The informal food sector Municipal support policies for operators

“Food in Cities” Collection, No. 4Food and Agriculture Organization of the United NationsRome, 2003

Municipal support policies for operators

A briefing guide for mayors� city executives and urban planners in developing countries and countries in transition

The informal food sector

ii

To mayors, city executives and urban planners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v

1. What do we understand by informal food sector? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

2. Roles of the informal sector in urban food security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

3. Limitations of the informal food sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

4. Modalities of local authority intervention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

5. Lines of intervention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

6. What can you do tomorrow? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Annexes:1. The needs of informal food operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122. Intervention examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133. Intervention modalities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154. Selected initiatives in support of the informal food sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195. Evolution in relations between street vendors and the authorities

in Thailand (1970–2000) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216. Proportion of informal employment among total active population

of selected cities (2000) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227. Importance of the informal sector in urban food supply and distribution

in periods of crisis and periods of economic growth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Endnotes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Suggested Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Tables:1. Classification of street vendors in Bangkok (Thailand) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22. Gender-based specialization of informal food activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23. Organization and functions of a working group

on the “informal food sector” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84. Management of food market areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175. Itinerant and semi-itinerant street food

and food hygiene in Bangkok (Thailand) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Contents

The informal food sector iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors wish to thank Renata Clarke� Food Quality andStandards Service (ESNS)� for her advice and suggestions� aswell as Riccardo Gangale� Cecilia Marocchino� LorenzoPavone and Maria Teresa Belluscio� AgriculturalManagement� Marketing and Finance Service (AGSF)� Foodand Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)�for their help in selecting and preparing the photos�

Graphic design and layout: Emanuela Parrucci� Franklin Soler and Stefania Giuseppetti�

ABBREVIATIONS

ESNS Food Quality and Standards ServiceFAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United

NationsFSDS Food Supply and Distribution SystemGDP Gross Domestic ProductNGO Non�governmental Organization

BIBLIOGRAPHY

This guide is based on the following publications:

• Aragrande� M� and Argenti� O� �� Studying food supplyand distribution systems to cities in developing countries�Methodological and operational guide� “Food into Cities”Collection� DT/��E� FAO� Rome;

• Argenti� O� �� Food for the Cities� Food supply anddistribution policies to reduce urban food insecurity� Abriefing guide for Mayors� City Executives and UrbanPlanners in Developing Countries and Countries inTransition� “Food into Cities” Collection� DT/��E� FAO�Rome;

• Hugon� Ph� and Kervarec� F� �� Municipal supportpolicies for the informal food trade� “Food into Cities”Collection� DT/��E� FAO� Rome�

The text of each of these publications can be freelydownloaded from the Web site:

HTTP://WWW�FAO�ORG/AG/SADA�HTM

The responsibility for the use of these documents rests solelywith the authors of this guide�

LIST OF PHOTOS

Front � back covers: Informal vendor with child� Kersimarket� Arsi Region� Ethiopia (photo:O� Argenti)�

p� ii Informal vendor with child� Merkato� Addis Ababa�Ethiopia (photo: O�Argenti)

p� iv Women farmers in the Humza Valley� North Pakistan(photo: O� Argenti)

p� � Fruit and vegetables retail market� Lahore� Pakistan(photo: O� Argenti)

p� � Informal market� Sikasso� Mali (photo: S� Farolfi)p� � Street market� Kinshasa� Democratic Republic of

Congo (photo: O� Argenti)p� � Fruit market� Amman� Jordan (photo: O� Argenti)p� Itinerant fruit vendor� Santo Domingo� Dominican

Republic (photo: O� Argenti)p� � Fruit and vegetables market waste� Santo Domingo�

Dominican Republic (photo: O� Argenti)p� � Fruit and vegetables retail market� Lahore� Pakistan

(photo: O� Argenti)p� � Fruit and vegetables retail market� Antananarivo�

Madagascar (photo: O� Argenti)p� � Producers’ Training Session� Antananarivo�

Madagascar (photo: O� Argenti)p� � Fruit and vegetables street market� Bangkok�

Thailand (photo: O� Argenti)p� Fruit and vegetables street market� Hanoï � Viet Nam

(photo: O� Argenti)p� Fruit and vegetables street market� Bangkok�

Thailand (photo: O� Argenti)p� � Fruit and vegetable street market� Bangkok� Thailand

(photo: O� Argenti)p� � Woman fruit vendor� Dar�es�Salaam� Tanzania

(photo: C� Marocchino)p� � Public markets without sanitary services� Lahore�

Pakistan (photo: O� Argenti)p� � Retail market “Sunday Market”� Islamabad� Pakistan

(photo: O� Argenti)p� � Tea vendor in fruit and vegetables market� Addis

Ababa� Ethiopia (photo: O� Argenti)p� �� Woman street vendor� Lahore� Pakistan

(photo: O� Argenti)p� �� Sale of eggs in the street� Hanoï� Viet Nam

(photo: O� Argenti)p� �� Sale of meat in the street� Hanoï� Viet Nam

(photo: O� Argenti)p� � Informal street food vendors� Bangkok� Thailand

(photo: O� Argenti)p� �� Fruit shop� Dar�es�Salaam� Tanzania

(photo: C� Marocchino)p� �� Cereal market� Merkato� Addis Ababa� Ethiopia

(photo: O� Argenti)p� �� Women fruit vendors� Merkato� Addis Ababa�

Ethiopia (photo: O� Argenti)p� � Informal fruit vendors in a rural market� North

Pakistan (photo: O� Argenti)p� �� Child onion vendors� Lahore� Pakistan

(photo: O� Argenti)p� �� Popular market organized by Lima Municipality� Peru

(photo: O� Argenti)p� �� Onion retailers� Lahore� Pakistan (photo: O� Argenti)

To mayors, city executives and urban planners

This guide is meant for you. You are responsible for the management and planningof cities that sometimes total several million inhabitants, that are often faced withproblems of access and availability with regard to food products and services. Thisdocument has been designed to help you improve and strengthen the food supplyand distribution systems (FSDSs) of your cities. It seeks to highlight the importantrole that is played by the so-called informal sector for the food security of yourcities.

