Developing food safety strategies and procedures through reduction of food hazards in street-vended foods to improve food security for consumers, street food vendors and input suppliers

Duration of project: 1st February 2003 to 31st December 2004

This project is jointly managed by NRI, UK and the Food Research Institute, Ghana. It is funded by the DFID Crop Post-Harvest Programme (CPHP).

Project summary and outputs

The livelihoods of those in the informal street food sector and the health of consumers could be jeopardized if problems of food safety are not addressed. Loss in public confidence in street foods will not only jeopardize incomes of vendors but also of their employees, and of producers and traders of inputs.

The project, through an enabling process, sought to improve the livelihoods of vendors and health of consumers. This was achieved through a successful coalition partnership approach comprising street vendor NGOs, local authorities, food standards authorities, research institutions, and food laboratories. The coalition began during an earlier CPHP project (Enhancing the food security of the peri-urban and urban poor through improvements to the quality, safety and economics of street-vended foods in Ghana - R7493) and was successfully formalized during this project; new partners joined the coalition and some stakeholders/agencies substantially enhanced this project.

The coalition explored the wider framework in which the policies, institutional linkages and food laws associated with street vending were carried out and by determining the sources and extent of food safety hazards that could jeopardise livelihoods and consumer health. It is anticipated that the coalition will sustainably address future food safety issues in Ghana.

The research partnership developed strategies that could be used to control identified food safety hazards in an economical and socially-acceptable manner. A food safety baseline study indicated variations between markets and vendors selling different food types. Microbiological studies indicated that fufu (pounded cassava) was more at risk than others. Analysis of heavy metal residues indicated that concentrations of the heavy metal lead in street foods were generally low but there may be issues concerning the methodology used to manufacture traditional cooking pots by informal foundries. Promotion materials on food safety to educate both consumers and vendors were developed. These included four TV documentaries and billboards by the Food and Drugs Board of Ghana (with UNIDO funding), four posters and training manuals for Environmental Health Officers and street vendor NGOs. Nearly 300 vendors were trained but falls substantially short of the estimated 60000 vendors in Accra. A survey of 265 street food vendors highlighted that many had limited understanding of their business finances and this hindered the benefits of training. A survey of 530 consumers indicated that most consumers did not associate unsafe food with food borne illnesses. New male dominated street food vending businesses, known as ‘check-check food vendors’ have recently arisen but the food safety issues are similar and need to be addressed.

The project successfully contributed to developing new knowledge on food safety issues, how information is managed and issues relating to how street vendors take up this new knowledge. It has also illustrated new challenges if this new knowledge is to be adapted successfully and in a sustainable way to improve livelihoods of the vendors and the health of consumers. For more information about this project please click here [PPT] [PDF 948Kb].

Publicity Billboards in Accra to promote consumer awareness of food safety

Consuming food in a hygienic environment	Purchasing food in a hygienic environment	Preparing food in a hygienic environment

Coalition partnership for the project:

• Natural Resources Institute, The University of Greenwich at Medway, UK (Mr Keith Tomlins - K.I.Tomlins@gre.ac.uk)
• Food Research Institute, Accra, Ghana (Dr P-N T Johnson - panijihnson@idngh.com)
• Food & Drugs Board of Ghana, Accra (Mr K. van Ess - fdb@ghana.com)
• University of Ghana, Legon (Dr G. T-M Kwadzo - gtkwadzo@ug.edu.gh)
• Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology, Kumasi, Ghana (Dr J. A. M. Awudza, Department of Chemistry - johannes_awudza@yahoo.com and Dr W.O. Ellis, Department of Biochemistry - ellisWO@yahoo.com)
• Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, Ghana (Prof A.K. Nyarko, Clinical Pathology Unit anyarko@noguchi.mimcom.net and Dr K.K. Addo, Bacteriology Unit - e-mail: kaddo@noguchi.mimcom.net)
• Accra Metropolitan Assembly, Accra (Mr Aryeetey - niicoleman@yahoo.com)
• Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly, Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly, P.O Box 1947, Kumasi, Ghana (Mr B F Yeboah)
• Ghana Traditional Caterers Association, Box 110, Burden Powell Hall, Accra (Mr E. K. Apraku, Chairman)