Covid-19 vs. Ebola: Impact on households and small businesses in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo

B-Tier
Journal: World Development
Year: 2021
Volume: 140
Issue: C

Authors (5)

Stoop, Nik (Universiteit Antwerpen) Desbureaux, Sébastien (not in RePEc) Kaota, Audacieux (not in RePEc) Lunanga, Elie (not in RePEc) Verpoorten, Marijke (Universiteit Antwerpen)

Score contribution per author:

0.402 = (α=2.01 / 5 authors) × 1.0x B-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

In April 2020, the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo was facing two major infectious disease outbreaks: Covid-19 and Ebola Virus Disease (EVD). We highlight large differences in the socioeconomic impact of these two outbreaks. The data come from a phone survey that we conducted in the period May-July 2020 with 637 households and 363 small firms from a megacity and two rural communes in the province of North Kivu. While 3,470 EVD cases and 2,287 EVD deaths were confirmed since August 2018, self-reported impacts of EVD on revenues, access to food and behavior were limited. In contrast, only 251 Covid-19 cases were reported as of July 22nd but respondents reported sizable effects on livelihoods, especially in the large urban hub, and in part driven by substantial job losses. Our results show that different infectious disease outbreaks can have very different effects, largely unrelated to case numbers of the disease. Moderately lethal but highly transmissible viruses such as Covid-19 can trigger a steep economic downturn, especially in areas with high economic interconnectedness, reflecting both national and international policies to contain the pandemic.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:eee:wdevel:v:140:y:2021:i:c:s0305750x20304800
Journal Field
Development
Author Count
5
Added to Database
2026-01-25