In view of accelerated urban expansion, population growth1 and rising urbanpoverty, the food security of poor urban households needs to become one of yourpriorities.

It is for you to strengthen the vitality and effectiveness of food supply anddistribution systems, so that these may provide healthy and reasonably priced foodthroughout your cities, throughout the year.

While modern food supply networks are developing in some urban areas, traditionaland usually informal food supply and distribution activities continue to play animportant role, as they are best able to satisfy the specific food needs of poor urbanhouseholds. They also provide employment and income to low income households.It is therefore essential that these activities be duly recognized and supported by thelocal authorities

As the frontline administration, you, the local authorities, have a key role to play inurban food security2 and are in the best position to identify, on the one hand, theproblems that beset informal food operators and, on the other, the problems thatthey themselves present. This guide also puts forward a selection of interventionmodalities, highlighting successful experiences in certain cities, in an effort to inspirelocal policies of support to the informal food sector.

The guide is arranged in the following manner: the first two parts identify theinformal food sector and its role in the supply and distribution of food. The thirdpart exposes the shortcomings of the informal food trade and the problems that itpresents for urban management. A number of solutions to these problems arediscussed in the fourth part which deals with intervention modalities. Selectedexamples of municipal support policies for the informal food trade are given in theannexes by way of orientation for effective strategies.

The informal food sector v

The informal food sector 1

The “informal sector” exists inmany forms. It includes smallmanufacturing enterprises andsmall traders and service providers,legal and illegal activities and awide array of artisans. The fields ofactivity also vary extensively, fromconstruction, auto-repair andtransport, through arts and crafts tofood and agriculture.

Finding an unequivocal definitionof the concept of “informal sector”is therefore difficult, given thevariety of activities and trades thatthe term embraces. The sameapplies to the concept of “informalfood”. This guide will thereforelimit itself to a number of recurringelements and characteristicsassociated with this sector.

The most visible activities relatingto the informal food sector are:

• food production (urban andperiurban);

• catering and transport;• the retail sale of fresh or

prepared products (e.g. thestationary or itinerant sale ofstreet food) (see table 1).

All these activities3 exist in mostcities, although their relativeimportance in the supply anddistribution of food and in the localemployment situation varies, evenfrom one municipal district toanother.

The informal food sector ischaracterized by (see table 2):

• the absence of specialization:informal trade develops more bydiversifying products sold;

• very low capital investment;• interlinkage between production

and consumption: the informalfood trade can be both producerand consumer of food productsand services;

• the absence of accounts and thenon-payment of all or sometaxation;

• the possibility of dovetailingwith the formal food sector tosatisfy a differing demand andcustomer base. The informalsector overwhelminglyaddresses households andmicro-enterprises with varyingand limited purchasing power;

• innovations that are more socialthan technical. Because of therelations it often maintains withthe rural sector, the informalfood trade can provide rawmaterials at lower cost. Thesocial networks can also providevirtually free labour in the formof apprentice help or familymembers who are fed butreceive no or little pay.

1 What do we understand by informal food sector?

Rural-urban migration

Most street hawkers in large urbanareas are a product of rural

migration.Thus any attempt toorganize and integrate these

informal activities needs to take thedynamics of rural migration into

account, ideally adopting anapproach that is more regional, or

indeed national, than local.

Source: Rungroekrit, 2001, p. 57.

What do we understand by informal food sector?2

Characteristics

Type of sale

Status of activity

Type of dwelling

Level of skill

Level of education

Origin

Start-up capital

Income

Group conducting subsistenceactivity

itinerant or semi-itinerantvending

illegal

rented housing in slum area

no formal training, little or noinformal training

primary education

very low (1 000 baht4, pole and baskets)

recent rural migrant

very low (between 300 and 400baht/day)

Group conducting activity withgrowth potential

sale at fixed site

legal

house in the city

multiple training (cooking, food safety)

secondary education

higher (vehicle, rented stall)

born in the city or long-established rural migrant

higher (about 3 000 baht/day)

Source: Rungroekrit, 2001, pp. 36-37.

Table 2Gender-based specialization of informal food activities

As in other sectors, informal food sector activities are divided between men and women.

The women are overwhelmingly responsible for small catering operations and street food. They aretraditionally skilled in these activities and already have the necessary cooking utensils at home,while the food they prepare also enables them to feed their families at lower cost.

Gender-based specialization at the retail level sometimes depends on:• the product sold: in West Africa, grilled meat is sold by the men folk, while the women sell

prepared food dishes. In Dar es Salaam5, the women working in the informal sector usually runsmall food outlets (Mamantilie), while the men sell basic everyday essentials as well as luxuryproducts, such as mobile phones, cigarettes and watches;

• the city: in Calcutta, men run most of the 130 000 stalls selling food products and services, whilein Bangkok two-thirds of food vendors are women.

Table 1Classification of street vendors in Bangkok (Thailand)


Street food

1. The many points of salenear to schools andoffices, bus stops andstations facilitateconsumer access to food,saving time andtransport costs;

2. street vendors sell smallunits affordable to thepoor;

3. traders adopt customer-friendly practices tocultivate loyalty: extraportions at no charge orprovision of credit.

Informal activities that adjust tosocio-economic circumstances

1. In periods of economiccrisis, the decline inpurchasing power andfall in employmentopportunities in theformal sector often spurthe development of theinformal food sector asthis providesemployment and incometo households indifficulty;

2. in situations of economicuncertainty, the ability ofpoorer households toproduce their own foodproducts and servicescan be crucial for theirfood security.

