Chapter 10: Conclusion and Recommendations
6.5 INTERNATIONAL CASE STUDIES
6.5.1 Street Vendors in Asia
The study conducted in Asia found that the number of street vendors had increased in the major cities. In India, for example, it was found that in terms of the National Policy for Urban Street Vendors, there were approximately 10 million street vendors, constituting approximately 2 percent of the population of a metropolis.
It is interesting to note that the number of street vendors in countries like India, Thailand, Singapore and Philippines increased significantly after the financial crisis in 1998 (Bhowmik, 2005: 2256). This is because during financial crises, most companies retrench people. Those who lost their jobs would then find employment in the informal sector. Since street vending is one of the sectors with ease of entry, most people would then join the sector (Gosh, Sengupta & Roychoudhury, 2008: 1). This fact is well captured by Chen, Vanek & Carr (2004: 24), when they maintain that employment in the informal sector grows during periods of economic recession.
When most people lost their formal jobs during the Asian crisis, the informal economy became the major source of employment for the majority (Chen, Vanek &
Carr, 2004: 24). This is the reason Chen (cited in Barta, 2009) advises that authorities should see the informal economy as a solution to urban decay and unemployment rather than a problem.
Case Study 1: Street Vendors in Bangladesh
Informal trading occurs largely in the urban areas. Dhaka, which is the capital city of Bangladesh, is no exception. The city has approximately 90 000 street vendors.
Although the number is high, street vending is illegal and as such the street vendors face constant harassment from authorities. Furthermore, the vendors pay a significant
amount of their income as bribe in order to continue trading and avoid harassment.
Other challenges facing the street vendors in Bangladesh include lack of space for vending and lack of awareness about their rights and poverty (Bhowmik, 2005: 2257).
On the positive side, though, the street vendors are unionised with several trade unions working among them. One of the major issues the union negotiated with government was for government to develop a national policy on street vendors. It is believed that the adoption of the policy would to a large extent legalise street vending and thereby assist with the problem of harassment by authorities (Bhowmik, 2005:
2257).
Other findings of the study are (Bhowmik, 2005: 2257-2258):
The majority of the street vendors are between the age group of 30 to 40 years.
The majority of the participants are women and migrants with low educational background.
Most traders sell food.
The vendors do not make enough profit and move from one place to the other for better markets (high mobility).
Women contribute significantly to this sector. Although it is men that sell, they however depend on the women to prepare the items for sale.
Street vendors cannot access credit facilities and rely exclusively on social networks. As a result, they are limited from increasing their income.
The prices charged by the street vendors are low and benefit the urban poor (day labourers, rickshaw pullers, migrants).
Since street vendors are in the informal sector, there is no systematic documentation of those trading in food. Mitullah (2003: 3) maintains that most authorities do not have a record of their vendors, as well as their contribution to the urban economy. It is therefore not surprising that even in Bangladesh;
the local authority did not have any records of their street vendors.
Bhowmik (2005) stresses the fact that there should be cooperation between municipalities and the law enforcement agencies in order to deal with problems related to poor hygiene, since most of the vendors trade in food.
Case Study 2: Street Vendors in Sri Lanka
Unlike Bangladesh, street vending is not totally illegal in Sri Lanka. Vendors pay a daily tax to the municipal council in order to sell on pavements. As in other countries, the street vendors here can be evicted anytime the municipal council feels that they cause problems to the general public without any provision of alternative sites.
Although the street vendors are legalised and pay tax, they however lack security to carry out their trades. Some of the findings of the study are listed here (Bhowmik, 2005: 2258):
Street vendors sold cheaper goods than those sold by big stores.
Street vending is the only source of employment and livelihood for approximately 10 000 street vendors, excluding food vendors.
The majority of street vendors are women and children.
Street vendors lacked security and access to credit.
The majority of street vendors trade in food and the number is increasing due to demand.
The income of food vendors is higher than that of other vendors.
Despite the challenges, the environment in Sri Lanka is slightly better than in other countries. Due to the contributions of the street vendors to the country‟s economy, the Colombo municipality is assisting food vendors. The municipality has provided carts for food vendors and a high standard of hygiene is maintained (Bhowmik, 2005:
2258).
Case Study 3: Street Vendors in Bangkok
Bangkok has a high number of street vendors, with almost every street having street vendors. The municipality demarcated sites for street vendors, with a total of 287 sites in the city and 14 sites on private land. Due to the high number of street vendors, some operate on sites that are not authorised (Bhowmik, 2005: 2258).
The majority of the participants are engaged in food hawking. A study conducted by Food and Agricultural Organisation (cited in Bhowmik, 2005: 2259) indicated that there were 6040 hawkers selling raw foodstuff, and that this represented 30 percent of the total street hawkers in 1993. A follow-up study in 2001 found out that there were 26000 food hawkers in authorised areas. This is a significant increase. Furthermore, the majority of the participants joined the sector as a result of being retrenched by the formal economy and inability to find alternative jobs.
