The
next century has been designated the Century of Cities.
While in Latin America most people already live in urban areas, major
Asian and African cities are likely to double their populations within a decade.
In particular, the number of low-income urban consumers will increase
their food security, which will depend upon the level and stability of the cost
of accessing food as well as on the variety and quality of food available to
them.
A very
effective way of enhancing urban consumers' food availability is to improve the
efficiency of all activities that bring food into cities and distribute it
within urban areas, i.e. assembling, handling, sorting, packaging,
storing, transporting, processing, wholesaling, retailing and cooking for sale
as street food. It can do a great deal to improve local food marketing systems
by addressing present constraints and expected requirements at the level of
market infrastructure and services, transport and credit facilities, legislation
and regulations, as well as technical, commercial and managerial skills. It
would virtually make food marketing more efficient and improve rural – urban
linkages. This will greatly support
local development initiatives. Cooperative action will improve consumers' access
to food. Cities will thus become
less vulnerable, more sustainable and just and, therefore, better places to
live. Food insecurity exists when
food is not available or when consumers cannot adequately meet their food and
nutritional needs.
Urban
Planners are usually concerned with the vulnerability and the sustainability of
the development of their cities, as well as with the level of urban segregation
and equity issues but often feel less concerned with urban food security.
· A city will be less vulnerable, the more its inhabitants are able to adequately feed themselves;
·
Urban food distribution will be more sustainable when public
investments in market infrastructure and facilities make a real contribution to
local economic and social development;
·
If the food needs of low-income cities are not adequately met, in
terms of well-managed and efficient market infrastructure and services, the
tendency towards segregation within the city will be strengthened;
·
Food access difficulties have been among the major causes of urban
violence;
· The enhancement of equity within a city also requires that decision makers be adequately informed and make the best use of available instruments and resources to support the development of complex food systems composed of individuals with different economic, social and political powers and objectives.
The
food security of low-income urban consumers is an important dimension of cities.
It should therefore be a priority.
No
meaningful progress in enhancing the food marketing for urban consumers can be
achieved without an adequate understanding of urban food marketing systems. The
issues include
·
The
formulation of urban or municipal policies;
·
The
execution of investment and development programmes;
·
The
planning, construction and management of urban wholesale markets, food loading
and unloading areas, docks, stations and transport infrastructure;
·
The
maintenance and upgrading of public infrastructure as well as the provision of
water, toilets, lighting, drainage, sewage and waste disposal;
·
The
regulation of public land occupancy and construction;
·
The levying
of municipal taxes and market fee;
·
The control
of food quality and sale-point hygiene;
·
The
promotion of security throughout the urban areas;
·
The
regulation of commercial activities; and
·
The control
of unauthorized food-trading activities.
·
Decision-makers
are not fully aware of the issues involved;
·
Policy and
investment decisions are often taken on a non-technical basis or are imposed by
Central Government;
·
Available
resources are insufficient to address the large number of problems.
Resources are not increased with the increase in responsibilities;
·
Available
market infrastructure is inadequate;
·
Disbursement
procedures for loans received from Central Government and other Agencies are
cumbersome;
·
Staff is insufficient. Its
technical and managerial skills are inadequate with respect to food marketing,
problem analysis, programme design, implementation, monitoring and follow-up,
etc.
·
Dialogue
with the private sector is insufficient;
·
Co-ordination
and collaboration with Central Government is inadequate
·
Public
investments in badly planned market infrastructure do not contribute to local
economic and social development;
·
Private
investments in food marketing are not stimulated;
·
Municipal
revenues generated by market activities are adequately reinvested, markets are
not properly maintained and services to market users remain insufficient;
·
Municipal
regulations are not respected and not updated to reflect changes in the food
economy and commercial practices;
·
Prices paid
by urban consumers for accessing food are higher than they need be.
An
urban food supply and distribution policy requires clear goals and objectives as
well as clearly defined institutional roles and responsibilities.
Issues
in Urban Growth on Food Availability
·
Urban food
demand increases and gradually outstrips the capacity of the surrounding areas
to meet urban needs. Consequently
food supply sources are increasingly distant from the urban and peri-urban
areas.