Informal activities thatrespond to urbandevelopment and theexpansion of cities

1. The informal food trade offersa large number of sales pointsin the urban districts furthestfrom the city centre and theorganized secondary markets,thus bridging the inadequaciesof the formal distributionstructure. In most cases, theinformal sector has forged anetwork of relations, practicesand rules of operation that aremore effective than those ofthe formal sector.

Informal activities that offer newservices shaped by changingsocial patterns and dietary habits

• Street food and the sale offresh food has served tomitigate the increasing distancebetween work and home;

• some informal food tradershave demonstrated a keensense of creativity in the foodproducts and services theyoffer.

The informal sector participatesin urban food supply anddistribution at three levels

• Maintaining urban-rural links:exchanges of food items andservices within or outside thefamily or through direct saleby producers;

• intermediation: supply anddistribution of unprocessedproducts (transporters,retailers, including streetvendors);

• processing and sale of ready-to-eat food: street food andsmall catering.

2 Roles of the informal sector in urban food security

Limitations of the informal food sector4

Informal activities offering newservices adapted to social and foodstyle evolution

• As informal traders get theirsupplies from local markets theyare directly vulnerable to theuncertainties of nature thataffect agriculture;

• the inadequacy of means ofcommunication and transportinfrastructure places a seriousconstraint on the informal foodsector, which is above allcompetitive over shortdistances;

• their lack of funds and theabsence of access to formalcredit restricts the storagecapacity of informal traders.Their stocks are insufficient inquantity, as managed on a tightflow basis with its inevitableinterruptions, and in quality,with poorly ventilated and dampstorage areas causing significantloss;

• the conditions of street sale, thehealth of vendors and themicrobiological contaminationof the water they use give rise toserious problems of foodhygiene and safety;

• the nutritional quality of freshand cooked street food is low;

• the unauthorized vending offood along already busythoroughfares poses addedproblems of congestion, safetyand environmental pollution.

3 Limitations of the informal food sector

Understanding the local situation

Authorities wishing to introduceprogrammes to support the informal

food sector need to bear in mind thata given policy cannot be

automatically transposed from onelocation to another, and that what

functioned well in one case might notnecessarily function in another.


4 Modalities of local authority intervention

At the level of supply anddistribution of goods and services

• By fostering the urban andperiurban production of food;

• by promoting thediversification of food supplyand introducing products tosupplement or replacenormally consumed fooditems. This improvesnutritional levels and mitigatesinterruptions in supply;

• by facilitating the availabilityof food by improvingtransportation and thedistribution infrastructure;

• by providing appropriate areasand structures for the sale offood;

• by facilitating access to theservices needed by theinformal food sector;

• by improving the quality andsafety of food products;

• by safeguarding theenvironment (air, water andsoil) from contamination frominformal food supply anddistribution activities.

At the level of food access,placing the urban consumer at theheart of food security policy

Urban household access to foodproducts and services depends on:

• purchasing power, and here theauthorities can facilitate thedistribution of low-costproducts;

• possibilities of non-commercialaccess to food products andservices associated withhousehold linkages to socialnetworks and/or the practice of

urban food production (self-supply). Here, the land tenureand land-use managementpolicies of the municipalauthorities still play aninstrumental role.

Difficulties of intervention

The main problems facing localadministrations as they seek tosupport the informal food sectorcome from difficulties inmarshalling the producers andstreet vendors, because these twogroups:

• belong to the least privilegedsectors of the urban populationand therefore act according tocoping strategies;

• lack information and aretherefore little inclined tofollow health directives;

• are unlikely to be motivated bypractices that are moreenvironmentally friendly;

• are often repressed by the localauthorities and are thereforemistrustful;

• are not organized intoassociations and, as they donot pay taxes, are unlikely tocollaborate.

Lines of intervention6

1. Promote attitudes and policiesthat are favourable to informalfood operators

• By better understanding therole of the informal operators,which can be done by:• identifying informal

activities, operators andconsumer practices in thepurchase of food products;

• training local governmentstaff in these same matters;

• by encouraging the formationof groups and associations ofinformal operators and/orreinforcing those alreadyexisting;

• by sustaining meaningfuldialogue with theirrepresentatives who must beinvited to participate in theformulation of the programmesof action that affect them;

• by facilitating the reporting byprivate sector food supply anddistribution operatives ofillegal practices among policeofficers and market authorities(through, for example, a“complaints” window) and byensuring that such violationsare actively pursued.

2. Integrate the needs andconstraints of informaloperators at the level of:

a) Planning

• Better understand informalactivities and operators so as tobetter identify their problemsand needs;

• integrate into land occupancyplanning:• the demand for land for

urban and periurban foodproduction;

• the existence of informalmarkets, including inoutlying urban areas.

b) Information and training

• Inform operators of their rightsand obligations, and brief themon existing programmes ofaction;

• provide information andtraining on food hygiene,safety and nutritional quality;

• provide information andtraining on marketing and salestechniques;

• provide training on practicesthat add value to production(processing, marketingtechniques);

• act through informal vendors’associations when deliveringinformation and/or training inorder to bolster membership.

Harassment

Informal operators are regularlysubjected to physical and verbal

abuse in the course of their activity.

Tan, an itinerant vendor inBangkok, was the victim of policethreats and no longer dares to sell

her products in public areas close tocommercial establishments.

It is not unusual to see streetvendors being harassed by regular

shop owners and having to paylarge sums of money to be allowed

to exercise their trade.

