The Regulation of Street Foods: Experiences of Front-Line Regulators in Ghana

As a part of a greater capacity building project in Ghana, Professor and Head of the Department, Helle Samuelsen, has co-authored the article 'The Regulation of Street Foods: Experiences of Front-Line Regulators in Ghana' together with John Boulard Forkuor, Eric Henry Yeboah, Thilde Rheinländer and Kofi Osei Akuoko. 

There has been a lot of research on the relationship between regulators and street vendors, often portraying regulators as bullies of vulnerable vendors. However, there is little documentation on urban regulators and their challenges as they implement their mandates. In this paper the authors investigate the challenges and negotiating strategies of regulators of street-vended foods in Ghana and analyses the implication for their relationship with street food vendors. The paper reveals that regulators operate in a context of limited resources, leading to a general feeling of neglect. In coping, regulators adopt strategies that encourage harassment of vendors and increase tensions between vendors and regulators. Thus, this study establishes relations between the challenges and negotiating strategies of regulators and the poor relations that exist between regulators and vendors. The authors argue that motivating and addressing the needs of regulators can serve as an important basis for eliminating harassment and for improving the relationships between regulators and street vendors.

Helle Samuelsen, 'The Regulation of Street Foods: Experiences of Front-Line Regulators in Ghana' in Urban Forum, vol. 28, 2017.