This archive report was first published on 6 January 2020.
According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, women in East Africa are facing a double burden due to time constraints imposed by unpaid care and domestic work.
Women in Tanzania spend 3.5 times more minutes per day on unpaid care and domestic work than men, while in Rwanda, they spend three times more minutes per day. In contrast, Uganda exhibits a more egalitarian picture, with women spending 1.2 times more minutes per day on unpaid work than men.
As a result, women are unable to take advantage of opportunities generated by trade liberalisation and regional integration in East Africa. The UN entity states in its East African Community Regional Integration: Trade and Gender Implications for 2018 Report that women's unpaid care and domestic work burden limits their access to market resources and information, in comparison to men.
For example, Margaret Nabeto, a peasant farmer in Nessuit, a remote part of Nakuru County in Kenya, spends at least an hour daily on domestic work before she can embark on an income-generating activity. She must wake up at 6am every day to clean the house and put everything in order by 7am, before milking the cows and delivering them to buyers.
Similarly, Hilda Ojweke, a florist at Nairobi's City Market, starts her day at 3am and works until 9pm, often finishing all her house chores at midnight. Despite her long working hours, she fears that if she closes her shop before 6pm, her clients will desert her.
