NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 18 – A new survey by Trends and Insights Africa (TIFA) research firm indicates 37 per cent of Nairobi residents living in low-income areas expect crime to increase due to the economic meltdown occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The survey that saw 555 people in 6 low-income areas interviewed further showed acute hunger could results in deaths an indicator which was scored at 20 per cent in the poll.
Five per cent of respondents told the pollster poverty levels had increased.
Despite a raft of interventions by non-state actors to assist the needy, 33 per cent of those sampled said they were not aware of such initiatives.
About 60 per cent of the respondents said they had received support from either State or not-state actors.
“Among the main changes that respondents have experienced since the arrival of Covid19, the overwhelming majority are related to the loss of or a reduction of income,” reads the survey released to newsrooms on Sunday.
The survey conducted between September 24 and October 2 was co-sponsored by the Canadian High Commission in Kenya and Hanns Seidel Foundation – Kenya.
For the seven months the coronavirus disease has been in the country, at least 47 per cent of those interviewed said they had lost their employment while 42 per cent had experienced reduced earnings from self-employment and casual jobs.
The proportion of responders who reported being jobless however declined to 29 per cent compared to the 46 per cent during a similar survey in June.
