Factors which generate and sustain vending activities: The case of female vegetable and fruit vendors in the streets of Nairobi city.

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore factors which generate and sustain vegetable/fruit vending as an informal sector activity. In the problem statement challenging questions such as: Is harassment the best possible solution to the vending activity?; from the persistence of the activity in the face of harassment does it suggest that it is a viable form of employment which needs protection and even further development?, and, what problems are vendors faced with and what are the vendors' feelings about the activity and harassment? are raised. In reviewing the literature for the study, it was found that the existence of the informal sector can be explained in the context of the process of change that has taken place during the last two decades; that is, the passage from the precolonial precapitalist societies to capitalistic form of production. It was also found that the informal sector is an important employer especially for women and therefore an important potential focus of economic development Indeed, women were found to dominate the informal sector and especially the trade aspect of it. Women were also found to be the worst hit by the unemployment problem and, unlike men, they have few, if any alternative means of earning an income especially in the urban areas. Five hypotheses derived from the literature reviewed were tested. The study views vegetable vending as a feature of economic backwardness and social poverty. The theory I used is dependency theory. Its main argument is that the phenomena of underdevelopment is a by product of the development and maturation of capitalism into a world economic system. Convenient (snowball) sampling techniques were used to select the study units. A questionnaire was administered to 180 respondents and data on these were analysed through frequencies, cross tabulation, correlation and regression. The major findings are as follows ; female vegetable vendors mainly comprise single household heads either because they never got married at all or because they are divorced, widowor separated from their husbands. These were found to be mainly characterised by little or no education and are lacking in formal training. For the married hawkers, they composed those whose husbands have little or no education and are therefore unemployed or earn very Low income. " The data analysis also revealed that the major cause of vending is the lack of better (preferred/desired) alternative form of employment and consequently the desire for economic gain. The vendors main problem turned out to be harassment by city authorities. From the study, the persistence of vegetable street vending is considered adequate evidence that the activity is not only part of the urban economy but also a viable economic activity which will continue to flourish. It not only provides many of the unemployed urban it especially women, with the only form of earning a genuine income but also facilitates the distribution of commodities especially those associated with the agricultural sector. Taking all these into consideration then, the study concludes that vending in particular and the informal sector in general should be encouraged to grow.