It is against this background that this study seeks to document the contribution of the informal economy to poverty reduction and household food security. The outcomes of the study revealed that informal street traders in Thulamela Local Municipality are on average 45 years old.
INTRODUCTION
- Introduction to the research problem
- Significance of the study
- Problem statement
- Sub-problems
- Study limits
- Assumptions
- Organisation of the thesis
According to Alemu (2010), there are many studies on food security and informal trade in South Africa (Holness et al. 1999). However, no study known to this author has specifically examined the prevalence of food insecurity in households engaged in informal street trading in South Africa.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Introduction
- The current status of food insecurity across the world
- Food security in South Africa
- Poverty and food security in urban areas of South Africa
- Causes of poverty and food insecurity
The HFIAS score is a continuous measure of a household's level of food insecurity. A number of studies have highlighted the high level of food insecurity in urban areas of South Africa (e.g. Leibbrandt et al. 2010).
Evolution of the informal sector concept
- Characteristics of the informal sector
- Knowledge of informal street traders regarding operating small business
It should be noted that the informal sector exhibits different characteristics in different countries (Ruffer & Knight 2007). As this research is related to food security, education not only plays an important role in business growth, it also further increases household food security (Alemu 2010;.
The informal sector in South Africa
However, there are numerous empirical ideologies as to why the informal sector is small in South Africa (eg Altman 2008; Lund and Skinner 2003 cited by Neves & du Toit 2013). As in other countries, the informal sector in South Africa includes diverse economic activities (Lalthapersad-Pillay 2004).
Informal street traders
The contribution of the informal sector to poverty and unemployment reduction
- The informal sector as a source of employment in developing countries
- The informal sector as a source of employment in South Africa
- The contribution of the informal sector to the economy in developing
- The contribution of the informal sector to the South African economy
- The contribution of the informal sector to food security
As illustrated in Figure 2.3, the informal sector's contribution to job creation to alleviate poverty is significant in many developing countries. For example, in 2003 the informal sector generated 23% of employment, according to Statistics South Africa (cited by Mayrhofer & Hendriks 2003). From an economic perspective, the contribution of the informal sector to the economy of most of the developing countries is significant.
As is the case with the role the informal sector plays in job creation, the sector's contribution to GDP varies from country to country (Charmes 2012). When these two countries are considered, the contribution of the informal sector rises to 63.6% in sub-Saharan Africa (Charmes 2012). As already mentioned, the informal economy is an important part of the South African economy (Ligthelm 2006; Mutala 2008; Sidzatane & Maharaj 2012).
Globally, the contribution of the informal sector to food security is significant and widely recognized (Jiyane & Mostert 2008; Skinner 2008; Blades et al.
Chapter summary
These results suggest that without the informal sector, especially street trading, many households would have been food insecure and would have experienced chronic hunger and further reiterate the importance of strengthening the sector to achieve MDG 1. Based on the review of relevant literature , without income from this sector, many families would have been food insecure and would have suffered from chronic hunger (Abdulla 2008; Crush & Frayne. The informal economy also plays an important role for economic growth, especially in countries in development.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Introduction
- General description of Limpopo province
- Overview of the study area
Limpopo Province is considered one of the poorest provinces compared to other provinces. In fact, the agricultural, mining and tourism sectors are the main pillars of the Limpopo Province (Ladzani) economy. The largest municipality is Thohoyandou and the capital of the province is the city of Polokwane, located about 180 kilometers away.
Thulamela Local Municipality (TLM) is the largest of the four local municipalities (Tshitangoni et al. 2010) and has 38 wards. Furthermore, according to a recent review of the Integrated Development Plan of Thulamela Municipality, the average household size is estimated at approximately 5.28 persons per household (Review of Thulamela Municipality. Integrated Development Plan). TLM was selected as a case study for this research-based study. on the author's knowledge of the area.
It is interesting to note that the formalization of the informal sector, especially street trading, is one of the key areas of the recent integrated development plan (Review of the integrated development plan of Thulamela municipality.
Nature of the study
- Sampling procedure
- Data collection tools
- Sample size
- Information collected
- Meeting with informal street trading representatives
- Survey and interviews
- Secondary data
- Problems encountered during the data collection period
- Data entry
- Methods adopted to analyse data
Field observation, meeting with key informants and secondary data were used to support the central tools of the study (quantitative and qualitative methods), with street traders as the units of analysis. In order to respond to the needs of different street vendors, business conditions and food security of their households, open-ended and closed-ended questionnaires (Appendix B) were designed to collect information on the following three aspects. These are some of the factors that affect household access to food (Musemwa et al. 2013) that contribute significantly to the causes of food insecurity in South Africa as recommended by Manyamba et al.
With regard to food security studies, it is recommended that considering the socio-economic characteristics of households in a survey provides a better insight into the interventions needed (Idrisa et al. 2008; Akerele et al. 2013). For data reliability and validity, pretesting of the questionnaires was conducted on a small number of respondents who were not part of the sample but had similar characteristics to the target population (similar to Turyahabwe et al. 2013). Because informal street traders sell a variety of items, the goods and services presented in Chapter 4 represent a snapshot of the day they were interviewed.
