Street Vendors

GOALS
What brought them?
For a lot of the respondents, both those who had migrated and those who hadn’t, street vending seemed to be the only job that was available to do. There were no other options. Street vending doesn’t require one to learn a trade to be able to start, and depending on what one wants to sell, it required very little capital to start, on a large option of streets. Street vending is also a quick way to make earnings and bettering themselves. It offers prospects for acquiring and financial and social capital necessary for their present and future life (Anyidoho & Ainsworth, 2009; Hashim, 2006). Again, for many of the young people on the streets, it appeared they had been swayed by the money involved in street vending. One respondent reports:
“… some of us when we go to our hometown we dress a lot to the under aged think that Accra is very easy. I know so many people who have stopped school for shoe shine in Accra because they want quick money”. (Joseph, 22, 2 years)
Concerning children of school-going age that are often found on the street, another respondent said: “This business is attracting children of school going age. Even though some claim they come to sell in order to get money for school fees, they are always here with us during even school session”. (Patric, 21,
6 months).
VIEWS ON STREET HAWKING
There were varying opinions concerning respondents’ views on street hawking. Some of the respondents mentioned many health problems that were related to street vending. There was the constant fatigue and tiredness that came with spending hours in the sun, and the catarrh and sore throat that came with the smoke from cars. Other respondents mentioned rather economic issues like not being able to save. For many, the street was all about survival; getting enough to see you through the day. As one respondent recounts:
“I make enough for my daily use. I cannot say anything in particular about other vendors but with my experience, I think they do get enough for their daily uses as well”. (Rose, 20, 5 years)
There were however others that believed with hard work and savings, eventually, it is possible to excel on the streets.
“It is if you are focused on it....Some of the boys here have cars which they have given to drivers to work to demand’
WHERE THEY’RE GOING
Many of the respondents had either learnt a trade already or had started and had to end their training due to lack of resources, and so selling on the streets was either a way to get by or to try to save money to learn a trade. For some of the respondents, being on the street was an attempt to save money to go back to school or to learn a skill or profession. It was obvious though that none of the respondents wanted to do street vending for a living. For those that wanted to remain in trade, they aspired for
‘better’ trading conditions like getting shops or places at the markets or doing wholesale trade. But for many of the respondents, going back to school or learning a skill to earn them a better income was what they desired.

“I do not intend to continue to sell things on the street. What I want to do is to learn how to drive”. All the respondents had mentioned things they wanted to do someday. In some studies (Massey,
Gebhardt, & Garnefski, 2009) researchers distinguish between goals and “wishes” by exploring what respondents are doing to achieve the things they say they want to achieve, and only consider as goals, those things that respondents are making efforts to achieve.
Though one can argue that by being on the streets, the vendors could be said to be working towards their goals, very few of the respondents are able to save towards the future that they want. Very few of the respondents were working (e.g. saving) towards something, e.g. learning a trade or skill or going back to school. Street vending only allowed many of the vendors to save enough for their daily expenses and not allowed for savings.
“I make enough for my daily use (Rose, 20, 5years).
Again, many of the respondents seemed to expect opportunities to come their way, many of them looking up to the government for changes in their career. Some of the vendors also believed that is tis the responsibility of the government to provide these opportunities.

STRATEGIES
Street survival
Most of the strategies on surviving on the street were on what females were doing. A few of the respondents mentioned armed robbery on the part of the males. According to the respondents, many of the girls engage in transactional sex either to make up for losses incurred or to supplement their profits.
