, large
gatherings banned
oRestrictions on public transportation and other vehicle movement
between regions
oState of Emergency declared on 27 March 2020, to be lifted on 7
January 2021

3. Phone Survey
▪ Building on two existing surveys conducted in the rural regions of Maradi
and Tillaberi (2019) and Diffa (2020)
▪ The three regions are in FTF zones of influence
▪ First wave of phone survey conducted in October with 358 household
heads
▪ Female headed households represent 14% of the sample (51/358)
▪ Phone credit of 1,000 FCFA offered for each completed survey

4. Response rate and speakerphone
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
First attempt Second attempt Third attempt Positives responses
Shareofrespondents
More than 88% of all
respondents had their
speakerphone off at
the beginning of the
interview
More than 85% of all
respondents were in a
private space just
before the module on
conflict

5. Location of
respondents
50.27%
23.37%
26.37%
Diffa Maradi Tillaberi

6. Household descriptives
▪ The average household size is 9
▪ Half of all male heads went to Koranic school
▪ 42 percent of spouses are involved in agriculture
▪ 28 percent of spouses do not work
▪ 94 percent of spouses decide how to spend their personal income
▪ This is slightly lower than their male household heads (99 percent)
▪ 97 percent of spouses earn less than their husband

7. Agriculture
▪ Average landholdings: 3.6 hectares
▪ Most households are involved in the cultivation of dry cereals
(millet, sorghum)
▪ Cultivation practices are traditional: little use of external inputs and
non-mechanized
▪ Most households hold some livestock, mainly small ruminants and
poultry

8. Fear of not having enough to eat
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Male Female All
Shareofrespondents
No Yes

9. Change in access to food compared to pre-COVID
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
No Yes
Shareofrespondents

10. How has access to food changed?
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Food shortage
Different source
Consumed different food
Consumed less food

11. Coping mechanisms to deal with food insecurity
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Less nutritious food Skipped a meal Ate less Went hungry
Shareofrepondents

12. Care time
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Male Female
Numberofhoursinthelast24hours

13. Workload and care time of spouses - compared to before
COVID-19
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Care time Workload
Shareofrespondents
Less than Same More than

14. Mobility: leave the house to…. in the last 7 days (yes)
69
38.27
74.58
66.48
17.32
70.39
47.21
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Buy food Sell food Work Medical care Meeting Socialize Collect
water/firewood
Shareofrespondents

15. Food consumption in the last 24 hours
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Grains, roots and tubers
Legumes
Nuts and seed
Dairy
Meat, poultry and fish
Eggs
Dark leafy greens and vegetables
Other vitamins A-rich fruits and vegetables
Other vegetables
Other fruits
Share of respondents

16. Dietary diversity score
3.9
3.9
4.0
4.0
4.1
4.1
4.2
4.2
4.3
4.3
4.4
Male Female All
Diversityscore

17. Adequate diversity score (>=5/10)
0.0%
5.0%
10.0%
15.0%
20.0%
25.0%
30.0%
35.0%
40.0%
45.0%
Male Female All
Shareofrespondentswithadequate
diversityscore

18. Household Water Insecurity Experience Scale - 1/4 (HWISE)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Never Rarely Sometimes Often Always
Shareofrespondents
Frequency of worrying about water

19. Household Water Insecurity Experience Scale - 2/4 (HWISE)
56.3
14.29
10.36 10.92
8.12
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Never Rarely Sometimes Often Always
Shareofrespondents
Frequency of changing plans due to water availability

20. Household Water Insecurity Experience Scale - 3/4 (HWISE)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Never Rarely Sometimes Often Always
Availability of drinking water

21. Household Water Insecurity Experience Scale - 4/4 (HWISE)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Never Rarely Sometimes Often Always
Frequency of not washing hands when necessary

22. Migration
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
Diffa Maradi Tillaberi
Averageshareofrespondents
Coming back because of Covid-19

23. Migration
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Less than before Same as before More than before
Shareofmigrants
How did the amount of remittances change ?

24. Conflict issues
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Occurrence of disputes Solving of disputes Fear of partner Fear of other family
members
Never Rarely Sometimes Often

25. COVID-19 and household welfare for the first round
▪ Fear of not having enough to eat is experienced by 55 percent of all
respondents; 71 percent for female versus 52 percent for male
respondents.
▪ Almost 40 percent of respondents felt their access to food had changed due
to COVID-19.
▪ The main change experienced was a food shortage.
▪ To cope with food insecurity, households reduced their consumption of
nutritious foods or of food in general.
▪ Spouses spent almost 10 hours caring in the past 24 hours compared to
around 4 hours by their husbands.
▪ Most households hold some livestock, mainly small ruminants and poultry

26. COVID-19 and household welfare for the first round
▪ Workload and care time of spouses largely stayed the same or was a bit
higher than before COVID-19, mostly for care time
▪ Respondents in the past 7 days left the house mainly to work, to socialize,
to buy food or to get medical care.
▪ Dietary diversity is higher with male respondents compared to female
respondents.
▪ Water insecurity affects a large share of all respondents; with worrying
about water and the need to change plans being most critical.
▪ Two thirds of all migrants returned home due to COVID-19, especially in
the region of Diffa; those who stayed had lowered their remittances.
▪ Household disputes are not frequent, but if they occur, they are never or
rarely resolved in more than 1/3rd of all cases.

27. Conclusions
▪ Household welfare and food security have been seriously compromised by
COVID-19.
▪ Households have resorted to several coping strategies.
▪ The dietary diversity score is below 4.3 on average and is markedly lower
among female respondents.
▪ Water insecurity affects a large share of all respondents.
▪ The majority of migrants returned home due to COVID-19; those who
stayed reduced their remittances.
▪ Household disputes are far from often resolved when they occur.