The politics and governance of informal food retail in urban Africa

Rapid urbanization in Africa south of the Sahara continues to highlight the importance of informal retailers as a source of both food and employment for the urban poor. The most recent Africa Agriculture Status Report emphasizes that, due to demographic and socioeconomic transformation in the region...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor principal: Resnick, Danielle
Formato: Brief
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: International Food Policy Research Institute 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/143976
_version_ 1855532765728997376
author Resnick, Danielle
author_browse Resnick, Danielle
author_facet Resnick, Danielle
author_sort Resnick, Danielle
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Rapid urbanization in Africa south of the Sahara continues to highlight the importance of informal retailers as a source of both food and employment for the urban poor. The most recent Africa Agriculture Status Report emphasizes that, due to demographic and socioeconomic transformation in the region, the center of gravity of Africa’s food system is shifting to urban areas (AGRA, 2020). Informal retailers—including those who vend in open-air wet markets and hawk on pavements and streets—provide a critical link between agricultural producers and consumers. While the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically highlighted the vulnerability of this constituency (Resnick et al., 2020), informal traders have long been victims of other public health, economic, and climate shocks (Battersby & Watson, 2019). To build the resilience of informal traders and enhance their contributions to urban food security, fundamental governance issues need to be addressed. This brief synthesizes research on informal traders conducted under the “Economywide Factors Affecting Agricultural Growth and Rural Transformation” flagship of the CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM) led by IFPRI. The research spanned Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, and Zambia and involved comparative analysis across capital cities based on media events data, surveys with traders, and interviews with urban bureaucrats. In this way, traders’ experiences could be complemented with policymakers’ insights about bottlenecks and opportunities for reform
format Brief
id CGSpace143976
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2020
publishDateRange 2020
publishDateSort 2020
publisher International Food Policy Research Institute
publisherStr International Food Policy Research Institute
record_format dspace
spelling CGSpace1439762025-11-06T07:00:00Z The politics and governance of informal food retail in urban Africa Resnick, Danielle politics taxes urban areas urbanization markets trade food supply governance Rapid urbanization in Africa south of the Sahara continues to highlight the importance of informal retailers as a source of both food and employment for the urban poor. The most recent Africa Agriculture Status Report emphasizes that, due to demographic and socioeconomic transformation in the region, the center of gravity of Africa’s food system is shifting to urban areas (AGRA, 2020). Informal retailers—including those who vend in open-air wet markets and hawk on pavements and streets—provide a critical link between agricultural producers and consumers. While the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically highlighted the vulnerability of this constituency (Resnick et al., 2020), informal traders have long been victims of other public health, economic, and climate shocks (Battersby & Watson, 2019). To build the resilience of informal traders and enhance their contributions to urban food security, fundamental governance issues need to be addressed. This brief synthesizes research on informal traders conducted under the “Economywide Factors Affecting Agricultural Growth and Rural Transformation” flagship of the CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM) led by IFPRI. The research spanned Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, and Zambia and involved comparative analysis across capital cities based on media events data, surveys with traders, and interviews with urban bureaucrats. In this way, traders’ experiences could be complemented with policymakers’ insights about bottlenecks and opportunities for reform 2020-10-01 2024-05-22T12:18:35Z 2024-05-22T12:18:35Z Brief https://hdl.handle.net/10568/143976 en Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Resnick, Danielle. 2020. The politics and governance of informal food retail in urban Africa. PIM Synthesis Brief October 2020. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.134126.
spellingShingle politics
taxes
urban areas
urbanization
markets
trade
food supply
governance
Resnick, Danielle
The politics and governance of informal food retail in urban Africa
title The politics and governance of informal food retail in urban Africa
title_full The politics and governance of informal food retail in urban Africa
title_fullStr The politics and governance of informal food retail in urban Africa
title_full_unstemmed The politics and governance of informal food retail in urban Africa
title_short The politics and governance of informal food retail in urban Africa
title_sort politics and governance of informal food retail in urban africa
topic politics
taxes
urban areas
urbanization
markets
trade
food supply
governance
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/143976
work_keys_str_mv AT resnickdanielle thepoliticsandgovernanceofinformalfoodretailinurbanafrica
AT resnickdanielle politicsandgovernanceofinformalfoodretailinurbanafrica