{"id":656,"date":"2016-03-14T05:26:36","date_gmt":"2016-03-14T05:26:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.emkambo.co.zw\/?p=656"},"modified":"2016-03-18T10:31:13","modified_gmt":"2016-03-18T10:31:13","slug":"to-what-extent-are-food-vendors-an-extension-of-african-agriculture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.emkambo.co.zw\/?p=656","title":{"rendered":"To what extent are food vendors an extension of African agriculture?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A big picture of African agriculture cannot emerge without analysing the role of food vendors. In almost every African country, food vendors have a distinct position between the market and end-users or consumers. The free dictionary (http:\/\/www.thefreedictionary.com\/vending ) defines vending as engaging in selling or supplying a product\/service to a business for a fee. In big African cities such as Yaounde, Johannesburg, Nairobi, Maputo, Harare, Accra, Cairo, Lagos, Lusaka and Addis Ababa, food vendors are always seen early in the morning, buying fresh agricultural commodities from people\u2019s markets and taking the commodities to residential areas or streets. Major food commodities they buy and sell include tomatoes, leafy vegetables, eggs, meat, fruits, fish and all kinds of juices. The main difference between vendors and traders is that most traders have permanent stalls in the market while vendors sell from high density areas or in streets. However, since vending can be more of a practice, there are times where traders also act like vendors.
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\nHow food vendors come into agricultural value chains<\/strong>
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\nFrom its work in agriculture markets of Zimbabwe, eMKambo has discovered the unique role of food vendors in agricultural value chains. Given similarities between African agro-based economies, these findings may resonate with many African countries which are also trying to modernise agriculture.<\/p>\n

\"kta\"<\/p>\n

Among all agricultural value chain actors, vendors are more close to end users. The only difference is during few cases where end users buy directly from food chain stores or the wholesale market.\u00a0 Vendors have a particular niche market comprising households with particular tastes and preferences.\u00a0 They even have specific information about particular households including details like income sources and income levels. They also have an acute sense of demand in terms of standards, specifications and volumes.\u00a0 When a 30 toner truck of potatoes gets into Mbare wholesale market in\u00a0Harare, for instance, three quarters of the commodity ends up with vendors whose understanding of consumers result in the consignment being classified into at least three grades by quality and quantity.<\/p>\n

Since they are close to end-users from whom they take orders, vendors can also adjust orders accordingly.\u00a0 They even know how many tomatoes are consumed by a particular household.\u00a0 This intimate awareness informs the arrangement of tomato fruits in terms of size and number in a pile.\u00a0 For three to six months each vendor can use at least $50 to buy commodities and still get the same profit margin. They are also good at adjusting and balancing the demands and supply trends.\u00a0 If they find tomatoes very expensive in the market, they can use some of the money to buy a cheaper fruit such as a banana or go for lower grade tomatoes which they are sure end-users want.<\/p>\n

\"kta\"<\/p>\n

Vendors as knowledge brokers<\/strong><\/p>\n

Statistics from vendors are more accurate and represent effective demand as an expression of end users\u2019 ability and willingness to purchase.\u00a0 Since it is often very difficult to determine effective demand from the supply side, vendors close the knowledge gap.\u00a0 If five tons of tomatoes are delivered in the farmers market, up to 20% can be lost in the marketing process through offloading, re-loading and mishandling.\u00a0 Less than 5% is lost at vendor and household level.\u00a0 In fact, the loss at vendor and household level is not in the form of throwing away. Some commodities can be given customers on credit to avoid complete losses.<\/p>\n

By conveying important feedback from consumers to farmers through traders and the whole market, vendors have become important knowledge brokers regarding consumption patterns and consumer preferences.\u00a0 \u00a0The strong relationship between vendors and end-users creates room for unique credit models based on specific orders.\u00a0 Vendors can show different classes of consumers, their levels of income and preferences.\u00a0 This is very important for every producer to know.\u00a0 A quick survey can show three to four different types of vegetables on the market in high density areas \u2013 leafy vegetables, tomatoes and onions.\u00a0 Fruits are there but sometimes rare.\u00a0 If you go to high density areas, leafy\u00a0vegetables on the market are in the form of lettuce, broccoli, fine beans, etc.\u00a0 This means vendors can show and define incomes and preferences in particular areas.\u00a0 Vendors also extend knowledge on food preparation to young mothers who, for instance, struggle with cooking pumpkin leaves and okra.<\/p>\n

Because they have a lot of time to interact with consumers, most vendors are good marketers.\u00a0 More than 80% of food goes through vendors to end-users.\u00a0 The growth of SMEs is supported by vendors who provided mobile food catering services. Unfortunately, conventional agricultural production models being promoted in Africa overlook the importance of understanding actors like vendors at a granular level. It seems the preferred notion of value chain is more about contract farming and super markets, ignoring the mass market where vendors are critical actors.<\/p>\n

