Street Vending and Market Trading During the COVID-19 Crisis: Pathways of Impact and Recovery in Nine Cities

By Sarah Orleans Reed, Caroline Skinner on August 19, 2023

This report draws on interviews with street vendors and market traders in nine cities – Accra, Ghana; Ahmedabad, India; Bangkok, Thailand; Delhi, India; Durban, South Africa; Lima, Peru; Mexico City, Mexico; New York, USA; and Pleven, Bulgaria – in mid-2020 and again with the same workers in mid-2021. Key points include:

• Earnings: By mid-2021, while eight out of every 10 street vendors and market traders were back at work, average earnings had recovered to only 60% of pre-COVID-19 levels.
• Decreased demand and increased prices of inputs: As restrictions were eased, reduced customer demand and lower purchasing power among their clientele converged with rising prices of stock and input, explaining reduced earnings.
• Harassment: Over one-quarter of street vendors reported harassment by law enforcement officers between mid-2020 and mid-2021. Reports were particularly prevalent in Lima (80 per cent), Delhi (66 per cent), Ahmedabad (39 per cent), and Durban (28 per cent).
• Food security: In mid-2021, 63% of respondents reported skipping meals or eating a low variety of foods in the past month, 32% of interviewees reported adult hunger and 25% child hunger in their households.
• Street vendor organizations were a key source of support to their members, facilitating access to government support measures and initiating interventions to protect their members’ health and well-being.
• Recommendations include a call to “do no harm” – an end to punitive practices of ticketing, confiscation, and evictions – and to provide access to well-located workspaces with appropriate infrastructure and clear and fair regulations.

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