This research highlights the impact of street vendors in urban households. Street vending is a social safety net and an outlet for national production and cohesion. Most studies conducted on this business in Sub-Saharan Africa neglect the cultural motive, which is an important factor in household quality of life. In those studies, mention is often made of youth unemployment, economic problems, or the propensity of young traders not to fulfill their tax obligations, hence their refusal to formalize their businesses. Although many of these studies have been conducted quantitatively through questionnaires or observation sessions, others, admittedly less well known, have attempted to give a qualitative answer to the characteristics of poverty, violence, often attributed to street vending.
However, our study has chosen to make an immersion inside the Senegalese informal economy in order to give an opportunity for street vendors to recount their individual stories. As a result, we have discovered not only that most vendors’ presence on the street is culturally motivated but that they also contribute directly to the overall level of economic activity and provision of goods and services.
The arguments in this research are based on the views of Amartya Sen who insists that development must be judged by its impact on people, in terms of their choices, capabilities and freedoms.
Street vendors are an integral part of the Senegalese economy, and their elimination would inevitably sever the cultural bond that existed in households and disrupt the solidarity and societal values the country prides itself on.

Authors:
Fafa Sene, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Japan
Houleymata Dite Dianga Ba Ndongo, Cheikh Anta Diop University, Senegal
Serigne Thiam, Cheikh Anta Diop University, Senegal
Rokhaya Diallo, Cheikh Anta Diop University, Senegal

About the Presenter(s)
Dr Fafa SENE is currently a postdoctoral researcher at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies and serves, at the same time, as a Technical advisor to Senegal's Minister of Urban Planning and Local Communities.

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https://www.linkedin.com/in/fafa-sene-265124271/

See this presentation on the full schedule – Sunday Schedule

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