Informal street traders who were part of the study had very high expectations as they wanted the research to yield immediate results.
Chapter summary
Using the classification provided by Coates et al. 2007), this enables the study to account for the severity of food insecurity (Ruysenaar 2012). According to the score, the higher the score, the more vulnerable the household is to food insecurity. The lower the score, the less food insecurity a household experiences as articulated by (Coates et al. 2007; Rudolph et al. 2012).
Household Food Insecurity Access Prevalence (HFIAP) was further applied to report the prevalence of food insecurity among households. Households were divided into these classes based on the affirmative answers they gave to the statement about more severe conditions or experienced conditions (for more information see Coates et al. 2007). Descriptive statistics were further administered to analyze socio-demographic variables on the prevalence of household food security among households involved in informal street trading in TLM (Knueppel et al. 2009).
Socio-demographic variables were selected based on the assumptions that any change in these factors can have a negative or positive impact on household food security, both in the short and long term (Dodson et al. 2012: 11).
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: TYPOLOGY OF INFORMAL
- Introduction
- Socio-demographic characteristics of informal street traders in TLM
- Educational level of respondents
- Main reasons for operating as a street trader
- Distribution of informal business activities
- Status of informal business enterprises in TLM
- Challenges faced by informal street traders in TLM
- Access to physical facilities
- Access to basic services
- Chapter summary
As illustrated in Table 4.1, the results show that the average age of the majority of informal street traders in TLM is 45 years. The results of the survey show that the majority (75%) of the street vendors surveyed lived in rural areas. In general, the literacy levels of the respondents were not too low and presented a picture suggesting that education was not a constraint in the informal street vendors in TLM.
The variety of goods and services sold by informal street vendors is well recognized (Mitullah 2003: 8; Crush & Frayne 2012: 19l; Sidzatane & Maharaj 2012). Lack of finance is not only experienced by informal street traders; other types of the informal sector face similar constraints (Adam & Pettenella 2012). Regarding access to clean water, it was found that 79% of respondents experience water problems.
For the informal street trade to positively affect the majority of the people, these results highlight the importance of interventions.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: THE PREVALENCE OF FOOD
- Introduction
- Household Food Insecurity Access Scale score
- Domains related to household food insecurity
- Household Food Insecurity Access Prevalence categories
- Socio-demographic characteristics and household food security amongst
- Household food security categories distributed by sex of household head
- Household food security categories distributed by marital status
- Household food security categories distributed by education of household
- Household food security categories distributed by household monthly
- Household food security categories distributed by age of the household
- Chapter summary
The finding was unexpected as previous studies found that the gender of the household head determines household food security. The other variable that is believed to play a crucial role in household food security is the marital status of the household head. Previous studies suggest that the marital status of the household head plays an important role in increasing household food security.
Another variable of crucial importance for household food security status is household monthly expenditure (Dodson et al. 2012: 21). Among the demographic characteristics, according to Knueppel et al. 2009), age of the household plays a key role in improving household food security. A number of challenges appear to limit the effective contribution of informal street trading to household food security.
Results from this study indicate that while all households in the setting had some degree of food insecurity, not all socio-demographic characteristics influenced household food security among households involved in informal street trading in TLM.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
General
Conclusion
In terms of the sector's contribution to South Africa's GDP, its contribution varies between 7.1% and 11.1%. Regarding the characteristics of informal street traders in TLM, a large percentage of women involved in informal street trading was reported, indicating inequality between women and men. The stability of street vendors in their business was noted and was attributed to the high unemployment rate in the country.
Regarding the level of education of street vendors in TLM, although most respondents had a high school education, education was not a limitation as most vendors could read and write. Despite the positive roles informal street trading could play, their contributions remain limited due to various constraints that threaten to derail their productivity. In terms of food security, high levels of food insecurity continue to be reported in South Africa.
The study concludes that informal street trading cannot reduce the vulnerability of food insecurity in the study area.
Recommendations to improve informal markets and ensure that the sector
- How interventions can play role in the growth of informal street traders
Street vendors need a range of services to fully contribute to poverty and unemployment reduction and food security. As emphasized by Crush and Frayne, this research therefore argues that the government needs to recognize and admit the importance of informal street trading and find alternatives to promote growth. Improved accessibility and availability of food, improved health conditions, improved knowledge, better packaging, reduced poverty and unemployment).
It is interesting to note that this schematic presentation is in line with the FAO's 2013 goals, which support the interventions to defeat chronic hunger and poverty through investments in people and their productivity. To further expand on poverty reduction, essential socio-economic services such as the availability of good physical conditions, health care, clean and abundant water, access to sanitation, protective shelter and safe environments to move around, social services and education are primary means to improve a population's potential and its ability to generate sustainable income (Madzwamuse 2010; FAO 2013). If these services are provided, it suggests that policies aimed at mitigating challenges faced by the informal street trading sector can also reduce poverty and improve food security.
Implications for further research
A review of the problems of poverty and food security in South Africa: is agriculture the solution.
