The Feasibility Of The Ban On Street Food

As countries in the West African sub-region battle the deadly Ebola
Viral Diseases, Ghana is not only preventing the disease from crossing its borders, but is also trying to combat a cholera epidemic. 

The number of deaths as a result of  cholera has caused fear and panic in the country while the rate of spread is still alarming.  More than one hundred persons have so far died of cholera  across the country out of
11 thousand 739 cases  since its outbreak in June, this year.  

In Accra, which is the hardest hit, more than six thousand cholera cases have been recorded with fifty-one deaths as of August this year.

Following the  outbreak,  efforts are being made to combat and stop
the  further spread of cholera. In an attempt to do so, the Director General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Ebenezer Appiah Denkyira recently called for a ban on street vending of cooked food in the country.  He said the ban is a sure way of helping to fight cholera because most of the cholera patients interviewed so far got infected from eating food sold on the streets. 

Dr. Appiah Denkyira subsequently
called on Environmental Officers in Metropolitan, Municipal and
District assemblies (MMDAs) to enforce  sanitation bye-laws.  

The Accra Metropolitan Assembly for instance has stepped up efforts to enforce the ban.  The directive is set to rid Accra of food vendors and this  obviously has not gone down  well with the street food vendors. This has prompted criticism that the law would amount to an
attack on the poor. 

The Vendors argue that if the ban is enforced, it will make them destitute.  Some of the food vendors indicated that it will be unfair to them since they are just trying to earn living, and
so enforcing this directive will drive them out of business.  

Street Food vending is an age-old practice which has contributed immensely to socio-economic growth and development of any nation.  

According to a 2007 study from the Food and Agriculture Organization, 2.5 billion people eat street food every day. Creditably, street vending offer
people instant access to the food they need on a typical day.  

It is a truism that many customers do not have transportation to conventional food stores and so must rely on street vendors to buy their food.  In addition, street foods are cheaper on the average than restaurant meals.  

Based on the affordability factor, customers will mostly resort to the food vendors on the streets for their daily meal. The
other side of the coin is that, medical experts are of the view that food vending is a major source and cause of cholera.  

Since most of the foods are sold outside, they are very much exposed to contamination.  Improper food handling by vendors can also lead to the spread of cholera.  Although it is an indisputable fact that food vending is a major source and  cause of cholera, it might be difficult to enforce the ban.  

The question that arises is, is it feasible to enforce the ban in an efficient and effective way?  In Accra for instance, the sheer number of food vendors will make it practically impossible to devise an action plan to limit  the activities of street food vendors.  

Besides, the AMA does not have the personnel to monitor food vendors in the whole of the  Accra metropolis.  Secondly,
the mobile nature of food vendors will serve as another challenge to
the sanitation taskforce. 

The fact is  food vending is not tied to one location and so it is doubtful that the AMA or any other assembly is well-equipped to track these maneuvering food vendors.  Moreover, the
political environment in Ghana is not conducive for such a ban to be
enforced because almost every issue is politicised.  

Opposition parties will always want to gain political capital out of any government policy and so they will ensure that they frustrate the government and stampede the enforcement of  the ban. 

Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) should rather concentrate on  massive educational campaigns towards educating food  vendors on
comprehensive safety.  

It is interesting to note that most food vendors are ignorant of the AMA bye-laws on sanitation. 

Refuse collection companies must also be paid promptly so they can discharge their duties diligently.  

Government should develop new land fill sites and expand existing ones.  The sanitation courts inaugurated by the AMA must without fear or favour prosecute those who flout sanitation laws.  

Other assemblies across the country should try and replicate these sanitation courts. Any attempt to ban street food vendors all in the name of stopping cholera, without intensive education campaigns will be a needless war.

BY: ZEPHANIAH KWESI DANAA, JOURNALIST