Street food and urban and periurban agriculture and horticulture: perspectives for a strategic coalition towards food security
Dear FSN Forum members,
I am very glad to be the facilitator of this second online discussion about street food vending.
My name is Stefano Marras. I am currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Business Administration, Finance, Management and Law, and at the Department of Sociology and Social Research of the University of Milan-Bicocca, Italy.
The aim of this second discussion is to share perspectives on actual and potential links between street food vending and urban and periurban agriculture and horticulture (UPA), analyzing if and in which way such links may represent the basis for possible strategies to enhance food security in urban areas.
This discussion will be an opportunity to expand and strengthen the network of specialists involved in street food trade and governance worldwide.
Introduction
Urban food security depends on food availability, access, and quality over time. With the rapid growth of the urban population and the low nutritional levels of the urban and peri-urban poor, there is tremendous scope for increasing supply of accessible, safe and nutritious food, while ensuring its sustainable production. Academics, FAO, WHO, all recognized street food – i.e. ready-to-eat foods and beverages prepared and/or sold by vendors or hawkers, in the street and similar locations – and urban and peri-urban agriculture and horticulture (UPA) – the growing of plants and the raising of animals within and around cities – as having the potential to help achieve food security in urban areas.
Street foods account for a significant proportion of daily urban food consumption for millions of low- and middle-income consumers in urban areas, representing the least expensive and most accessible means of obtaining a nutritionally balanced meal outside the home (provided that the consumer is informed and able to choose an appropriate combination of foods). In addition, the preparation and sale of street food provides a regular source of income for millions of men and women with limited financial, social, and cultural capital, since the start-up investment and the overheads are relatively low, and cooking requires little or no formal training.
Within this framework, UPA can provide street food vendors fresh, nutritious, less expensive ingredients. Although in most cities in developing countries an important part of urban agricultural production is for self-consumption, the importance of the market-oriented urban agriculture, both in volume and economic value, should not be underestimated. Research has shown that market-oriented, small-scale urban agriculture is often more profitable than small-scale agricultural production in rural areas and generates incomes above formal minimum wage level. A comparative advantage for the urban producers is their close proximity to the urban consumers. Urban vegetable growers spend less on transport, packaging and storage, and can sell directly through street food stands and market stalls. The urban grower can capture as much as 50-75 percent of the retail price, depending on the marketing system, whereas the rural farmer may receive more typically 15-40 percent.
Local food production can be an important source of supply of fresh vegetables for street food preparation. Since locally produced food requires less transportation and refrigeration, it can supply nearby markets with fresher and more nutritious products at competitive prices. Food growing in cities, thus, can and does help improve the quality of people’s diets by providing a greater choice of fresh fruits and vegetables at better prices, particularly to people in the low-income bracket. More common street foods, in most countries, are based on animal-source ingredients often derived from animals kept in cities, there where the commercial peri-urban production of livestock is an extremely fast-growing sector, representing 34 percent of total meat production and nearly 70 percent of egg production worldwide). Nonetheless, fresh salad preparations have increasingly become an integral component of street food sold in cities like Accra, Ghana, and Santiago, Chile. Some urban and peri-urban farmers are even moving towards intensive production of high value-added produce, rather than basic food stuffs; such activities can become major sources of income for more sophisticated members of the population who have investment capacity.
In Bogota, Colombia we can see another trend in direct marketing, wherein the farmers-producer and retailer sit on the board of the corporation and jointly decide what will be produced when. This trend and others are also supported by new communications systems.
Nonetheless, both, street food vending and urban agriculture are still largely debated and opposed or rather ignored by planners and both street food vendors and UPA farmers often operate without permits. Since it is officially "invisible", the sector receives no public assistance or oversight in many cities. For this reason, UPA carries health and environmental risks – potential use of contaminated land and water smells and noise pollution, and inappropriate use of pesticides and of raw organic manure that can leak into water sources. Food production, processing, and vending in the peri-urban zones, while providing employment, do raise issues related to pollution and food safety.
Authorities in many countries have responded to this problem with weak and erratic implementation of legislation on street food and urban agriculture. As formal and informal standards grow, there is a real risk that the poor will be excluded from markets.