The expansion of food vending into rural growth points and business centres is in response to rapid urbanisation and an increase in youthful population now residing in these centres. As a food distribution mechanism, rural vendors take commodities from urban markets to rural areas where nurses, teachers and other government employees are the main market. While you can place an order with a vendor and be assured of a commodity coming, you cannot do the same with food chain stores.<\/p>\n

Towards vendor-driven finance models<\/strong><\/p>\n

Vendors are the main conduit through which money is collected from households to major markets such as Mbare or Bulawayo and then to farmers.\u00a0 Wholesale markets on their own may not be viable without vendors. It doesn\u2019t help to finance big actors while ignoring vendors.\u00a0 Vending is another \u00a0way through which young people can develop a passion and an entrepreneurial mind set around agriculture. \u00a0Children of vendors can automatically see how agriculture is a source of employment more than those on the production side who sometimes do not see income from agriculture activities.\u00a0 Vendors determine 70% of prices of commodities on the farmers\u2019 market using feedback from end-users.\u00a0 They can increase or decrease volumes based on orders from end-users or how yesterday\u2019s consignment performed.\u00a0 They are also good in managing liquidity issues and can loan out commodities to households based on relationships with payment being done later on.<\/p>\n

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Formal companies which specialize in eggs, bananas and all kinds of juices depend heavily on vendors for higher sales. The vendors also influence packaging.\u00a0 For instance, some beverages which used to come in 500ml containers can now be seen in 100ml containers.\u00a0 These changes come from vendors who know consumers\u2019 buying power and preferences. The smallest unit of measurement can be found at vendor level.\u00a0 They add value and provide the exact preferences in terms of quantities. By bringing food closer to homes, vendors minimize losses and ensure freshness of commodities.\u00a0 For some consumers, refrigerated tomatoes don\u2019t taste as good as fresh ones from the market or farm. Value addition at the vendor level should also be a serious consideration.\u00a0 Because they know customer preferences, vendors can produce the right tomato puree and fruit juices that really meet customer requirements.<\/p>\n

How understanding food vendors can inform policy making<\/strong><\/p>\n

There is a dominance of women in the vending business because the business is closer to food preparation, which is a domain of women.\u00a0 Women vendors know perishability characteristics of diverse food items as well as quality issues to minute detail.\u00a0 Destroying vending as a business affects women more than men. \u00a0\u00a0In recognition of vending as an important agribusiness, local authorities should ensure vending stalls and related structures are part of every business ecosystem.\u00a0 It is very important for policy makers to understand linkages between food vendors and formal organisations such as wholesalers and processors.\u00a0 The prevalence of many stories about vendors in African cities being chased away from streets or relocated to areas where they eventually run away suggests that policy makers and local authorities do not see vendors as part of modern African cities. While there is a tendency to think that vendors operate outside regulations, the majority operate within by-laws and regulatory frameworks. However, they lack effective legal rights and bargaining power on important\u00a0issues like security of workplace and access to basic infrastructure. A firm grasp of vendors\u2019 daily work processes can result in urban planners designing appropriate structures for a more supportive and dynamic agriculture-supported urban African economies. Making basic infrastructure such as running water and toilets available to vendors would help keep food markets more hygienic. Adequate shelter and storage facilities would help vendors protect their goods from spoilage and theft, in turn reducing the necessity of borrowing from informal moneylenders to replenish their stocks.<\/p>\n

Towards a human \u2013 centred policy approaches<\/strong>
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\nLocal authorities and policy makers should embrace a Human – Centred Design approaches to urban planning where they spend significant amount of time and resources understanding vendors and other actors. Policy makers should try to get out of their heads and look at challenges from different perspectives. Jumping to solutions is not a smart solution. To accurately deliver services in the knowledge economy, decision makers have to understand what really happens to food when delivered in the market. A farmer should not just be satisfied with ending at the market. It is becoming important to get insights from end-users. Modernising agriculture is not just about mechanisation but understanding what happens to food from farm to consumer.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Contacts<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

charles@knowledgetransafrica.com \/ charles@emkambo.co.zw \/ info@knowledgetransafrica.com
\nWebsite: www.emkambo.co.zw \/ www.knowledgetransafrica.com<\/p>\n

eMkambo Call Centre: 0771 859000-5\/ 0716 331140-5 \/ 0739 866 343-6<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A big picture of African agriculture cannot emerge without analysing the role of food vendors. In almost every African country, food vendors have a distinct position between the market and end-users or consumers. The free dictionary (http:\/\/www.thefreedictionary.com\/vending ) defines vending as engaging in selling or supplying a product\/service to a business for a fee. In Read more about To what extent are food vendors an extension of African agriculture?<\/span>[…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":672,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[38],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emkambo.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emkambo.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emkambo.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emkambo.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emkambo.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=656"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/www.emkambo.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":666,"href":"http:\/\/www.emkambo.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656\/revisions\/666"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emkambo.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emkambo.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emkambo.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emkambo.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}