Source: Rungroekrit, 2001, pp. 35-36

5 Lines of intervention 6


c) Supply and management ofinfrastructure, equipment andservices

• Ensure or improve the supplyof clean water;

• improve the personal hygieneof food vendors and thehygiene of sales equipment andsites by providing water pointsand toilets;

• improve the removal of refusefrom markets and points ofsale;

• improve communication routesbetween points of urban andperiurban food production andmarkets; between markets andoutlying districts (places ofconsumption and of residence).

d) Regulations on land occupancyand use, food quality standards,rules of hygiene, circulation oftraffic and pollution

• Critically review existing rulesand regulations, with a specialfocus on their relevance,complexity, intelligibility,enforcement and monitoring;

• make informal operators moreaware of existing regulationsthrough institutional channelsand information campaigns;

• take the needs, constraints andviews of operators and theirability to comply into account,when establishing regulations.

3. Promoting private investment

Promoting productive investmentby informal food operators toimprove production, transport andstorage conditions and capacity, toraise sales and to enhance thevalue and safety of products sold.This means:

• improving access to creditfrom formal and/or informalinstitutions;

• consolidating the economicenvironment of operators, witheasier access to land, strongersecurity of land tenure, betteraccess to inputs and thedevelopment of infrastructurefor informal activities(markets, street vending stalls,water points, toilets, publictransport).

Project of itinerant vendor cooperativesin Cebu City (Philippines)

The local authorities of Cebu City have tried to revamp the dilapidatedpublic market in the city centre.They have encouraged the vendors to

organize themselves into cooperatives and where, not long ago, there werefrequent disputes between unlicensed itinerant vendors, there are now

allotted spaces reducing problems of access to sales areas.

It is now the vendors who run the market, while the local authoritiesprovide the services of municipal staff and are actively engaged in

encouraging the public to return to this point of sale.

Source:Yasmeen, 2000, p. 24.

4. Coordinating publicinterventions and privateinitiatives

• Maintain genuine and effectivedialogue with therepresentatives of differentgroups and associations;

• handle conflicts of interestopposing different actors orgroups of actors of the foodsector (land disputes linked tothe expansion of urban andperiurban production);

• monitor programmes ofsupport to informal foodactivities.

5. Playing an intermediary rolebetween the central governmentand the private food sector

• Relay the needs and demandsof the informal food operatorsto the regional and nationalauthorities;

• inform the informal foodoperators of national andregional programmes for foodsupply and distributionactivities and of relevantregulatory changes.

All these interventions will be allthe more successful if led andcoordinated by a working group,which should ideally be set upwithin the municipal unitresponsible for urban food supplyand distribution policy (seeArgenti, 2000, p. 20 and table 3).

Table 3Organization and functions of a working group on the “informal food sector”

The group could comprise:

• local authority officials who liaise with othermunicipal services and the centraladministration;

• local authority officials who are in contactwith the public and with communityrepresentatives;

• representatives of municipal districts, tradeassociations (traders, stall holders, itinerantvendors) and producer and consumerassociations.

The group could be charged with:

• improving understanding of the informal foodsector;

• monitoring and coordinating all supportoperations for informal food operators;

• ensuring that informal food activities are takeninto account in other local policies (landoccupancy planning, organization of urbantraffic);

• briefing local authority officials and staff oninformal food activities;

• disseminating all relevant information toinformal operators;

• training or encouraging the training ofinformal operators;

• proposing support strategies and programmestailored to inform food activities;

• monitoring the implementation of supportprogrammes for informal food activities.

Lines of intervention8

6 What can you do tomorrow?


If your policies are to make agenuine impact on the informalfood sector, they must considerthe needs of the different playersor groups of players involved. Youwill have to pay particularattention to:

Identifying informal food sectoractivities and understanding theproblems operators face

To do this, you will have to:

• draw up a list of functions andduties of your institution thathave a direct or indirect impacton informal food activities;

• create a working group on theinformal food sector;

• identify the informal operatorsand determine their needs anddifficulties;

• improve the expertise of yourstaff;

• undertake and regularly updatestudies and surveys of theinformal food sector;

• establish and regularly updatea database of operators andtheir activities;

• take into account theprogrammes of support to theinformal sector implementedby other governmentauthorities, NGOs andinternational organizations.

Developing a participatoryapproach

To do this, you will have to:

• sensitize individual operatorsto the benefits of formingorganizations to relay theirdemands;

• make sure that the localassociations are genuinelyrepresentative;

• see that these associations aretreated on an equal footing;

• regularly invite the differentplayers to round tables wherethey can voice their difficultiesand expectations;

• ensure the free expression ofopinion of all;

• establish regulations that takethe recommendations andobjections of the differentplayers into account;

• enable the representatives ofthe different groups to play anactive role in programmeformulation, implementationand monitoring;

• create the enabling conditionsfor informal operators toresolve their problemsthemselves;

• make sure that operatorscontribute financially and withlabour, according to individualmeans.

South-South Cooperation

The difficulties encountered in themunicipalities of the South are often

recurring, which is why it isimportant for these municipalities tocooperate with each other and share

their knowledge, experience andrespective solutions.This type of

cooperation among municipalities ofthe South is in fact very promising, for

similar socio-economic situationsreinforce the possibility of transposing

and adapting ideas and know-how.

Source:Tjandradewi, Dato Singh Chadl,

CityNet, 2000, pp. 4-5.

Annex 1: Intervention examples

Annex 2: Exemples d’interventions

Annex 3: Intervention modalities

Annex 4: Selected initiatives in support of the informal foodsector

Annex 5: Evolution in relations between street vendors and theauthorities in Thailand (1970-2000)

Annex 6: Proportion of informal employment among totalactive population of selected cities (2000) 7

Annex 7: Importance of the informal sector in urban foodsupply and distribution in periods of crisis andperiods of economic growth

Annexes

Annexes12

Annex 1: The needs of informal food operators

Producers

• Security of land tenure.• Advice on the best use of seeds

and chemical products.• Clean water for irrigation.• Facilities to destroy dangerous

agricultural waste.• Information on the proper use

of urban waste as fertilizer.• Professional know-how on

packaging, handling,transporting and managing.

