Abstract:
The government of Kenya undertook various measures to curb the spread of Corona
virus (Covid-19), including limiting movement in places with reported cases; closure of
public spaces with high human traffic, such as schools and public events; dusk-to-dawn
curfews; and ensuring basic hygiene and social distancing. However, these
precautionary measures have had negative economic impacts on businesses and
workers. The country witnessed job cuts across various sectors, and incomes of
businesses and available working hours for staff significantly fallen. This paper presents
a critical appraisal of the impacts of Covid-19 on textile industry value chain in Kenya.
The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on textile
industry focusing on both effects and strategies that were employed to provide stability
and resilience in the industry. The specific objectives of this study were to assess the
impact of Covid-19 travel restrictions on textile value chain; establish how textile value
chain was impacted by economic lockdown in Kenya due to Covid-19 and examine how
the textile industry rebuilt resilience to stabilize the impacts of the pandemic. Using
stratified and random sampling, this study used 160 respondents including 10
producers, 60 traders and 90 consumers of apparels. A descriptive survey research
design was employed to collect data using a questionnaire and an interview guide. This
study utilized both chi-square test of independence and regression modelling to assess
the impacts of the covid-19 measures on production, trading and consumption of
apparels. The study established that travel restrictions and economic lockdown had an
effect across the textile value chain but at different levels. Among the consumers there
was a significant relationship between Covid-19 and need to purchase (p-value = .002),
frequency of purchase (p-value = .019) and quantity of purchase (p-value =.000). There
was a significant relationship between Covid-19 measures and textile trading and
production. Mask and personal protective gears were taken up by both small and large
producers to cusion them from common apparel making. The study observed that textile
industry was equally hit by Covid-19 and since it is a key sector for thousands of
livelihoods the study reccommended that the government sets aside funds to boost the
sector through loans and provide an expanded market for larger producers.