Governments should recognize the role played by UPA and street food in making food available to poor families in urban areas and in generating income; they must face and cope with the prevailing problems and accept urban livelihood grassroots strategies including urban farming and street vending, as well as realize the benefits and opportunities created through productive use of green open spaces in cities, both, in terms of nutrition and environmental development.
FAO supports the transformation of UPA and street vending into a recognized urban land use and economic activity in their own right, integrated into national and local agricultural development strategies, food and nutrition programmes, and urban planning. FAO helps national and regional governments and city administrations optimize their policies and support services for urban and peri-urban agriculture, and improve production, processing and marketing systems. Over time the image of urban and peri-urban agriculture may evolve into that of accepted and needed activities which will supersede the temporary and crisis-oriented image of the past.
Questions
In light of this, I would like to raise the following questions /reflections to be discussed:
- Are you aware of actual direct links between street food vendors and local urban farmers?
- Are there examples of concrete measures promoted by local authorities to recognize and increase such kind of link?
- If so, how have these actions influenced consumers’ choices towards street food?
- Have similar initiatives been prompted directly by street food vendors associations? How?
- I believe that creating a system of incentives (e.g permits to sell in areas where there are more potential customers, such as near schools, hospitals, transportation hubs; vouchers or some sort of recognition mechanism for good practices) is required for motivating the street vendors to use locally-sourced, fresh produce. Do you think that such incentives could be successful, and why? What other types of incentives might be, and why?
- What new mechanisms can be put in place to raise peoples’ awareness on the consequences of their street eating habits? Do you know any advertising methods which have been proven effective?
I wish a fruitful exchange and I thank you in advance for your inputs as they will contribute to refine any future intervention on the ground.
Many thanks,
Stefano Marras
Topics
- Read 47 contributions
Street food and urban farming is not something new in the world.It began long time ago in places like Machu Picchu in Peru back in the days when water could be reused as a form of new architecture to grow vegetables. During world wars I and II, urban farming began in places like US,CANADA and UK -Victoria gardens emerged which were used to produce vegetables and fruits thus ensuring food security for the soldiers.
As the world population increases, food security becomes an issue.the world rate of urbanizing is high and it is estimated that by 2050,60 percent of the world will be urbanized. The importance of urban agriculture is threefold: it provides food, its a source of employment and a source of income to the urban poor households(Mittlin, 2005).Urban agriculture is good since it can promote women empowerment as it goes along well with other household chores done by women which can sometimes denay them the oppotunity of a formal job.For example, as they water vegetables on the backyard, they cook for the family. Urban agriculture should be promoted and encouraged through proper policy enactment.
In Kenya for example, urban and peri-urban agriculture is doing well in places like kiambu which was initially agricultural land but due to rapid urbanization, it has already been engulfed by the ever expanding Nairobi city. Farmers here, have devised several means of remaining food secure through urban agriculture by constructing storey buildings for keeping say pigs, chicken and dairy goat/cow on different floors. They again live some little part of the garden for fodder and home gardening purposes. This not only ensure food to the household but also income from the sale of produce.
However, urban farming comes with it threats and challenges. The example of a storey building in Kenya for animals faces a threat of outbreak of zoonitic diseases.Respective governments therefore needs to ensure that good policies are enacted to regulate urban agriculture. for example, the government should make it mandatory that from specific time period say 5pm, certain streets in the city should be opened for food street vendors to sell their produce. strict food policies should be enacted to regulate urban farming and certain standards have to be set to avoid issues of food poisoning from polluted foodstuffs.
Governments need to protect its citizen from issues of food poisoning from the urban agriculture. sometimes the source of water used for irrigation in urban areas, is not safe for human consumption. for example, in kenya, urban farming has improved the living standards of some youths in shanties like kawangware slums by growing indigenous vegetables along the Nairobi river.the water from this river is polluted from industrial wastes and so these vegetables can be harmful to human health by containing heavy metals. the issue is not improved standard of living, but the impact of this activity on the social welfare of the larger population.
In conclusion, urban farming is good though good and strict policies need to be enacted to regulate the sector to avoid food poisoning and other diseases that can emanate from this activity. if properly regulated, it can be a vehicle towards food security and poverty alleviation for most of the urban poor.
