Nairobi, Sept. 21 -- In Nairobi, Candy Waithaka is fighting to feed her neighbourhood amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Last year, she opened a small grocery shop stocking items like rice, maize flour, and lentils.
She'd been searching for a way to earn a living, and looking around her neighbourhood, she recognised that there weren't enough vendors to meet the demand for these essential elements of the local diet. Her shop did brisk business, and the 26-year-old was earning a steady income.
But all that changed when the Covid-19 pandemic struck in March. Customers shied away from the shop for fear of the virus; prices for some staples rose due to the added costs of transporting goods during a lockdown; and local residents cut back on purchases ...