'A struggle to survive': why tourists' return is essential

Every day, for the past 20 years, Joyce Naserian has laid out her handmade curios near an entrance to the Maasai Mara park to sell to passing tourists. Her earnings have helped the 46-yearold feed and educate her four children.

- Peter Muiruri

In northern Kenya, about 1,200 semi-nomadic women earned more than 9m Kenyan shillings ($77,000) selling beadwork to visitors at 43 community wildlife conservancies in 2020. Selling the beadwork was a solid money earner for these women. But that was before Covid.

The collapse of eco-tourism during the pandemic has spelled disaster for conservation initiatives and livelihoods in Kenya and beyond. Cuts have plunged communities into poverty, leading to a rise in poaching and the illegal wildlife trade. Reuters reported that in the first three months of 2020, the African continent lost $55bn in travel and tourism revenues.

Kenya's government has relaxed travel restrictions, but the return of international tourists has been slow.