Although the street food sector plays an important role in urban food security, state-led food security measures in India have failed to provide a role for poor urban street food vendors to engage in the distribution and consumption of healthy foods. Instead, state-led food security schemes, whether production, distribution, or consumption oriented, have viewed the urban poor simply as beneficiaries of subsidized grain.
We would like to share our research paper published in recent issue (December) of Food Security journal based on our empirical research with street food vendors in Madurai, India. The paper discusses many questions, including rural-urban linkages, posed for discussion in this forum.
This case study of Madurai street vendors illustrates how the street food sector, operated by poor urban vendors selling ready-to-eat, healthy millet-based rural porridges in Madurai, has improved access to nutritious foods and created livelihood opportunities for the urban poor. The paper provides an overview of the informal street food sector, socioeconomic conditions of vendors, gender-based division of labour, as well as the food preferences and health awareness of consumers. The analysis of data indicates the marginalization of street food vendors under the existing policy environment in urban India. The paper discusses how the state, as a regulatory body and a service delivery agent, as well as research and development organizations can strengthen the rights and capabilities of street vendors to improve urban food security.
Bibliographic info of our paper:
Patel, K., Guenther, D., Wiebe, K. Seburn, R. (2014). Promoting food security and livelihoods for urban poor through the informal sector: a case study of street food vendors in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India. Food Security, 6(6), 861-878. DOI: 10.1007/s12571-014-0391-z
I would appreciate comments and suggestions on our paper. If any member has problem in accessing my paper, please email me: [email protected]
Thank you.
Kirit Patel
The direct link between street food vendors and local urban farmers prove to be advantageous, as consumers will be having easy access to fresh produce. Encouraging urban agriculture according to demand is necessary to keep up and increase this kind of link. When compared to Super markets or commercial vendors the wastage of produce, in case of street vendors is very low. Usually super markets prefer to keep only very good quality produce discarding even slightly damaged, though it is in edible condition. Street vendors make grade the produce according to quality and fix prices according to quality, making the produce available to all economic sections and minimising wastage. There are some government subsidies being given to establish kitchen gardens and also to encourage urban agriculture, but the pace of urban agriculture is slow and rather decreasing because of high commercial demand for lands in urban area for constructing buildings or other high investment infrastructures to accommodate increasing urban population.
The direct link between street food vendors and local urban farmers may also have a risk of health hazard to consumers as most of the street vendors directly bring their produce form farms, with no knowledge about ‘waiting period’ of chemicals used. They sell the produce, especially vegetables, immediately harvested a day after spray of chemicals. Hence there exists risk of residual chemicals in foods directly brought from these farms. Establishing a Government policy and its strict implementation to have a basic check of vegetables before entering into market to prevent presence of residual chemicals in them could make the vendor and farmer link safe and strong. Imparting free basic trainings to street vendors and farmers regarding chemical usage, waiting period, residual chemicals etc... and issuing licence to vendors who undergo the training and follow the standards would show good results. Providing incentives to such licence holders to sell near schools, hospitals, transportation hubs would encourage the vendors to follow standards while selling their produce.
Vijay Yadav Tokala, Postharvest Education Foundation (Trainee), India
Thank you to all those who have posted their very interesting comments. Here is my addition:
Street foods have several potential benefits in Africa, along with their convenience and source of income for low-income people, particularly women. In sub-Saharan African cities, street foods are to become the local ‘fast food’, thereby preventing the progressive invasion by imported ultra-processed foods. Street foods are not only consumed by lower socioeconomic groups, as often believed and as shown in South Africa (Steyn NP et al 2011). Street foods may contribute to diet quality: in the cited study, fruits were the most frequent street foods among Black respondents. In the absence of organized institutional feeding for schools and businesses, street foods are the main option. The strategy should therefore be to improve the quality of street food. Street food vendors would benefit from training in hygiene and basic nutrition, as was done in Benin among those selling foods to school pupils, in the framework of the Nutrition Friendly School Initiative tested as an approach in Cotonou (Benin) and Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso). Improvements were noted in the nutritional quality, diversity and safety of the foods and drinks offered to school children. Vendors were resistant at first to offer healthier foods and drinks, fearing loss of income, but as teachers and pupils were also sensitized to nutrition, vendors, sales did not go down. Whether or not street food vendors should be registered or not is an issue that must be addressed locally.
