Exploring the impacts of the COVID19 pandemic on the socio-economic livelihoods for vulnerable communities in semi-arid areas of Malawi

Rural and urban areas are increasingly interconnected through a constant movement of people, goods, capital, ideas and information including agricultural food flows. The urban population is in many cases solely dependent on food from small-scale producers from rural areas. Yet although there has been growing literature on rural -urban linkages, the nature of rural urban linkages as they relate to diverse urban rural including agricultural food flows and the likely impacts of COVID- 19 on these linkages are not adequately understood. Different factors contribute to food insecurity trends in Africa, and these can vary between temporary and spatially (e.g. from region to region, country to country or household to household. This study argues that COVID 19 and its subsequent responses have potential impacts on these linkages, yet the nature and extent of the COVID-19 impacts are largely unknown. Additionally, the extent to which the design of the COVID19 measures took into consideration the prevailing rural urban interdependence and their socio-spatial implications on the people's livelihoods is not known. Therefore, the main objective of the study is to explore the impacts of the COVID19 pandemic on the socioeconomic livelihoods for vulnerable communities in semi-arid areas of Malawi. Specifically, the study aim to: i. Establish the state of rural - urban economic and social flows during pre, during and post the-Covid-19 pandemic? ii. Examine the extent to which the Malawi Government COVID-19 considered social and spatial equity concerns responses in these areas iii. Assess the people's perceptions on the COVID-19 and its responses within the context of their basic socioeconomic status needs, human rights, livelihoods, gender, generation and geographical location iiv. Evaluate how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected livelihood activities of communities in relation to previous interventions within the context of rural urban interdependencies? Expected Outputs  Documented evidence of perceptions of the COVID-19 pandemic from a livelihood point of view among vulnerable communities;;  Understanding of the key drivers of socio-economic livelihoods among vulnerable communities under the COVID-19 pandemic;  Evidence of the impacts of the movement restrictions on rural-urban and urban-rural flows;  Increased awareness of the role of rural-urban inter-linkages in socio-economic livelihoods;  Greater understanding of the spatial-temporal trends of the COVID-19 and the key accelerating factors.  The effectiveness of top down (Government or donor driven) or bottom up (community level) COVID mitigation measures among vulnerable communities.  Enhanced knowledge and research capacity on impacts of pandemics on livelihoods