• Credit for investment.• Assembly markets.• Direct access to consumers.• Road infrastructure.• Improved state of roads to

minimize vehicle repair.• Appropriate parking areas

reserved for the handling ofgoods.

• Simplified administrativeprocedures.

• Reduction in taxes levied on theroad network.

• Adequate lighting at marketsites.

• No bother by police or othersecurity agents resulting in costlydelays and the payment ofbribes at official or unofficialroadblocks.

• Clean toilets and safe waterpoints.

• Responsible and effectivemanagement of markets.

• Appropriate regulation ofmarkets.

• Availability of refuse bins.• Security for vehicles and goods.• First-aid, post office, telephones,

fax and loud speakers.

Traders and itinerant vendors

• Financial resources to expandthe scale of their operations andthus reduce operating costs.

• Adequate parking space insideand outside markets to load andunload goods.

• Clean and dry market vicinity.• Waste disposal facilities.• Clean toilets.• Adequate water points.• Storage areas (with cold stores

for butchers and fishmongers)and sorting facilities.

• Access to banks to deposittakings.

• Information on markets.• Professional know-how on

packaging, handling,transporting and managing.

• Responsible and effectivemanagement of markets.

• Appropriate regulations andsimplified administrativeprocedures.

• Protection against adverseweather conditions.

• Protection and safety of personsand goods.

• Childcare facilities.• First-aid, post office, telephones,

fax and loud speakers.• No bother by police or other

security agents.

Street food vendors andsmall restaurants

• Financial resources to enlargethe scale of operations.

• Clean and dry immediatevicinity.

• Waste disposal facilities.• Clean toilets.• Adequate water points.• Access to banks to deposit

takings.• Professional know-how on

handling, transporting andmanaging.

• Adequate regulation andsimplified administrativeprocedures.

• Protection and safety of personsand goods.

• No bother by police or othersecurity agents.


Strategy for reorganization of thestreet food sector in Dakar(Senegal)

(Municipality of Dakar, FAO,Ministries, trade associations)

Since November 1998, the city ofDakar (1.5 million inhabitants)and FAO have been jointlyinvolved in the “Strategy for theReorganization of the Street FoodSector in Dakar” programme,whose principal objective is toguarantee the safety of street foodand to protect the urbanenvironment at the points of sale.

The programme focuses on streetvendors and small restaurants. Itinvolves the administrationsconcerned, the food operators andconsumer representatives. Theprogramme is supported by anumber of formal institutions(Ministries of Health, Agriculture,Housing and Town Planning,universities and veterinary school)and informal bodies (associationsof small restaurant owners).

The programme includes a criticalassessment of the street foodsituation, followed by actions topromote awareness andapplication of hygienic practicesamong informal operators.

Savings and credit cooperative insupport of retail market sales inLoja (Ecuador)

(Municipality of Loja, traditionalinformal institutions)

The retail markets of Loja (180 000 inhabitants) providework for 2 500 persons, mostlywomen. The municipality hassupported the retail trade byhelping to create a savings andcredit cooperative. Thisprogramme, which began in 1998,aims to eliminate usury and thushelp improve traders’ livingconditions. Evaluation meetingsare organized with themunicipality and vendors. Thecity provides the infrastructureand personnel needed for themarket places and the savings andcredit cooperative to functionproperly, but the financial inputcomes solely from the traders. Itwas difficult to convince some ofthe traders to join the cooperativeas they were not aware of thepotential advantages ofmembership. The programme has,nevertheless, partially achieved itsobjectives by providing credit to anumber of traders.

Annex 2: Intervention examples

Annexes14

Makati Vendors Programme of theCity (Philippines)

(Municipality of Makati

Although Makati (500 000inhabitants) is the economiccentre of the country, it has a veryhigh level of unemployment.The “Makati Vendors Programmeof the City”, which was started in1992, involves 760 street vendors,mostly women and 60 percentbetween the ages of 30 and 45.

They hawk their cooked food,which is based on local products(rice and vegetables), in thevicinity of schools, bus stops andstations. The main problemsconcern the safety and nutritionalquality of their products.

The principal objectives of theprogramme are:• to provide the urban poor of

Makati with an alternativesource of income. Theprogramme therefore supportsthe creation and managementof micro-enterprises;

• to organize and developcommunity associations tofacilitate the activeparticipation of members inprojects and activities;

• to encourage cleanliness andhygiene at point of sale(pavement, street);

• to strengthen links with otherplayers of the local economy.

The programme participants aretolerated even when these do notpay any land occupancy tax. Thevendors are made aware ofsanitary regulations and arepenalized for failing to comply(e.g. when not wearing the properclothing). The traders didn’t use tobe organized and their activitiescongested the streets. Theprogramme has provided itsparticipants with uniform marketstalls and allotted them a vendingspace. It relies on the support of23 local associations, which

permits the broadest possibleparticipation in decision making.The vendors have been able toimprove their standard of livingthanks to the programme and nolonger fear being detained,because they are now recognizedby the local authorities.

Le programme a fourni des étalsstandards aux adhérents et leur aattribué une zone de vente. Il sebase sur 23 associations locales,permettant la participation du plusgrand nombre à la définition desactions. Les vendeurs ont puaméliorer leur niveau de vie grâceau programme et ne craignent plusd’être appréhendés, puisqu’ilssont maintenant reconnus par lesautorités locales.

Sustainable Dar es SalaamProgramme (Tanzania)

(Municipality of Dar es Salaam)

In Dar es Salaam (3.5 millioninhabitants), the informal sectoraccounts for as much as 30percent of the city’s GDP. It alsoprovides low-income populationgroups with a variety of goodsand services.

In 1993, the “Sustainable Dar esSalaam Programme” established aworking group on the smalltrading sector so that this could beintegrated into the economy of thecity.