Others believed that some of them were just not willing to work hard for their money because they know they can get money at night. One respondent recounts:
“Yes, some people do that. Some friends of mine have ever told me that if they are not able to finish selling their sugar cane, the boys “pay for it” …. I don’t do that although somebody offered that to me once, that is, to pay for my left over sugar cane and sleep with me”. (Ama, 16, 2 weeks)
Another respondent reported:
“…if you look at our female colleagues, if they don’t make any sales, in the night, they engage in transactional sex for money. Some of the guys also rob or are armed robbers”. (Peter, 18, 2 years)
Some of the girls also use abortion as a survival strategy on the street. According to the abortion literature, many young women abort their pregnancies because they cannot afford to take care of the children or because they are not willing to be mothers, etc. However, according to the respondents, pregnancies also hinder the respondents from being able to supplement their sales through sexual transactions, and that is another reason for abortion on the streets.
“Some of the girls are prostitutes. Many of them abort pregnancies when they occur. They can’t continue with the street work or the prostitution if pregnant”. (David, 21, 4 years) WHERE THEY’RE GOING
As mentioned earlier, many want to learn a trade, continue with a trade they were learning, go back to school, etc., but few were working towards these things. It appears the street is initially supposed to be a strategy to attain the things that individuals aim for but ends up being a survival mechanism. It appears that in addition to the fact that selling of the streets eventually becomes a survival mechanism, it also becomes addictive and difficult for a lot of people to move from the streets. A study by Asiedu and Agyei-Mensah (2008) did not show a shift from street vending to other livelihoods but rather showed “a progression amongst trades over time, in terms of the types of goods which the vendors trade in.
According to one of the respondents: “Selling on the street is addictive. Money can sway your intentions” (James, 26, 4 months). This is consistent with findings by De-Graft Aikins and Ofori-Atta
(2007) that found that coping strategies facilitate adaptation but not transformation of everyday circumstances. According to one of the vendors,

OBSTACLES
In exploring the obstacles faced by street vendors, this study distinguished between the problems they face with trying to survive on the streets and the obstacles towards attainment of the futures that they want. With regards to the obstacles to survival on the street, prominent in the discussion were health-related issues and health hazards. Many of the respondents mentioned that the sun gets too hot and easily made them sick. Again standing and running for hours made them tired weak all the time and more susceptible to illnesses. Again, the smoke from cars gave them coughs and catarrh all the time. SOLUTION
Some of the respondent gave suggestions to what they thought were the problems they experienced as street vendors. Some mentioned that the hawkers markets were too expensive and should be provided at places and prices determined by the hawkers. This is not a plausible suggestion since it takes planning to decide which places are convenient to set as hawkers’ markets. Many also believed that creating hawkers’ markets was not a good suggestion because, besides the fact that the shops will simply not be affordable to some vendors no matter what, vendors that can afford the shops will still find a way to sell the shops or rent them out and continue to sell on the streets. Again, total evacuation is next to impossible because people will just move back or not move from the streets at all. Finally, there will always be a growing number of street vendors simply because it is a quick way of making enough to go by. But it is not feasible for there to be a growing number of hawkers’ markets to accommodate new hawkers. Again, some respondents argued that the government had promised them better livelihoods during elections and so while some felt that the government hadn’t lived to their expectations, others simply felt that it was the responsibility of the government to find solutions to their problems. Some of the respondents believed that it is the responsibility of the government to, offer placement for those that already had some training or offer training to street hawkers and support people with the education the hope to acquire. Also, believed the training should be at times that are convenient for them so that they can still stay on the streets to sell and acquire the training that they need.
“I’d like to do screen printing but if I have to learn it, the time must be flexible enough so that I can still come here to sell. (Kwaku, 25, 6 years)
CONCLUSION
Many young people are experiencing unemployment and poverty, and that has driven a lot of them to the streets to sell to make ends-meet. Perhaps these young people see their dreams being fulfilled through the streets. But when they meet the realities that await them, the street unfortunately becomes an addictive survival mechanism for these young people. Soon, many young people notice that, though they earn enough to take care of their basic expenses, the street is hardly a place to achieve the things that they hoped to achieve.
This study tries to three questions. Firstly, what are the goals of street vendors? Secondly, what are the strategies used by street vendors in terms of survival on the street and towards attaining what they want to attain later. Lastly, what do street vendors believe are the solutions to the “street problem”?
