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Showing all content in Kenya
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Publication - Policy Brief
Non-tariff barriers and regional integration in the East African Community
We conducted surveys with a representative sample of over 1,500 traders in markets near the Kenya-Uganda border, as well as a census of border clearing agents, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Larger traders are more likely to engage in cross-border trade, likely because the fixed costs of trade barriers mean that per-unit costs fall heaviest on smaller...
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Blog post
Trade, informality, and corruption: Evidence from small-scale traders in Kenya
The COVID-19 pandemic has induced vast trade disruptions that have stunted firms’ sales, profits, and growth, particularly for small-scale traders. While many formal borders closed, small-scale traders crossing official borders must increasingly rely on informal border crossings to make a living. In Kenya, we surveyed small-scale traders to analyse their cross-border...
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Publication - Policy Brief
Tracking prices during COVID-19 in Kenya and Uganda
This project serves as a proof of concept exploring whether it is possible to collect high-quality, high-frequency price data at scale through a crowd-sourcing approach. We collected over 39,000 price quotes of essential food items in Kenya and Uganda between April 2020 and mid-March 2021, featuring a wide geographic coverage. The findings suggest that prices were...
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Blog post
Money or power? Choosing COVID-19 aid in Kenya
Participants in an experiment comparing demand for cash transfers and electricity subsidies in urban Kenya, overwhelmingly prefer cash given the proliferation of mobile money via platforms like M-PESA and preference for short-term liquidity. Conversely, in rural Kenya, slightly more respondents opted for electricity token transfers given that they face saving constraints...
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Publication - Project Report
Economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on smallholder farmers
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Publication - Policy Brief
Agro-dealer and farmer COVID-19 survey: April – June 2020
The researchers interviewed 973 crop farmers, 99 dairy farmers, and 483 agro-dealers to help assess the impacts of COVID-19 on smallholder farmers and other actors across the agricultural value chain. The researchers make several findings, including that a majority of farmers report financial distress and agro-dealers were seeing lower footfall traffic. However,...
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Project
Tracking price dynamics during a pandemic in Kenya and Uganda
As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolds across the globe, economies face disruptions in global and national supply chains due to the pandemic itself and related government response measures. The disruptions pose a serious threat to food security. In Kenya and Uganda, policymakers are particularly worried about COVID-19 induced price spikes and supply shortages of essential...
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Blog post
Smart containment and social protection: Lessons from Kenya’s COVID-19 fight
During a time of high uncertainty, the Kenyan government has taken careful and considered steps towards containing COVID-19, while keeping as much of the economy functioning as possible. To work most effectively, the government’s smart containment strategy must be informed by data – more extensive COVID-19 testing is critical for this. As with many other African...
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Project
Economic impacts of COVID-19 on smallholder farmers and the agricultural value chain in Kenya
Social distancing protocols present economic and health risks to the rural poor in developing countries. These include: food shortages distortions in food and input prices disruption in the availability of inputs high levels of unemployment In Kenya, COVID-19 has restricted both human movement and trade. The Kenyan Government's concern is that enforced...
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Publication - Policy Brief
Tracking constraints to micro-entrepreneurship using IVR technology: Results from a pilot study in Kenya and Uganda
Current data collection exercises fail to capture the heterogeneity of entrepreneurs in developing countries in terms of scale. This project proposes a research agenda around understanding the constraints faced by micro-entrepreneurs, both formal and informal, through a series of mobile-based surveys (using IVR technology) delivered to small firms and...