The gendered impacts and coping strategies of the COVID 19 pandemic in rural Egypt and Tunisia

Abstract

Through a survey carried out with 100 male and 100 female dryland farmers in rural Egypt and Tunisia, we examine how COVID-19 affected them, and identify coping mechanisms they employed to maintain crop and livestock supplies, sales, market connections, and personal wellbeing. Since dependence on digital resources increased during the pandemic, we paid close attention to trends in cellphone ownership, access, and preferred means for receiving digital information. Findings suggests that building women's resilience to the impact of COVID-19 and even afterward, through better transport, consistent and affordable supplies of feedstock and other agricultural inputs, digital access, and on domestic issues, is a good place to start for strengthening the resilience of households and whole communities.