·
Existing
market and transport infrastructure and facilities in both rural and urban areas
become increasingly inadequate to handle the growing food quantities.
Food supply flows grow to be more complex while transport and marketing
costs increase.
·
Urban life styles, both spouses working, traffic conditions, longer
distances between residential areas and central markets, increase the need for
convenience foods for mid-day meals, more retail outlets nearer residential
areas and more convenient shopping hours.
With
the growth of urban areas and of food demand, food distribution becomes more
complex, food-marketing activities increase and the distance between supply and
consumption areas widens. Marketing
costs and the cost of accessing food consequently increase.
Urban
Market Problems, Facilities and Management
Public
markets have burned down throughout the world over the last few years because of
inadequate structures and maintenance, poor management, fire-hazard practices,
… or to force traders into new markets. These
blows to the local economy have important financial implications for small
traders and entrepreneurs as well as consumers.
Existing
market spaces and facilities are often insufficient in developing countries and
countries in transition. Consequently,
many food traders occupy roads around markets.
Urban
markets are usually seem as a source of revenue to local town coffers, but those
funds are often not reinvested in infrastructure maintenance and better
services. This leads the traders
feel that market taxes are not justified and unrest when then rates are
increased.
Food
Retailing
Middle
and high-income consumers shop at retail shop while low-income consumers, who
spend as much as 80 per cent of their income on food, go to local petty shops,
to market places near their homes or buy from street vendors. Public retail
markets have not expanded rapidly enough in newly urbanized areas and existing
markets have been unable to accommodate the increasing number of retailers.
Lack
of space or new market opportunities in satellite towns are thus the cause of
spontaneous markets, which fill an important gap in the distribution chain.
However, their unplanned nature may create traffic, health and
environmental problems.
In
low-income cities, a plurality of small family-run food shops competes for the
local market. Such competition,
made more difficult by the growing presence of supermarkets and the lack of an
entrepreneurial mentality as well as technical and managerial expertise, are
responsible for low and even negative returns, which in turn, do not stimulate
private investment.
Informal
Food Distribution
Informal
retailing and street sales are an important and convenient source of cheap food
for low-income urban consumers. Informal
activities are also a source of employment and income for the poor, particularly
women. Food
marketing is an important source of employment for low-income people, especially
women.
Most
informal traders sell in the street because they believe that they can reach
more customers. Others do so
because they don’t have access to market facilities and services, as they are
unable to pay market charges. Because
of their illegal status, police often harasses informal traders.
Wholesale
Markets
At
many places both the construction and the expansion of wholesale markets have
lagged behind the growth in urban populations and food flows.
All cities, with very few exceptions, totally lack specific wholesale
market facilities. Now the States
are increasingly realizing the need for market infrastructure and facilities to
support the transition to liberalized food markets.
The
inadequacy of wholesale facilities is not only the cause of food losses, traffic
jams, hygiene and safety problems, but is also an impediment to achieving an
efficient food marketing system.
Wholesale
Markets: Hygiene, Health, Security and the Environment
Market
authorities usually guarantee cleaning inside the markets, but this is rarely
adequate. Toilet facilities are
rare and seldom properly cleaned. Water
points, drainage and sewage are usually insufficient. Inadequate lighting in
markets exposes users to additional risks and increases the likelihood of theft.
The precarious hygiene conditions of established and spontaneous markets, the
increasing quantities of waste, and the growing number of lorries required for
food transport, have an adverse impact on the environment, as they pollute air
and water, increase noise and threaten public health.
Market
Planning
Plans
to develop market facilities away from urban centres often result in
under-utilized markets. This may be
due to the rents charged in the new markets are set too high for the smaller
trader; inappropriate market design; retailers cannot afford the extra transport
costs; traders fear losing their customers, etc.
Legislation
and Regulations
The
rationalization of food marketing systems may require appropriate changes in the
rules governing them. National
legislation and local regulations require that fruit and vegetables be
transported through a series of wholesale markets where apparently unnecessary
yet compulsorily middlemen and a series of market taxes lead to higher retail
prices.
Multiple
Municipal Authorities