The coronavirus pandemic brought about rapid changes in the global economy, and to curtail the spread of the virus, there were worldwide restrictions on movement and daily life. These restrictions have short-, medium- and long-term impacts on the livelihoods and the environment.
The effects of these restrictions were projected to persist with great impact in less developed countries (especially sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Latin America) where the majority of individuals are employed in the informal sector and their earnings are based on daily wages. Also, these countries mostly either lack or have deficient health infrastructure. As a response, the EfD network initiated several research activities on Covid-19, including the rollout of a Global Survey with EfD countries (Colombia, India, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Chile, and Vietnam).
After the pilot survey in the last quarter of 2021, the Global Hub rolled out the global Covid-19 panel in seven EfD countries between February and March 2022. The objective of the survey is to investigate the socioeconomic and environmental effects of Covid-19 in the Global South. Preliminary results from the survey were presented at a panel session at the virtual conference by the Society for Benefit Cost Analysis (SBCA) on March 17-18 and 21-22, 2022.
Similarly, the results were presented at the EfD Annual Meeting in Uganda on September 22–26, 2022. In 2023, Four of the preliminary studies based on the first wave of the global Covid-19 panel survey in seven EfD countries were accepted for presentation at the European Society for Benefit Cost Analysis (SBCA) conferences in Milan, Italy. These papers are i. Priming and negative shocks: Looking into the reliability of life satisfaction measurement, ii. Water-Energy-Food use in times of COVID-19 pandemic in seven developing countries, iii. The Choice of a Health Outcome Metric: People’s Preferences from Seven Developing Countries, and iv. Climate vs. Covid-19: Public Perception of Climate Change Policy Actions in Recovering from COVID-19 in Developing Countries. Also, a study on the “perceptions of the seriousness of major public health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic in seven middle-income countries” from the first wave of the survey was published in Communications Medicine journal. The second wave of the survey was rolled out in April 2023. This wave pays more attention to climate change, though there are some questions on Covid-19. The survey also focuses on carbon pricing and revenue recycling (or earmarking), policy acceptability, and climate change.
The specific aims are:
1. To identify policies and programs that will improve resilience in the face of future shocks/pandemics.
2. To investigate the short-, medium- and long-term impact of COVID-19 on poverty, environment, behavioral change, and valuation of environmental services.
3. To understand how decisions regarding participation in a vaccination program are made if participation required outlays of resources or time.
4. To examine the implication of governments’ utility (i.e. water and electricity) relief measures on behavioral change and the environment.
Funded by Sida
