There has been a
continuing growth in urbanisation in developing countries, and governments’
face a major challenge in ensuring that city dwellers are able to procure
sufficient food. Street foods are sold in almost every country in the world.
The FAO (1989) defines street food as
any ready-to-consume food that is sold in public places. Tinker (1997) also
defines street food as any minimally processed food sold on the street for
immediate consumption.
In most towns and cities in Ghana, selling of snacks and whole meals
on the streets is an important way to obtain income, especially among the poor
women. Street foods have a long tradition in most countries. The role of this
sector in the urbanisation process and the urban economy reflects the way of
life and the survival and coping strategies adopted in most African cities.
Rapid urbanisation is breaking down traditional family ties
throughout the world and the street food sector is widely understood as an
inevitable phenomenon tied to urban growth. This urbanisation and the
associated social and structural changes have caused the demand for street food
to increase. Longer traveling times between living and working places is likely
to lead to further increases in demand.
Accra with a current population of about 3 million is the capital of
Ghana and is hampered by an inadequate transportation system linking the
sub-urban areas with the commercial and industrial centres where men and women
work. Street food accounts for a part of the daily diet and so contributes
towards meeting nutritional requirements, although the contribution varies.
Urbanisation and migration have changed the patterns of living and eating. The
easy availability of foods in the streets of cities and small towns has helped workers
cope with long periods of absence from home.
Street foods contribute significantly to food security and nutrition
and are physically and economically accessible to most people. It is an
activity that provides employment to many, while providing nutritious,
inexpensive and tasty food to millions of working women, men, children and
students. Unfortunately, the emergence of informal food businesses can cause
health problems if the foods are not prepared and handled properly.
Poverty, coupled with rapid urban growth have compelled
policymakers, development practitioners and program planners to take another
look at food insecurity and malnutrition which hitherto were considered as
rural problems. Sustenance in the urban setting is characterised by a dependence
on cash incomes, usually earned from the informal sector (Levin et al, 1999).
Lower education, skill levels and childcare responsibilities may
force women into the informal sector. Women have an important role in this
sector; which draws upon their traditional skills and offers appreciable
advantages such as low-start-up capital requirements, the reconciliation of
household duties with small-scale trading and the possibility of feeding their
families at lower cost (Canet and N’Diaye, 1996).
In Ghana, these women balance their roles as income earners,
homemakers and mothers. The share of the food budget spent on processed foods,
convenience foods, snacks, and meals available as street foods has increased
due to the need for women to save time in food preparation. Ghanaian women play
a crucial role in the economy, controlling a large share of market activity and
commodity trading. One of the fascinating aspects of urban social life in
Ghana is the widespread presence of street food vendors. Operating
from all strategic locations at all hours of day and night, they serve
customers with spicy foods, colourful beverages at reasonable and affordable
prices.
Long hours of commuting leave little time to cook, which contributes
to the huge demand for inexpensive, convenient food near schools and work
places. In Ghana the ability of street foods to satisfy unique taste and
convenience requirements as well as meet the socio-economic needs of majority
of urban dwellers has led to the rapid growth of the sector, and the gaining of
some kind of recognition from the governing authorities. In Ghana, national and
municipal administrators regulate the street food sector in the cities. These
controls take various forms.
Some earlier studies on street food vending in Ghana have taken
place. The FAO and WHO have funded these. Unfortunately, the studies did not
include potential food safety concerns such as the presence of heavy metals,
pesticide residues and the presence of mycotoxins. The studies did not also
examine the contribution of these informal micro-enterprises to the Ghanaian
economy.
The DFID/NRI/FRI project on improved street-vended foods was a
one-year exploratory study aimed at assessing the safety and quality of food
sold in Accra as well as estimates the contribution of this sector to the
national economy of Ghana. The project complemented previous work carried on
the sector by other workers.
This workshop was therefore organized to present findings and
identifies new areas where further knowledge is required. As part of this
dissemination, key stakeholders of the street-food vending business in Ghana
made short presentations on the status of the foods sold in Accra. These short
presentations are also included in this report.
