FAO survey on street food vendors in Accra finds women play a central role
Interim findings show sector is run mainly by women, and that almost half of all vendors in central Accra operate near a school, making them a central element in the nutrition of school children.
© FAO / Ghana
A study being conducted on Street Food Vendors (SFV) by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) within the Central Accra district has revealed that street food vending is mainly a sector run by women, that it is high in poverty pocket areas of the city and near schools, and that, despite the widespread informality of SFVs, the overall hygienic and safety conditions under which street foods are prepared and sold in Accra are found to be acceptable.
In Ghana, street food preparation and selling provides a regular source of income for thousands of men and women, and represents a significant part of urban food consumption for millions of low-and-middle-income consumers in urban areas on daily basis.
The interim findings on a first sample of 1700 street food vendors (SFVs) as of April 2016 show that almost all SFVs are women, who often face challenges in adapting to the informal labor market, but nonetheless play a central role in the economy by resiliently combining their traditional role of food service providers and small scale entrepreneurship. Almost half of the SFVs operate near a school, making them a central element in the nutrition of school children.