Data for the study was from indept interviews from the “Vendors with no fixed location in Ghana” study.
Results of the study showed that street vending seemed to be the only job that was available to do and relatively easier to start because it required little capital, even for the many respondents that had already learnt a skill or other. Though some believed that it is possible to eventually excel on the streets, others believed that the street was only about survival and not a place for savings. Taking steps (like saving) towards their own futures was almost impossible for many of the respondents and many hoped for the government to provide opportunities. Though a lot of street hawkers have hopes in the government to provide better livelihood for them, it appears the government’s strategies to solving street hawking has always been a cycle of, literally, chasing them off the streets, and having them come back to the streets, or providing hawkers markets that are obviously not adequate for the number of street hawkers that are already on the streets or that join the streets ever so often.
On the surface, it appears the street is a quick way to earn money, so it is easy to believe it is a place to acquire savings for education or other trades. But a deeper analysis of expenses, life on the streets and the strategies that backfire, show that the streets may not necessarily be the first step to achieving dreams. Perhaps the government can help, but by providing more plausible solution to the problem.
Solutions can be in the form of expanding free education to reach higher level to keep more young people in school and hopefully off the streets. Perhaps, the rural areas of the country can also be developed to be able to absorb the unemployed population to prevent them from moving to Accra in SOLUTION
Some of the respondent gave suggestions to what they thought were the problems they experienced as street vendors. Some mentioned that the hawkers markets were too expensive and should be provided at places and prices determined by the hawkers. This is not a plausible suggestion since it takes planning to decide which places are convenient to set as hawkers’ markets. Many also believed that creating hawkers’ markets was not a good suggestion because, besides the fact that the shops will simply not be affordable to some vendors no matter what, vendors that can afford the shops will still find a way to sell the shops or rent them out and continue to sell on the streets. Again, total evacuation is next to impossible because people will just move back or not move from the streets at all. Finally, there will always be a growing number of street vendors simply because it is a quick way of making enough to go by. But it is not feasible for there to be a growing number of hawkers’ markets to accommodate new hawkers. Again, some respondents argued that the government had promised them better livelihoods during elections and so while some felt that the government hadn’t lived to their expectations, others simply felt that it was the responsibility of the government to find solutions to their problems. Some of the respondents believed that it is the responsibility of the government to, offer placement for those that already had some training or offer training to street hawkers and support people with the education the hope to acquire. Also, believed the training should be at times that are convenient for them so that they can still stay on the streets to sell and acquire the training that they need.
“I’d like to do screen printing but if I have to learn it, the time must be flexible enough so that I can still come here to sell. (Kwaku, 25, 6 years)
CONCLUSION
Many young people are experiencing unemployment and poverty, and that has driven a lot of them to the streets to sell to make ends-meet. Perhaps these young people see their dreams being fulfilled through the streets. But when they meet the realities that await them, the street unfortunately becomes an addictive survival mechanism for these young people. Soon, many young people notice that, though they earn enough to take care of their basic expenses, the street is hardly a place to achieve the things that they hoped to achieve.
This study tries to three questions. Firstly, what are the goals of street vendors? Secondly, what are the strategies used by street vendors in terms of survival on the street and towards attaining what they want to attain later. Lastly, what do street vendors believe are the solutions to the “street problem”?
Data for the study was from indept interviews from the “Vendors with no fixed location in Ghana” study.
Results of the study showed that street vending seemed to be the only job that was available to do and relatively easier to start because it required little capital, even for the many respondents that had already learnt a skill or other. Though some believed that it is possible to eventually excel on the streets, others believed that the street was only about survival and not a place for savings. Taking steps (like saving) towards their own futures was almost impossible for many of the respondents and many hoped for the government to provide opportunities. Though a lot of street hawkers have hopes in the government to provide better livelihood for them, it appears the government’s strategies to solving street hawking has always been a cycle of, literally, chasing them off the streets, and having them come back to the streets, or providing hawkers markets that are obviously not adequate for the number of street hawkers that are already on the streets or that join the streets ever so often.
