Funding
This 4-year project is a Joint Research Initiative between 兴发娱乐官网手机版客户端 University, University of Nairobi in Kenya and Mzumbe University in Tanzania financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Denmark - Danida.
Research Project Informal Worker Organisation and Social Protection
Project Duration: 10/09/2017 - 12/31/2022
Informal Worker Organisation and Social Protection, (SPIWORK) is a 4-year joint research initiative between 兴发娱乐官网手机版客户端 University, University of Nairobi in Kenya and Mzumbe University in Tanzania financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Denmark (Danida).
This collaborative research set out to generate new knowledge on the role of informal worker organisations in enabling access to both formal and informal Social Protection (SP) measures in Kenya and Tanzania, focusing on three sectors (construction, petty trade and transport).
The dominant SP agenda and the literature on SP come with an almost exclusive focus on donor and state programmes. Nonetheless, the coverage of the majority of these formal programmes is limited and people elaborate other means of cushioning against risks and vulnerabilities through different forms of collective self-organizing. These, informal, bottom-up forms of SP are notably absent from SP discussions and little is known about the extent or the format of these informal SP mechanisms or how they compare the SP models conceptualized and implemented ‘from above’ by the public authorities. It is this soaring gap in policy and literary focus that we have started to address.
The project used a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods including a survey, Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and Key Informant Interviews (KIIs). In total, 1,462 survey interviews, 120 KIIs, 24 FGDs and case studies were conducted in the period between 2018 and 2020. For the survey, we sampled informal workers in four urban areas in Kenya (Nairobi and Kisumu) and Tanzania (Dar es Salaam and Dodoma).
Findings from this rich empirical data has been published in various outlets, but below we tease out key implications of our research:
There is a need to conceptually re-think and broaden both academic and policy discussions on SP in order to recognize and address the restrictive formal/informal dichotomy and one-sided focus on formalization as this
bias renders most existing formal SP measures inappropriate and inadequate for the majority of the working populations.
Representation should be included in SP discourses as it is of key importance in terms of ensuring that informal workers have a say in the elaboration of SP policies and in issues affecting their work and living conditions.
Finally, the immense importance of informal workers’ own associations in meeting (even if inadequately) the SP needs of their members needs to be recognized but also help inform efforts to reframe national SP policies and systems.
This collaborative research set out to generate new knowledge on the role of informal worker organisations in enabling access to both formal and informal Social Protection (SP) measures in Kenya and Tanzania, focusing on three sectors (construction, petty trade and transport).
The dominant SP agenda and the literature on SP come with an almost exclusive focus on donor and state programmes. Nonetheless, the coverage of the majority of these formal programmes is limited and people elaborate other means of cushioning against risks and vulnerabilities through different forms of collective self-organizing. These, informal, bottom-up forms of SP are notably absent from SP discussions and little is known about the extent or the format of these informal SP mechanisms or how they compare the SP models conceptualized and implemented ‘from above’ by the public authorities. It is this soaring gap in policy and literary focus that we have started to address.
The project used a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods including a survey, Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and Key Informant Interviews (KIIs). In total, 1,462 survey interviews, 120 KIIs, 24 FGDs and case studies were conducted in the period between 2018 and 2020. For the survey, we sampled informal workers in four urban areas in Kenya (Nairobi and Kisumu) and Tanzania (Dar es Salaam and Dodoma).
Findings from this rich empirical data has been published in various outlets, but below we tease out key implications of our research:
There is a need to conceptually re-think and broaden both academic and policy discussions on SP in order to recognize and address the restrictive formal/informal dichotomy and one-sided focus on formalization as this
bias renders most existing formal SP measures inappropriate and inadequate for the majority of the working populations.
Representation should be included in SP discourses as it is of key importance in terms of ensuring that informal workers have a say in the elaboration of SP policies and in issues affecting their work and living conditions.
Finally, the immense importance of informal workers’ own associations in meeting (even if inadequately) the SP needs of their members needs to be recognized but also help inform efforts to reframe national SP policies and systems.
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Contact
Lone Riisgaard, Project leader, Associate professor, loner@ruc.dk
Nina Torm, Postdoc, ninatorm@ruc.dk
Other researchers
Winnie Mitullah, Professor, ex-Director of the Institute for Development Studies, University of Nairobi, Kenya
Godbertha Kinyondo, Senior Lecturer, Mzumbe University, Business School, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Anne Kamau, Lecturer, Institute for Development Studies, University of Nairobi, Kenya
Raphael Indimuli, PhD student at the Institute for Development Studies, University of Nairobi, Kenya
Aloyce Gervas, PhD student at Mzumbe University, Dodoma, Tanzania
More information about partners and universities
Publications
Informal Worker Access to Formal Social Protection in Sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from Kenya and Tanzania
Torm, N., 16 Jun 2023, In: Journal of Development Studies. 59, 10, p. 1570-1588 19 p.Research output: Contribution to journal ? Journal article ? Research ? peer-review
Informal workers and Kenya’s National Hospital Insurance Fund: Identifying barriers to voluntary participation
Indimuli, R., Torm, N., Mitullah, W., Riisgaard, L. & Kamau, A. W., 13 Mar 2023, In: International Social Security Review. 76, 1, p. 79-107 29 p.Research output: Contribution to journal ? Journal article ? Research ? peer-review
Social protection ‘from below’: micro traders and their collective associations in Tanzania
Riisgaard, L., 2023, In: Journal of Eastern African Studies. 17, 4, p. 662-685 24 p.Research output: Contribution to journal ? Journal article ? Research ? peer-review
Activities
7th Regulating for Decent Work Conference
Nina Torm (Speaker)
6 Jul 2021 → 9 Jul 2021Activity: Participating in or organising an event ? Organisation and participation in conference
Kisumu Policy Dialogue
Nina Torm (Participant), Lone Riisgaard (Participant) & Winnie Mitullah (Participant)
17 Feb 2020Activity: Participating in or organising an event ? Participation in workshop, seminar, course
SPIWORK writeshop
Nina Torm (Participant) & Lone Riisgaard (Participant)
23 Jan 2020 → 2 Feb 2020Activity: Participating in or organising an event ? Participation in workshop, seminar, course
Press-media
Et job er ikke en garanti mod fattigdom i mange af verdens lande
22/02/2019
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Press / Media
Base at 兴发娱乐官网手机版客户端 University
The project based at the Department of Social Sciences and Business
Participating research units: International Development Research Group // Centre of African Economies
PhD-School: Doctoral School of Social Sciences and Business - International studies
Relevant degree programs: International Development Studies // Global Studies // International Studies // International 兴发娱乐官网手机版客户端 in Social Sciences
Research from 兴发娱乐官网手机版客户端 University
More information
Find additional information about the project: Informal Worker Organisation and Social Protection:
Contact
Lone Riisgaard
Project leader, Associate professor
Phone +45 4674 2959
loner@ruc.dk
Nina Torm
Postdoc
Phone +45 4674 2510
ninatorm@ruc.dk