The following reasons for the proliferation of food vendors in Bangkok (Bhowmik, 2005: 2258-2259) are provided:
The population in Bangkok likes eating out, so the food traders form an integral part of the cultural tradition.
The sector provides cheap but nutritious meals for the urban poor. Poor people can afford the prices and small amounts of food packaged by street vendors.
The tourism sector supports the vendors as they search for local variety of foods.
It can be said that in Bangkok, street vending is an integral part of the local economy (Bhowmik, 2005: 2258). Despite these developments, street vendors face the following challenges (Bhowmik, 2005: 2259):
Frequent raids and evictions for street vendors operating in unauthorised areas.
Belief that the street vendors contribute to traffic congestion.
Street vendors do not get maximum recognition and support from government.
Case Study 4: Street Vendors in Singapore
According to Bhowmik (2005: 2259), Singapore represents one of the countries with a well-managed street vending sector. There are nearly 50 000 street vendors in the city-state, and are all licensed. Like in many countries, the items sold by the vendors are cheaper than those sold in shops, attracting a lot of poorer people, workers and students.
To effectively manage the traders, a hawkers department has been established with the following duties (Bhowmik, 2005: 2259):
Issues out licenses to anyone who wants to sell goods on the pavements.
Ensures that the hawkers keep their environment clean and do not disturb pedestrians.
Provides hawkers with the basic food stalls facilities and services like piped potable water, electricity as well as garbage collection and disposal, to ensure compliance with the Environmental Public Health Act of 1968.
All street hawkers are settled into food centres and markets and pay rent for the usage of the stalls.
Conduct regular training on food and personal hygiene and nutrition.
Interestingly, and different from other countries, there is the emergence of a younger, better educated street vendors. This is due to rising unemployment where young graduates cannot be absorbed by the formal economy. The younger vendors are introducing new international dishes, with increasing popularity (Bhowmik, 2005:
2259). There are no serious challenges faced by street vendors mentioned in the study.
Case Study 5: Street Vendors in Kuala Lumpur
Like in other Asian countries, the number of street vendors (both licensed and unlicensed), increased sharply in Kuala Lumpur after the Asian financial crisis. The country adopted a policy entitled the National Policy on Hawkers, which gives recognition to street vendors. The aim of the policy is to tackle social and economic problems associated with street vending. According to the policy, government would provide funds to support credit schemes and training programmes for street vendors.
This approach was informed by the objective of making Kuala Lumpur a clean, healthy and beautiful city for the local people and tourists (Bhowmik, 2005: 2259).
Overall, the state of street vending in Kuala Lumpur is as follows (Bhowmik, 2005:
2259):
The number of street vendors continues to rise sharply. The majority of the hawkers sell food.
A department has been established to manage street vending. The department provides stalls for the vendors and manages where trading takes place. For example, food hawkers are allowed to trade in food centres in buildings. The department works together with other stakeholders like NGOs.
Licensing the hawkers is a challenge, and a significant number of the hawkers are not licensed.
Street vendors can trade in densely populated residential areas and industrial estates, but there are no hawking sites provided in such areas.
Licensed hawkers can access institutional credit from government.
Training programmes are organised regularly, focussing on areas such as health and hygiene, business skills and account management.
Case Study 6: Street Vendors in India
Like in the rest of the world, street vending continues to increase substantially in the major Indian cities. It is estimated that 2,5 percent of the urban population in India is engaged in street vending (Bhowmik, 2003: 1).
Studies conducted in various cities of India like Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Bhubaneswar and Ahmedabad found that (Barta, 2009; Bhowmik, 2003: 5; Bhowmik, 2005: 2262-2263 and Gosh, Sengupta & Roychoudhury, 2008: 36-28):
Most states regard street trading as an illegal activity. In states where street trading is legalised, the vendors suffer harassment and lack of security.
Women earn less than men due to various reasons. For example, they spend fewer hours trading due to other responsibilities, and come from poor households with no capital to invest.
Women work under gruelling conditions for long hours and are frequently harassed by municipal authorities and the police. They also suffer harassment from male vendors where they are not unionised.
Street traders pay most of their earnings as rent to the authorities or bribes to
85 percent of vendors in Mumbai complained of stress-related diseases like migraine, hyperacidity, hyper tension and high blood pressure. This is an indication of unhealthy working conditions.
A high proportion of participants joined the sector after losing jobs in the formal sector.
The majority of the traders are not organised. Where they are organised, they are able to enjoy better protection from harassment by authorities.
Men vendors are more unionised than women, and thus are able to protect themselves than the women vendors not unionised.
Food vendors sold cheap and nutritious food (Bhowmik, 2005: 2262-2263).
The establishment of the Self-Employed Women‟s Association (SEWA) has benefited most women vendors. The network assists in capacity-building of the women and also offers protection to street vendors from harassment by officials.
Of the seven cities studied by Bhowmik (2001), only Imphal had clear written rules for street trading.
57 percent of the street traders surveyed lacked fixed premises.
There is need to improve employment generation, income generation and the working condition of the street vendors.
The majority of traders live far from where they trade and as a result have to travel long distances on a daily basis. This has implications on their income.