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.