Kenya
Street Foods Are Here to Stay: Let's Support Street Food Vending By Oiye Shadrack, Kenya Correspondent
There have recently been some concerns raised in Kenya about the safety of street foods. This has led to a number of articles printed in the daily newspapers with alarming titles such as 'Roadside Foods Risky'. Some of these articles have been extremely informative, cautioning the public on the dangers of street foods. However, they have focused mainly on the negative (or potentially negative) repercussions of street foods. It is true that street foods can be potential vehicles for life-threatening food-borne illnesses. However, the reality is that street foods are here to stay, as more and more people not only the poor demand convenient foods. Furthermore, for urban cities in developing countries like Nairobi, there are increasingly more unemployed people who must resort to street food vending to earn an otherwise elusive income. Research on the contribution of street foods to the diet of people living in Nairobi has been conducted, and indicates that the contribution of street foods to specific nutrient intake (important to public health) is quite significant. The findings have revealed that the importance of these street foods in the diet of urban dwellers cannot be overlooked. On the other hand, street foods provide viable income generation opportunities for those who cannot find their way into the formal job market. Given that increasing employment is one of the major strategies of the Kenyan government to boost economic development, the contribution of the informal sector has been found to be significant, and any effort to eliminate street food vendors may be retrogressive. Indeed, some articles have highlighted cases where street foods have contributed significantly to the income of people who have lost hope in finding 'good jobs'. One surprising observation is that the street food vendors are willing to pay levies charged by the City Council. It is evident that issues of food safety are paramount when considering street foods, and many have raised concerns. With Nairobi's high incidences of out-flowing sewage systems, careless dumping of garbage and many other practices that contribute to unclean environments, opponents have questioned the safety of foods sold along the streets. However, proponents of street foods argue that absolute food safety can only be ascertained by microbiological analysis, and that simply branding street foods "unsafe" is unwarranted. Open sewage flow is a health hazard, hosting pathogenic microorganisms that are potentially lethal when they get into the food chain or water systems. However these risks are not the making of the street food vendors. The City or Municipal Councils in many urban cities are fully mandated to ensure the non-existence of open sewage flows. Many have accused the street food vendors of operating near filthy environments, but they fail to mention the cause of these flows, or who is responsible for their repair. Reasonably, the vendors should ensure that they conduct trade within clean environments. On the other hand, the relevant authorities should ensure that the cities are clean, so that responsible street food vendors can conduct trade safely. The idea of shutting down the illegitimate roadside food-based entrepreneurs in many urban cities is a justified law enforcement exercise. However, the legitimate vendors need to be provided with suitable environments for trading, environments that are protected with sound urban policies. This endeavor will ensure a boost to our economy, as existing jobs will be protected, and new employment opportunities created. This will in turn help to feed the increasing number of working urbanites. The food business is seen by many as easy to initiate (and indeed, it is), because it has a ready market, and relatively low capital requirements. Perhaps we need to approach the street food vending issues much more positively. As many development partners give funds for training farmers, and extensions into the rural areas, little is thought about the issues of urban areas, ranging from urban agriculture to public health infrastructure and human resources. Our markets, streets and slums do not have support systems to guarantee food safety, and many who want to engage in street food processing and vending do not have the opportunity to train in business management, let alone basic food hygiene. Not many development partners are willing to invest in improving the infrastructure that ensures public health and capacity building in order to promote food safety. This revelation should act as a call for action by the relevant stakeholders to improve food safety, rather than push small-scale food-based enterprises out of business. However, food safety is the responsibility of everyone in the food chain, from the farm to the dinner table.
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