A guide was prepared in 1995 tofacilitate the integration of smalltraders. This document paved theway for micro-interventions in thecity centre, an area traditionallyinvaded by street vendors.

The programme also set up asmall fruit and vegetable marketfor traders blocking the busieststreet in the city centre, ZanakiStreet.

This programme, implementedjointly by the municipality and thevendors, resulted in:• the regularization of informal

activities on this street;• a more rational use of available

space;• the management and regular

removal of refuse.

These measures wereimplemented in keeping with theeconomic possibilities of thevendors who were assured of theirright to use the public space. Thevendors have formed anassociation which now enjoys theuse of a trading area in exchangefor the payment of an annualmunicipal tax.


Annex 3: Intervention modalities

Objectives

General objectives• Reinforced security of land

tenure;• higher investment by urban

food producers;• health safety of products.

Specific objectives• Higher yields;• greater access to credit and

inputs;• satisfactory state of access

roads to markets;• better understanding by food

producers of agriculturalpractices and healthstandards;

• elimination of sources offood contamination.

Implementation stages

• Identify and recognize theconstraints and role of urbanfood production in foodsecurity;

• identify urban householdsalready engaged in foodproduction, their productionsites and their land,infrastructure, equipmentand service requirements;

• integrate urban markets intoland occupancy planning;

• identify causes of foodcontamination;

• facilitate access of foodproducers to uncontaminatedwater for irrigation;

• explain the specificobjectives of the envisagedprogramme and take intoconsideration local reactionsconveyed by informalinstitutions;

• reinforce security of landtenure through clarificationof land rights and settlementof disputes;

• train producers inagricultural practices and intechnical and healthstandards.

Performance indicators

• Volume of urban foodproduction;

• sales of urban foodproduction;

• income from urban foodproduction.

Activity: Urban food production

Intra-urban agriculture

In Santiago de Los Caballeros(Dominican Republic) urban

agriculture occupies 16 percent of thecity’s surface area and provides thepoorest families with an importantdaily food supplement.Any surplus

production is used as an additionalsource of income through informal

street vending, but by using chemicalproducts and waste water, urban

agriculture can cause problems offood contamination, unless

appropriate sanitary measures aretaken.

Source: Del Rosario, 2000, pp. 5-7.

Activity: Transport of food products

Annexes16

Objectives

General objectives• Regular supply;• lowest possible unit

transport costs.

Specific objectives• Greater access to credit for

food transport;• diversification of sources of

supply;• satisfactory state of

infrastructure linking ruralareas and periurbanproduction zones withwholesale and retailmarkets;

• simplification of foodtransport regulations;

• better understanding of foodhygiene, safety, processing,packaging and transportstandards;

• reduction in roadblocks/check points andelimination of illegalcharges.

Implementation phases

• Identify and recognize theconstraints and role ofinformal intra-urban andurban-rural transport inurban food security;

• identify the main supplyroutes, those to bedeveloped, andinfrastructural andequipment inadequacies;

• explain the specificobjectives of plannedinterventions and take intoaccount the views of thetarget populations asconveyed by informalinstitutions;

• identify necessaryinterventions andresponsibilities for theirimplementation.


• Regularity of supply toconsumer areas throughoutthe year and from one yearto another (in volume permonth and per commodity),in relation to volumesavailable in productionareas;

• number of supply routes;• cost of freightage;• transport time by type of

vehicle;• volume of food lost during

transport.

Activity: Retail sale of fresh produce

Table 4Management of food market areas

In Thailand, a number of unusedperiurban areas have beenconverted into market areasequipped with sanitaryinfrastructure and electricity.

In Hanoi, a number of streets areused as night markets, with themunicipality cleaning the streets atdawn to avoid traffic problems.

In Malaysia, parking areas havebeen converted into night marketsfor itinerant vendors between18:00 hours and midnight.Similarly, informal activities havebeen relocated to specific publicspaces (railway station, riverbanks).



Objectives

General objectives• Better access of consumers

to fresh and healthyproducts;

• good sanitary conditions atmobile and fixed points ofsale (markets, kiosks, etc.);

• availability of wide range offresh and healthy products.

Specific objectives• Promote the production of

new fresh products and newvarieties;

• better access to credit, waterand inputs;

• satisfactory market areas,infrastructure, equipmentand services;

• reduction/elimination ofcauses of contamination offresh produce throughout thefood chain.

Implementation phases

• Identify and recognize theconstraints and role ofinformal vendors of freshproduce;

• identify spontaneousmarkets and infrastructure,equipment and service needs(clean water, toilets, storageareas, access roads);

• identify the causes ofcontamination of freshproduce throughout the foodchain;

• integrate retail areas andinfrastructure into landoccupancy planning;

• explain the specificobjectives of the plannedinterventions and take intoaccount the views of thetarget populations as relayedby informal institutions;

• draw up a maintenance planfor communication routeslinking production areaswith urban and periurbanareas;

• improve sanitary conditionsat retail sales points (cleanwater, toilets).


• Income of itinerant vendorsand informal small traders;

• variety (number) of freshproducts on sale;

• number of consumers;• incidence of food-borne

disease;• number of groups and

associations.

Annexes18

Activity: Sale of prepared food in the street and small restaurants

Objectives

General objectives• Better nutritional quality of

food sold;• reduction of food-borne

disease.

Specific objectives• Access to credit and inputs;• better understanding by

informal food operators ofthe causes of foodcontamination;

• availability of infrastructureand equipment for betterfood hygiene;

• compliance with rules ofhygiene.

Implementation stages

• Identify itinerant foodvendors and smallrestaurant operators andtheir activities;

• identify and recognize theirrole;

• identify points of sale,needs for infrastructure,equipment, information andtraining and consumerprofile and numbers;

• explain the specificobjectives of the plannedinterventions and take intoaccount the views of thetarget population as relayedby informal institutions;

• promote groups andassociations.


