ABSTRACT
This study provides insight into the street hawking phenomenon and evaluates its impact on the beautification of the capital city of Accra.
There is a common saying that “where there is traffic, there is business” which reflects a characteristic of Ghanaian market hawkers. It is hard to image how hawkers do business for those who have never been to Ghana. They stand by the street, some of whom carry goods in hand and some on head. Anytime there is traffic, they rush to it and try to sell their goods to people in the vehicles. Owing to this selling methods, pedestrians and drivers can get goods what they need while walking and driving and it saves their time to go to stores or looking for parking place. Therefore street vendors earn good money most of the time.
The objectives of this study were to find out the various categories of street hawkers trading in the Accra Metropolis, to describe the nature of street trading activities in Accra. This study also sought to know the opinion of hawkers as to whether trading activities impact negatively on the beautification of the Metropolis and suggest solutions to these problems. The method used for data collection was questionnaires prepared and administered to hawkers. Also, non-participant observation was done.
The study is useful to the Government of Ghana, policy making institutions, the general public and all other stakeholders because it had provided recommendations such formation of association of street hawkers, modernization and acceptance of street hawking as an integral part of the informal economy and provision of both formal and non-formal education for hawkers. The only way that the Ghanaian government can effectively deal with the problem of street hawking is by creating jobs for the youth.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the study
Serious focus on street hawkers begun with the Bellagio International Declaration of street hawkers which called for national policies for street hawkers, and follow up action by individual hawkers, hawkers associations, city governments and international organization. The Bellagio Declaration identified six problems of street traders around the world, namely: lack of legal status and right to hawk, lack of space or poor location, restriction on licensing, cost of regulation, harassment, bribes, confiscation and evictions, lack of services and infrastructure and lack of representation or voice. Women in Employment Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO), an international network has spearheaded research and policy dialogue on street trade. In Africa, WIEGO has worked closely with Street Net in leveraging funds for research and policy dialogue in six African countries, namely South Africa, Ghana, Cote d‟ Ivoire, Uganda, Zimbabwe, and Kenya.
In all the case studies, women dominate street vending. This is due to the limited economic opportunities for women in both rural and urban areas, gender bias in education, and augmenting husband‟s income. Besides these facts, street vending has a special appeal for women due to its flexibility. Women can easily combine street vending with other household duties, including taking care of children. The Uganda case study points out those women participate in street vending as a way out of a predicament. Women have moved from being subsistence and commercial farmers to engaging in trade and informal employment. In most cases they vend when their husbands cannot sustain the family or to supplement the husbands income. The Kenya study covered Nairobi, Kisumu, Migori and Machakos. Both Nairobi and Kisumu are major cities with a population of 2.1 million and 322,734 thousand respectively. Machakos and Migori are smaller towns with a population of 143,274 and 95,446 respectively. Migori is on the boarder of Kenya and Tanzania and has cross border trade, while Machakos is quite close to the capital city, Nairobi, traders then can easily get their whole sale supplies from the city.
Street and roadside trade is an important economic activity that sustains a significant percentage of rural and urban dwellers, especially within the developing countries. The activity falls among the Small and Micro Enterprises [SME] that form the main thrust for economic development in developing countries. In Africa, the sector has operated outside the mainstream economic development, and falls within the informal economic activities. In view of the difficult economic situation that has faced Africa with reduced external support and increasing levels of poverty, many countries have began considering the sector as one of the channels of fostering the private sector‟s contribution to both growth and equity objectives of development. By 1995, International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates had shown that SMEs account for 59 per cent of Sub-Saharan Africa‟s urban labour force [Ondiege, 1995]. Estimates indicate that in the developing countries 40 to 80 per cent of the urban workforce is in the informal workforce. Street vendors are the most visible among this workforce, although their activities, working conditions, relations with authorities, policies and regulations relating to their operations among others are not well researched and documented.
