This study was prompted by the lack of information on women traders' associations in the African context. The effect of social exclusion was identified in the sex, class and age of the women. Submitted in fulfillment / partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master's Degree in Development Studies, in the Postgraduate Program in the School of Development.
The working poor in the informal sector 7 2.2) Women in Uganda and their role in the informal sector 12.
INTRODUCTION
Du Toit (2008) uses social exclusion to explain the small share of economic growth of the most marginalized populations. Recently, the causes of poverty seem to be increasingly attributed to imbalances in the structure of the state, market and civil society of countries (Hickey et al., 2007: 4). There is a possibility that social exclusion is one of the main reasons why women, especially those in the informal economy, remain poor.
It will also address the expectations of common sellers which were found to be the cause of social exclusion within the association.
THE INFORMAL SECTOR, WOMEN, SOCIAL EXCLUSION AND MEMBERSHIP-BASED ORGANISATIONS OF THE POOR (MBOPs)
It was therefore reasonable to conclude that women represented the majority of workers in the informal economy in Africa (Jensen 2010). She adds that the position of women in the informal sector in India is determined by the caste they belong to. Ikoja-Odongo and Ocholla (2004) confirm that Uganda is one of the poorest countries in the world.
The informal economy in Uganda grew due to the economic crisis the country faced in the 1970s and 1980s. The introduction of SAP led to a reduction in the size of the public service and this contributed to the growth of the informal sector (Becker, 2004; Chen, 2001; Thomas, 2001). There is a possibility that social exclusion is why women, especially those in the informal economy, remain poor.
METHODOLOGY
The final reason is that qualitative data was better suited to depicting the daily lives of the women the researcher wanted to interview. The researcher also took photographs as visual evidence of the structure and organization in the market. As an instrument, the researcher has no control over the field conditions, which compromises the validity of the data.
Researchers also seek guidance from participants in the community who have extensive knowledge of the theme the researcher is trying to tackle. Those informants use their network and expertise to refer the researcher to people who are more likely to participate in the study. The researcher would then be able to see how social exclusion was applied within the structure of the market.
Ribbens and Edwards (1998) also argue that the researcher's ability to conduct exploratory analysis determines the strength of qualitative data. In this project, the researcher was a foreign student trying to get involved in the market in order to study female traders. The researcher had to use different approaches for different respondents in order to develop a certain relationship with members of different groups.
The researcher also found that a large proportion of market vendors sold on the floor in alleys without stalls. The relationship between the researcher and the interpreter was very cordial, even though the conditions were very difficult at the beginning.
THE RESEARCH CONTEXT – ST BALIKUDDEMBE MARKET
While on the one hand it collected savings and provided basic services to the sellers in its respective market, the seller associations' role on the other hand was to meet social needs such as intervening in conflicts between sellers and also involved be with internal management such as e.g. stall allocation and order in the market's alleys (Kristensen and Mukasa, 2009). This implied that they were managed by people who were not necessarily sellers in the market and a smooth coexistence between those private companies and the sellers' association was hardly feasible (Kristensen and Mukasa, 2009). In summary, the changes imposed by the SAP have introduced several complications in the management of markets in Kampala that are yet to be resolved.
One of them is that the majority of suppliers face many challenges to maintain their influence in the management of their workplace. While on the one hand market management was overtaken by the private sector was also followed by the increase in market fees, on the other hand there were no significant improvements in the working conditions of the vendors and in the provision of basic resources. Revenue collection appeared to be the biggest concern of the cooperatives in the eyes of the sellers (Kristensen and Mukasa, 2009).
Since the introduction of the SAPs in the 1990s, all markets in Uganda have been run by a private company. The association's main role is to collect income and ensure the good maintenance of the market. Although the market had approximately 70,000 vendors throughout the year, SBMLOA actually had only 10,000 members, so they were secure in having a place in the new market.
SBMLOA had limited membership to landlords and stall owners, while it excluded more than 60,000 sellers, such as were part-time vendors who rented the stall and the place they operated in the market. The figure also shows that each shed has at least one woman who represents a committee in the market's administration.
OWINO WOMEN’S ASSOCIATION, LEADRSHIP AND EXPECTATIONS
Only after they failed to resolve the dispute did the market chairman intervene (Interview 20: 30). One hundred and ten pilot leaders represent all women from the market within the “market parliament”. The only members of the OWA to whom the researcher had access were deposed leaders.
Shed leaders mostly act as representatives of women in their sheds and have intervened in the implementation of the new rules. One respondent added that she was, for example, a member of a social drama group. None of the goals of the organization were clearly expressed in the structure of the market, or the women were not satisfied with these goals.
On the one hand, more than half of the respondents said they were not members of the association. It is unclear whether they know that they are technically considered members of the organization because they sell on the market. The most obvious fact was that many of the poor were not members of the association.
Many vendors at the market said they were not members of the association, although technically they were. However, in the case of OWA, its large size seems to have become one.
ASSOCIATIONS AND NETWORKS
Some of the shed leaders in this study were members of one or even two other groups of much smaller sizes as well as members of OWA. Women as members of the cooperative (see photo 4) do not need to communicate with other women to discuss the way they should handle their savings as much as if they were members of a women's savings group. Three of the respondents also chose not to be members of any association and relied only on family and friends for support.
For example, one of the three respondents said that she was dissatisfied with the way OWA performed; therefore she decided to leave it and not join a ROSCA or a cooperative. She stated that members who were not part of leadership did not benefit from going to the meetings and being members of the association. Most of them would also like to accumulate funds so that they can generate more wealth and make ends meet at the end of the month.
In order for women to form these savings groups, the majority of women had to have a group of friends that they could count on in difficult times, and ROSCA is in a way the realization of their bond. Respondents' accounts of how they entered and adapted to the market varied widely. Being on the higher rung of the market's socioeconomic ladder may have facilitated their connection to the lower rungs to form groups.
The dynamics of the women at the Sint-Balikuddembe market also show that being part of a social network in a way excludes one from another group, just as it has limited some groups. The researcher's assumption is that these women had to seek support outside the market, from friends and family, to maintain their place in the market.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH
This is a way that the organization exercises the inclusion of all categories of women in the market. OWA's membership consists of all classes of businesswomen trading in all sectors in the market. However, this may lead to discrimination when choosing which projects to implement in the market.
Unions had the responsibility to focus more on the provision of the workforce's social welfare and wage increase, which is not how most women earn their living in the market. The success of the trade unions lies solely in the sincerity and genuine aspirations of their leadership (Taher, 1999). As long as women sold in the market, they were considered members of OWA and were included in the association.
Another important element to look at is the combination of privatization and a union in the market. Privatization and unionization will mean that the social issues of the market may take even longer to be dealt with because there will be more layers in the administration. There are many workers in the informal economy and with a market governance merger, the representation will end up being too complex due to the different activities that take place in the market.
However, the smaller groups are as important as the larger ones because they maintain the social status of women in the market and strengthen the social ties between them. The precarious livelihood of informal workers and the almost chaotic daily routine in the market, for example, made it much more difficult to arrange interviews with women. Second, for future research, the most suitable conditions would be for the researcher to undertake a more intensive anthropological study of the life and daily routine of women in the market.
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