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STREET FOOD IN URBAN GHANA

Year of publication 2016

Pages 90 p.

Author Stefano Marras, Mohamed AgBendech

Publisher FAO Regional Office for Africa ;

Product type Book (stand-alone)

ISBN 978-92-5-109304-7

Edition 1

Synopsis (short abstract) In Africa street food vending and consumption have proliferated in the last three and a half decades, especially in urban areas. People who face barriers to the formal wage labor market find in street food vending a viable income option, as it requires little start-up capital and no formal education. In the meantime, the increased commuting distances and faster living pace in developing cities turn street food into the best option among the growing urban low and middle working classes looking fo r inexpensive, quick and nutritious food out of the house. Despite its nutritional, economic, social and cultural importance, street food in Africa is undermined by food safety issues, poor nutritional variety, widespread informality of vendors , and policy gaps. Major findings provided by literature throughout the last two and a half decades are analyzed, along with the recommendations that the authors made to key stakeholders to improve street food safety and nutrition quality, as well as vend ors’ livelihoods and working conditions.

Language English

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    | P a g e In Africa, street food vending and consumption have proliferated in the last three and a half decades. African national and local authorities, and international organizations agree on the nutritional, economic, social and cultural importance of street food, but they are also aware of the critical safety, nutritional, management issues associated to it. FAO Regional Office for Africa, in 2016, led an extensive field survey on street food vending within the Accra Metropolitan Area (AMA), in collaboration with the School of Public Health of the University of Ghana. The survey was aimed at gathering updated and policyrelevant information about the sector (e.g. location and type of street food outlets, variety of foods sold, hygienic and safety conditions under which they are prepared, legal status of vendors, economic dimension of the sector) enabling public authorities as well as street food vendors and consumers to take informed and data-driven action towards the development of the sector. The outcomes of the survey are presented in this report.
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    Improving the nutritional quality of street foods to better meet the micronutrient needs of schoolchildren in urban areas 2006
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    Micronutrient malnutrition affects one in every three persons living in sub-Saharan Africa. Women and children are most severely affected by micronutrient malnutrition, particularly deficiencies of iron, iodine and vitamin A. Between 40-80 percent of children in the region are iron deficient and forty percent of children under 6 years of age do not get enough vitamin A. For children micronutrient malnutrition affects their health, growth and ability to concentrate in school. Even small improvem ents in the nutritional quality of the foods children consume can increase their micronutrient intake and therefore improve their health.
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    Project
    Advancing “Healthy Street Food Incentives” to Boost the Safety and Nutritional Balance of Street Food in Sub-Saharan Africa - TCP/RAF/3611 2020
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    Street food vendors (SFVs) have proliferated in the last three and a half decades throughout Africa, owing to ongoing urbanization. On the one hand, this type of work provides a regular source of income for millions of people (mostly women) with limited access to the formal wage labour market; on the other hand, it represents a significant part of the daily diet for millions of low and middle-income urban dwellers who spend long hours out of the house. Despite its important role in securing food and reducing poverty in urban areas across Africa, the sector is largely affected by food safety issues, and it is characterized by an overwhelming presence of carbohydrate, protein, and fat-rich food, while micronutrient-rich foods are largely neglected. Against this background, the project aimed to introduce “Healthy Street Food Incentives” (HSFI), a financially self-sustainable strategy aimed at: i) making street food safer through a decentralized, participatory customer-led monitoring, enabling targeted inspections and rewards to safer vendors; and ii) making street food nutritionally more balanced through a Lottery or Scratch & Win that favours vendors and consumers who serve and eat more fruit. The pilot of the plan was to be implemented in Accra (Ghana) and Dar es Salaam (the United Republic of Tanzania); while a region-wide baseline study on the current situation of the street food sector would be carried out in 10 Low-Income-Food-Deprived Countries in Africa ([LIFDCs] Ethiopia, Rwanda, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Madagascar, Mozambique, Kenya, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo), in order to assess the feasibility of scaling up the plan, and to fine-tune it on the basis of each specific context.
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