Enhancing the food security of the peri-urban and urban poor through improvements to the quality, safety and economics of street-vended foods

Abstract

The purpose that this project contributed to was "Strategies developed which improve food security of poor households through increased availability and improved quality of horticultural foods and better access to markets". The project outputs were assess and prioritise the economic and social importance, and safety and quality constraints of street-vended foods in Peri-urban locations, and to make recommendations on quality and safety risks associated with street-vended foods made, and identify areas were new knowledge is required. The socio-economic survey of 334 vendors and a mini census indicated that street-vended foods do make an important contribution of the economy of Accra, the capital city. The street foods sector employs over 60,000 people with an estimated annual turnover of over US$ 100 million and an annual profit US$ 24 million. This was comparable to findings from other studies in other cities such as Calcutta. Most (945) of the vendors in Accra were women who had minimal or no education. The majority (755) did not belong to vendors associations or pay taxes