Life in Nairobi has become ruthless and unforgiving for most families – forcing many to either relocate back to the village or stick to lean families.
Janet Adhiambo had to send her two brothers back to the village after losing her job in one of the leading pharmacies.
“I am married and I have two children. Life has become very difficult I had to just cut down on certain things to survive. That included skipping lunch,” Adhiambo told Mwanahabari.co.ke.
Tina Wanjala who operates a salon in Eastlands has not had it any better.
“I have gone for up to three days without a customer, yet I pay Ksh7,000 rent every month. Life has become very difficult for business people as most customers have cut down on spending just to scrap through,” she said.
Asked if she eats all three meals per day, Tina suppressed a smile.
“Most families do not eat lunch, and that even includes those going to work in town and other places. They just don’t eat lunch. I don’t eat lunch in my house,” Tina said.
Meanwhile, many people are continuing to lose jobs due to the contraction of the economy due to the spread of COVID-19 pandemic.
Many like Tina continue to fight for meals and even rent money.
Only financially stable families eat three meals in Nairobi today.
Just like Tina, Priscilla* told Mwanahabari that she cannot remember the last time she had three square meals; breakfast, lunch and dinner.
“I take breakfast and dinner. Lunch is a rumour in my house, and my children have come to accept it as part of the furniture,” Priscilla said.
A report released by the Kenyan National Bureau of Statistics on September 1, 2020, the rate of unemployment has doubled to 10.4% as compared to 5.2% in March of the same year with over 1.7 million Kenyans losing their jobs.
And just recently, Nairobi was recently ranked among the most stressful cities in the world.
The survey by Vaay ranks the Kenyan Capital at position 80 out of a list of 100 countries, with the 100 rank representing the world’s most stressful city.
The report looked at safety and security, gender & minority equality, social-political stability, population density, pollution levels, financial stress and traffic.
Nairobi has a high population density averaging at 6,318 person’s per square kilometre, with each person competing for survival.
According to the report, the least stressful cities include Bern in Switzerland, Helsinki, Wellington and Melbourne, Australia.
Others are Oslo, Copenhagen, Innsbruck (Austria), Hannover and Graz in Austria.
India’s Mumbai is the most stressful city with a mere score of one. The other stressful city is Lagos, with Johannesburg being the least stressful city in Africa.