• Better conditions ofhygiene at and near pointsof sale and for equipmentand utensils;

• personal hygiene of streetfood vendors and smallrestaurant staff;

• variety (number) of fooddishes available;

• number of consumers;• incidence of food-borne

disease;• number of groups and

associations.


Annex 4: Selected initiatives in support of the

informal food sector

City/Country

Quito centreEcuador (177 000habitants)

GuayaquilEcuador (2.4 millioninhabitants)

BarberenaGuatemala (43 000inhabitants)

Teculatanza-capaGuatemala (11 000inhabitants)

ChinautlaGuatemala (150 000inhabitants)

LojaEcuador (180 000inhabitants)

Dar es SalaamTanzania (3.5 millioninhabitants)

Activity

Street food(prepared dishes)

Urban andperiurbanproduction


Street food

Market retailers

Street food

Street food

Initiative

Municipality

Tradeassociations

Municipalityand other localentities

Municipality

Municipality

Municipality

Municipality

Starting date

1999

Pre-project

Not available(10 months)

Not available (6 months)

2000

1998

1995

Description of programme

Improve food quality, providenecessary infrastructure to safeguardconsumer health

Improve diet of the urban poor andprovide income to the unemployed;use un- or under-occupied urbanspace

Improve safety of street food

Develop and guide the sector toimprove health and safeguardhygiene at points of sale

Reorganize street vending

Reduce usury and improve livingconditions (see annex 2)

Integrate the informal sector into theurban infrastructure (appropriatelocations for small operators) (seeannex 2)

Annexes20

Activity

Urban andperiurban foodproduction


Urban foodproduction

Employment andliving conditions


Survey

Street food (fresh produce)

Food hygiene

Urban foodproduction


City/Country

CuencaEcuador (420 000inhabitants)

DakarSenegal (1.5 millioninhabitants

FreetownSierra Leone(760 000inhabitants)

MandaluyongPhilippines(334 000inhabitants)

MasayPhilippines

BarisalBangladesh

GazipurBangladesh(200 000inhabitants)

HanoiViet Nam (2.5 millioninhabitants)

MuntinlupaPhilippines

MakatiPhilippines(500 000inhabitants)

Initiative

Municipality

Municipalityand FAO

Local informalinstitutions

Municipality

Municipality

Municipality

Municipalityand NGO

Municipality

Municipalityand centralgovernment

Municipality

Starting date

1998

January 2000

2000

In the pipeline

2000

2000

1999

Not available

Description of programme

Develop urban and periurban foodproduction with the directinvolvement of the community

Sanitize food supply in Dakar,safeguard the urban environment andconsumer health. Improve thehygiene of food prepared and sold inthe street (see annex 2)

Develop urban food production forthe poorer strata of the population,providing material assistance (land,tools…), training and awareness-raising

Improve living conditions offamilies living below the povertythreshold. Provide employment tofamilies without adequate income

Identify practitioners, products andpractices. Promote and educate as topublic health and environmentalimpact

Survey on the informal food sector

Offer fresh quality produce andguarantee conditions of hygiene

Produce safe food products andmaintain hygiene through to theconsumer

Urban food production needs tosatisfy a proportion of daily foodrequirements in poorer urban areasand provide form of income formany people without work

Raise level of income of poorermembers of the population bypromoting quality street food (seeannex 2).

Annex 4 (cont.)


Annex 5: Evolution in relations between street

vendors and the authorities

in Thailand (1970-2000)

The attitude of Thailand’s authorities to the informalstreet food sector has changed dramatically in thelast 30 years.

In the 1970s, while aware of the important roleplayed by itinerant vendors, the Government wasalso faced with an alarming increase in numbers,which led it to introduce regulations to control streetvendors and vending stalls.

In the early 1980s, the Ministry of the Interior andthe municipal authorities of Bangkok initiated acampaign against street trading. The authoritiesadopted radical measures to remove itinerant vendorsfrom public places, measures that included threatsand the confiscation of merchandise.

In the 1990s, however, the Bangkok authoritiesadopted a softer approach predicated on discussionand cooperation.

A new “Improving Street Food Sanitation Project”was launched to improve the conditions in whichstreet trading took place. Vendors would now beidentified and registered and would be provided witha sales location and sanitary training, and wouldreceive certificates and labels when meeting qualitystandards.


Table 5Itinerant/semi-itinerant

street food and food hygiene in Bangkok (Thailand)

Source: Rungroekrit, 2001, p. 41.

Equipment andother features

Food stalls

Refuse bins

Coolboxes

Clean water

Refrigerators

Cleanliness ofvendor’s hands

Vendors’ practices

Itinerant/semi-itinerant street food

87% do not meetrequired standards

75% do not meetrequired standards

69% are dirty(mixture of ice andfood waste)

50% of the water isunsafe (use ofinappropriatereceptacles)

99% of food iscontaminated (highbacterial count)

96% of hands arevery dirty

Most do not meetrequired standards

Annexes22

Informal activity amongactive population (%)

31

79

8

53

70

10

80

50

52

13

Informal foodactivity among activepopulation (%)

Non disponible

18

5

32

28

8

48

20

14

9

Annex 6: Proportion of informal employment among

total active population of

selected cities (2000)7

Municipality

DKI Jakarta(Indonesia)

Rangamati(Bangladesh)

Suva(Fiji)

Guayaquil(Ecuador)

Freetown(Sierra Leone)

Port of Spain(Trinidad and Tobago)

Lagos(Nigeria)

Blantyre(Malawi)

Managua(Nicaragua)

Penaloleon(Chile)

Population

10 million

66 211

90 000

2,4 million

755 589

1,3 million

7,4 million

519 033

1,5 million

218 000

Source: FAO Survey, May 2000. Summary of non-reliable collected data, this table gives the gross amountsamong most reliable data.