On the surface, it appears the street is a quick way to earn money, so it is easy to believe it is a place to acquire savings for education or other trades. But a deeper analysis of expenses, life on the streets and the strategies that backfire, show that the streets may not necessarily be the first step to achieving dreams. Perhaps the government can help, but by providing more plausible solution to the problem.
Solutions can be in the form of expanding free education to reach higher level to keep more young people in school and hopefully off the streets. Perhaps, the rural areas of the country can also be developed to be able to absorb the unemployed population to prevent them from moving to Accra in SOLUTION
Some of the respondent gave suggestions to what they thought were the problems they experienced as street vendors. Some mentioned that the hawkers markets were too expensive and should be provided at places and prices determined by the hawkers. This is not a plausible suggestion since it takes planning to decide which places are convenient to set as hawkers’ markets. Many also believed that creating hawkers’ markets was not a good suggestion because, besides the fact that the shops will simply not be affordable to some vendors no matter what, vendors that can afford the shops will still find a way to sell the shops or rent them out and continue to sell on the streets. Again, total evacuation is next to impossible because people will just move back or not move from the streets at all. Finally, there will always be a growing number of street vendors simply because it is a quick way of making enough to go by. But it is not feasible for there to be a growing number of hawkers’ markets to accommodate new hawkers. Again, some respondents argued that the government had promised them better livelihoods during elections and so while some felt that the government hadn’t lived to their expectations, others simply felt that it was the responsibility of the government to find solutions to their problems. Some of the respondents believed that it is the responsibility of the government to, offer placement for those that already had some training or offer training to street hawkers and support people with the education the hope to acquire. Also, believed the training should be at times that are convenient for them so that they can still stay on the streets to sell and acquire the training that they need.
“I’d like to do screen printing but if I have to learn it, the time must be flexible enough so that I can still come here to sell. (Kwaku, 25, 6 years)
CONCLUSION
Many young people are experiencing unemployment and poverty, and that has driven a lot of them to the streets to sell to make ends-meet. Perhaps these young people see their dreams being fulfilled through the streets. But when they meet the realities that await them, the street unfortunately becomes an addictive survival mechanism for these young people. Soon, many young people notice that, though they earn enough to take care of their basic expenses, the street is hardly a place to achieve the things that they hoped to achieve.
This study tries to three questions. Firstly, what are the goals of street vendors? Secondly, what are the strategies used by street vendors in terms of survival on the street and towards attaining what they want to attain later. Lastly, what do street vendors believe are the solutions to the “street problem”?
Data for the study was from indept interviews from the “Vendors with no fixed location in Ghana” study.
Results of the study showed that street vending seemed to be the only job that was available to do and relatively easier to start because it required little capital, even for the many respondents that had already learnt a skill or other. Though some believed that it is possible to eventually excel on the streets, others believed that the street was only about survival and not a place for savings. Taking steps (like saving) towards their own futures was almost impossible for many of the respondents and many hoped for the government to provide opportunities. Though a lot of street hawkers have hopes in the government to provide better livelihood for them, it appears the government’s strategies to solving street hawking has always been a cycle of, literally, chasing them off the streets, and having them come back to the streets, or providing hawkers markets that are obviously not adequate for the number of street hawkers that are already on the streets or that join the streets ever so often.
On the surface, it appears the street is a quick way to earn money, so it is easy to believe it is a place to acquire savings for education or other trades. But a deeper analysis of expenses, life on the streets and the strategies that backfire, show that the streets may not necessarily be the first step to achieving dreams. Perhaps the government can help, but by providing more plausible solution to the problem.
Solutions can be in the form of expanding free education to reach higher level to keep more young people in school and hopefully off the streets. Perhaps, the rural areas of the country can also be developed to be able to absorb the unemployed population to prevent them from moving to Accra in