Catalyzing women'Äôs involvement in post-COVID-19 recovery through agricultural cooperatives in Kenya (WINRACK)

The COVID-19 pandemic and efforts to control it have threatened livelihoods, introduced new workplace risks and made unstable work relationships even more precarious, especially for women. This project seeks to explore how COVID-19 has affected women'Äôs work and health within the agricultural cooperative ecosystem in Kenya. The research team aims to enhance knowledge on how economic changes resulting from COVID-19 disproportionately affect women and women'Äôs health, and how recovery strategies can be inclusive, gender-transformative and health-promoting for women. The findings of the study will inform the design of a health financing intervention in cooperatives. The project is expected to result in a 20% increase in women's membership in agricultural cooperatives and access to credit, a 20% increase in women'Äôs access to healthcare services, the increased capacity of ten local organizations supporting cooperatives, and the strengthened institutional and human personnel capacity of cooperatives to enhance their performance. This project is funded under Women'Äôs health and economic empowerment for a COVID-19 Recovery that is Inclusive, Sustainable and Equitable (Women RISE), an initiative of IDRC, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. Its aim is to support global action-oriented, gender-transformative research by teams of researchers from low- and middle-income countries and Canada.'ÄØ'ÄØ