Eking out a living: the livelihood implications of urban space regulation on street hawking in Accra, Ghana

Abstract: Street hawking as a source of livelihood across the developing world has often raised a lot of concerns regarding hygiene, slum, crime, health, human and vehicular congestion from governments, city authorities and other actors. These concerns noted have necessitated a decongestion and relocation of hawkers to a constructed market in Accra, Ghana. Based on field interviews with hawkers, metropolitan authorities and the public, it is shown that the relocation of the hawkers to the newly constructed Odawna Pedestrian Market in Accra has negatively affected the livelihoods of the hawkers and other actors involved. The relocation exercise succeeded in moving a significant number of the hawkers to the constructed market, but its goal of totally getting rid of hawkers from the streets and pavements has, first, been unsuccessful as many people continue to hawk on the streets, and, second, decreased the incomes of the hawkers. There is the need to adopt more holistic measures and strategies, such as the provision of credit facilities, to address the challenges emanating from the relocation exercise, in particular, and street hawking in general.