MANAGEMENT APPROACHES AND STREET FOOD VENDING OUTCOMES IN URBAN AREAS OF WESTERN KENYA

Abstract

Street food (SF) vending is an informal livelihood activity found in most cities of the world where it meets the livelihood as well as the nutritional needs of millions of city residents. Research studies however indicate that most urban authorities do not appreciate this trade and therefore adopt exclusionary policies towards it. Such policies leave the vendors marginalized and operating without appropriate infrastructure. The reported outcomes of this include foodborne diseases, poor waste management and negative livelihood outcomes for the vendors. This study investigated the effects of such management approaches on the social, economic and environmental outcomes of the trade in selected urban areas of Western Kenya. The significance of this study lies in the fact that SF vending has high socio-economic impacts and that despite the exclusionary policies, it still persists. The study’s objectives were; to examine the nature of SF vending as an urban livelihood strategy, to determine the approach used by urban authorities to manage SF vending in the study area, to analyze how the management approach adopted affected the outcomes of SF vending, to assess how SF vendors in the region organized themselves for improved livelihoods and to design an inclusive SF vending management model. The target population was 500 SF vendors selling ready-to-eat food prepared and/or cooked on the streets of Bungoma, Kakamega and Busia towns in Western Kenya. Descriptive survey design was used in which the accessible population was selected using proportionate stratified sampling and simple random sampling methods to give a sample size of 239 respondents. A pilot study was conducted in Mumias town in Kakamega County to establish content validity and reliability of the questionnaire. Primary data was collected through interviews with the respondents. Observation checklists and photography were used to capture salient features that participants may have been uncomfortable to discuss or been unaware of. Analysis of data was done using SPSS statistical software package version 26.0. The results established that SF vending was prevalent in the study area with a large percentage being the youth. It was further found that SF vendors were hardly involved in the management of their trade nor was there sufficient infrastructure to support their operations. This resulted in negative socio-economic and environmental outcomes. The results also show that SF vendors had individual and communal strategies to help them cope with the challenges they faced. In conclusion, therefore, these results indicate a need for the inclusive management of SF vending in the study area to improve the outcomes of the trade