Few thoughts facilitating the following:
- tie up with local village farmers for purchase
- credit facility for buying in bulk
- organizing street vendors self help groups as unregistered societies may benefit
- millet based street foods can cater to low income diabetics
- millet based street foods can cater school children
- Finger millet does not absorb oil therefore will be a profitable option for street food vendors
- training to street food vendors on Millet based and local greens based snacks can reduce their expenses
- training in food preservation and storage aspects will help them
- opinion collection of customers will help them to improve their skills
- TASTE ; RED / GREEN
- HYGIENE ; RED / GREEN
- QUICKNESS; RED/ GREEN
- NUTRITION; RED/GREEN
- PRICE ; RED/ GREEN
red is need to improve , green is satisfactory
A white sheet with a pencil or pen is sufficient
I want to share with the forum about perimeter vegetables cultivation by Farmers interest groups in our area. CASE STUDY . Perimeter horticulture plays a vital role in food security to some extent. The lands in around town is the base for this cultivation. In India in the state of Tamil Nadu Tuticorin is one of Dist, capital slowly shifted to industrialisation. In this mean time the villagers around this town earn their income by cultivating horti. Crops and marketing their marketable surplus to this town. In this context 15 no. Farmers interest groups were formed by horticulture department. The main objective of this FIGs integrating farmers to adopt new technology, and using of hybrids to maximize the yield.
Integrating the famers to market their produce to nearby town at reasonable price without middleman. For which Greenveg. outlet have been started by coperative dept. The produce obtained from these FIGs are sold here. The urban people getting good quality vegetable with less price. Thus perimeter veg. cultivation and marketing in urban area increases the food security in sustainable manner.
Hello Stefano. Good topic of high relevance to facilitate on global level. I just hope a more relevant strategy would be the outcome to be in favor of the group in focus. Most of your questions are answers to themselves when read in reverse being they are revealing and create awareness about a salient issue which seem to be helping authorities but with little policy incentive to address the issue, at least in developing countries.
Pl check my little contribution as attachment below.
Thank you.
Thank you for all the contributions and to our moderators! Here are my answers to questions 2, 3 and 4. I will get to questions 5 and 6 in the next few days.
2. Are there examples of concrete measures promoted by local authorities to recognize and increase such kind of link?
I am unaware of concrete measures but there may well be some examples. The National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) as well as other organizations such as the Cebut City United Vendors Association (which I documented for FAO at: http://www.fao.org/3/a-y1931m/y1931m05.htm) may have information on this.
3. If so, how have these actions influenced consumers’ choices towards street food?
Unknown to me.
4. Have similar initiatives been prompted directly by street food vendors associations? How?
As above. Unknown to me.
Thank you Cecilia for mentioning the food safety issue of street food.
Nutritional and sustainable diets cannot avoid the food safety aspect of foods.
Ready-to-eat foods, prepared and sold by street food vendors represent a food security strategy put in place to support low-income populations. All over the world street foods provide a wide range of commodities and nutrients, helping people to meet their nutritional needs: indeed, easy accessibility, variety in taste and choice and low cost make street foods an affordable option. Moreover, street foods play an important socio-economic role, in terms of employment and income for those involved in their production and/or selling, empowerment of the local economy and the preservation of the local food cultures.
Nevertheless, the food sold on the street may also represent a risk. Food prepared and exposed for sale may become contaminated by pathogenic micro-organisms as well as hazardous chemicals. Vending stands are often not adequate and clean water, waste disposal and sanitary facilities are often not available in the whole vending area. Poor storage facilities and transport conditions also contribute to the overall difficulties in managing and improving street food safety.
As a consequence, greater awareness and preventive measures need to be implemented for coping with risk factors in a systematic and effective way.
More information specifically on chemical/toxicological risks is available on the paper: Identification and management of toxicological hazards of street foods in developing countries (Food and Chemical Toxicology 63 (2014) 143–152).
This activity is now closed. Please contact [email protected] for any further information.