Operational characteristics of women street food vendors in rural South Africa
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Date
2023
Authors
Mahopo, Tjale Cloupas
Nesamvuni, Cebisa Noxolo
Nesamvuni, Azwihangwisi Edward
De Bruyn, Melanie
Van Niekerk, Johan
Ambikapathi, Ramya
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Frontiers
Abstract
Objective: To characterize the operations of the street food enterprise in the Vhembe district, focusing on business profile, sold foods, inputs, pricing, record-keeping practices and total running cost.
Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional face-to-face study of 511 vendors was done using a structured researcher-administered questionnaire comprising demographic and operational characteristics. Convenience sampling was used to choose the vending sites. Chi-square tests were conducted between four categorical variables (gender, age, marital status and citizenship) and operational characteristics. P-values were considered significant at p < 0.05. However, a Bonferroni adjustment decreased the significant value to p < 0.013.
Results: The findings highlight the dominance of single middle-aged (35–44) women (63.1%) with some high school education. About 14% migrated from Zimbabwe. Most vendors were owners (86.1%), with 70.0% in business for at least 1–10 years. Food sold included mielie pap (stiff porridge) served with beef or chicken, sometimes with vegetables. Plate prices were R40.00 (2.6 USD) for a full plate and R30.00 (2 USD) for half a plate. The typical street food consumers were government officials, middlemen, and schoolchildren. Social media such as Whatsapp were used to communicate between the street food vendors and customers. The results highlight poor managerial skills as only 15.5% kept records, most of which were sales records (59.5%). On average, street vendors made a monthly profit of R3200.00 (213 USD) while spending R1800.00 (120 USD) on daily running expenses. There were statistically significant variations in some operational characteristics of vendor variables and gender, age, marital status, and citizenship.
Conclusions: There is a need for capital and management for small businesses and food training for rural street food vendors. Therefore, government officials, policymakers, and NGOs could target street vendors to offer training and microfinance to improve their business skills while promoting food safety and consumption of nutritious foods.
Description
Keywords
Operational characteristics, Street food enterprises, Street vendors, South Africa, Women's employment, Entrepreneurship -- Women -- South Africa, Street vendors -- Women -- South Africa
Citation
Mahopo, T. C., Nesambuni, C. N., Nesamvuni, A. E., De Bruyn, M., Van Niekerk, J., & Ambikapathi, R. (2023). Operational characteristics of women street food vendors in rural South Africa. Frontiers in Public Health, 10, 849059. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.849059