Annex 7: Importance of the informal sector in urban

food supply and distribution in periods of

crisis and periods of economic growth

< 10%

In periods of economic crisis

In periods of economic growth

�� !�"�� #� �� $�� %�

0

10

20

Per

cent

age

of c

ities 30

40

> 80%10 to30%

30 to50%

50 to80%

Endnotes

1 The population of the world’s urban areas is projectedto double between 1990 and 2010.

2 For more comprehensive information on urban foodsupply and distribution policy, see Argenti 2000.

3 Except for urban and periurban agriculture whichrequires land availability that is lacking in certaincities.

4 The baht is the national currency of Thailand (US$1 = 43.79 baht in March 2002).

5 All references in the text to Dar es Salaam are takenfrom Marocchino, 2002.

6 This paragraph takes up the detailed lines of actiongiven in Argenti, 2000, highlighting and adaptingelements of particular relevance to informal FSDSoperators.

7 Estimates taken from the FAO survey, May 2000. Assome gathered data lack reliability, this documentpresents the raw figures among the most reliable data,according to sources cited or possible cross-checking.This avoids the statistical processing being toounrepresentative to have any significance.

Endnotes

24


Suggested reading

Aragrande, M. & Argenti, O. 1999. Studying foodsupply and distribution systems in cities in developingcountries. Methodological and operational guide.“Food into Cities” Collection, DT/36-99E. FAO,Rome.

Argenti, O. 1999. Urban food security and foodmarketing. A challenge to cities and local authorities.“Food into Cities” Collection, DT/40-99E. FAO,Rome.

Argenti, O. 2000. Food for the cities. Food supply anddistribution policies to reduce urban food insecurity. Abriefing guide for Mayors, City Executives and UrbanPlanners in developing countries and countries intransition. “Food into Cities” Collection, DT/45-00E.FAO, Rome.

Canet, C. 1997a. L’alimentation de rue en Afrique.“Food into Cities” Collection, DT/25-97F. FAO,Rome.

Canet, C. 1997b. Le contrôle alimentaire en Afrique.“Food into Cites” Collection, DT/26-97F. FAO, Rome.

Cheyns, E. 1996. Les pratiques d’approvisionnementdes consommateurs de Ouagadougou. “Food intoCites” Collection, EC/06-96F. FAO, Rome.

Cullinan, C. 1997. Legal aspects of urban foodmarketing supply and distribution. “Food into Cites”Collection, DT/14-97E. FAO, Rome.

Del Rosario, P. 2000. El sistema de abastecimiento ydistribución de alimentos en la ciudad de Santiago delos Caballeros. “Food into Cites” Collection, AC/25-00S. FAO, Rome.

Egounlety, M. 1997. Contribution de l’artisanat àl’approvisionnement alimentaire des villes en Afrique.“Food into Cites” Collection, DT/17-97F. FAO, Rome.

Goossens, F. 1996a. La commercialisation des vivreslocaux en Afrique subsaharienne. Le secteur informeldans une perspective dynamique. “Food into Cites”Collection, DT/03-96F. FAO, Rome.

Hugon, Ph. 1997. Pluralité des filièresd’approvisionnement alimentaire dans les villesd’Afrique francophone. “Food into Cites” Collection,DT/08-97F. FAO, Rome.

Hugon, Ph. & Kervarec, F. 2001. Municipal supportpolicies for the informal food trade. “Food into Cites”Collection, DT/45-01E. FAO, Rome.

Kane-Devautour, K. 1997. Logiques sociales etpratiques informelles et leurs implications pour lesprogrammes d’appui aux SADA des villes d’Afriquefrancophone. “Food into Cities” Collection, EC/23-97F. FAO, Rome.

Lugalla, J. 1997. Development, Changed Poverty in theInformal Sector during the Era of StructuralAdjustment in Tanzania. Canadian Journal of AfricanStudies, 31 (3). Dar es Salaam.

Marocchino, C. 2002. Il commercio informale e lospazio urbano, il caso di Manzese a Dar es Salaam.“Food into Cites” Collection, EC/136-02I. FAO,Rome.

Mihailov, S. 1997. Les petites et moyennes entreprisesalimentaires: le “chaînon manquant” del’approvisionnement alimentaire urbain en Afrique.“Food into Cites” Collection, DT/21-97F. FAO, Rome.

Rungroekrit, C. 2001. Improving the Situation of theUrban Street Food Vendors in Thailand. Master’sThesis. Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, theNetherlands.

Sustainable Dar es Salaam Programme (SDP). 1995.Environmental Planning and Management Process inDar es Salaam. Integrating Informal Sector into CityEconomy. SDP. Dar es Salaam.

Tjandradewi, B.I.a & Dato Singh Chahl, L. 2000.Cooperation and Parnerships between Cities forUrban Food Security. “Food into Cites” Collection,DT/60-00E. FAO, Rome.

Wilhelm, L. 1997a. Les circuits d’approvisionnementalimentaire des villes et le fonctionnement des marchésen Afrique et à Madagascar. “Food into Cites”Collection, AC/03-97F. FAO, Rome.

Wilhelm, L. 1997b. Le transport et approvisionnementinter-marchés dans les villes en Afrique: des servicesméconnus aux usagers, commerçants etconsommateurs. “Food into Cites” Collection, DT/19-97F. FAO, Rome.

Yasmeen, G. 2000. Stockbrokers Turned SandwichVendors: the Economic Crisis and Small-Scale FoodRetailing in Southeast Asia. “Food into Cites”Collection, DT/54-00E. FAO, Rome.

All the documents under the electronic “Food into Cites”Collection can be freely downloaded from the Web site:

http://www.fao.org/ag/sada.htm

Bibliography26

Documents

The informal food sector Municipal support policies for operators