An Assessment of Challenges faced by Microenterprises in Botswana: A case of Street Food Vendors in Gaborone

Abstract

Street food vending in urban areas of developing countries like Botswana continues to be a source of livelihoods to many (Joseph, 2011).The Government and relevant stakeholders need to understand holistically the challenges faced by street food vendors and develop interventions that will enable street food vendors to survive, grow and compete in a dynamic business environment. This study examined the challenges faced by street food vendors in the selected malls of Gaborone and these are Kagiso, African and Main Mall. Further, the study investigated the importance of street vending as a livelihood strategy and strategies to lessen the challenges faced by street vendors. The data was collected from ninety seven street food vendors from the selected sample of the study using a 51 item questionnaire. Data was analyzed with the use of SPSS (Spatial Package for Social Sciences) 16.0 and later on was tabulated for ease interpretation. The major findings of the study indicated that street food vending is mostly a source of income and a way of creating employment for the urban poor. The study recommends that street food vending needs to be legally recognized. The study would inspire policy makers to come up with specific legislation to promote street food vending business in Botswana.