PERTANIKA JOURNAL OF TROPICAL AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE

Street vending is the most visible aspect of the informal sector, where thousands of people earn their living by selling goods on streets, sidewalks and other open public places. The number of street vendors is increasing day by day. Migrants from rural areas who do not possess the skill, knowledge and education to gain a better-paying job in the formal sector were found to settle for street vending. In most of cases, income generation is the secondary role for women whereas earning a living is the primary role for men. So access to income, savings, access and control over resources and freedom to use saved income for women were less significant than for men. The main expenditure of the vendors is on the basic needs of the family. Income earned through street vending has increased the financial independence and decision making power of women within the household. However, the majority of the women engaged in this sector were found to be overburdened with multiple responsibilities. Nevertheless, this study has shown that traditional attitudes about sex, class and caste based segregation of occupation and work role distribution seem to be changing. This is evident from the fact that the number of Brahmin and Chhetri women and men engaged in street vending is found to be increasing compared to the number of Newar men and women who are engaged in street vending. Traditionally, the main occupation of the Newar is business. The main reasons for the men to be engaged in street vending are to provide for the family and unemployment, whereas the main reason the women are engaged in street vending is that their spouse�s income is insufficient to provide for the basic needs of the family. The source of inspiration to pursue business for most of the women and men street vendors is themselves. Street vendors seem to be suffering from different health problems. Among them the most common are gastritis, headache, backbone pain, cold and fever. Street vendors also face expulsion from vending locations since there is no proper and systematic vending venue for their business. Sexual harassment is also a concern for female street vendors in some cases; the Metropolitan City Police are the major threat they face. But one of the key informants from among the customers highlighted that street vendors always caused obstruction for pedestrians and vehicles. It is evident then that street vendors need to be properly managed.The study showed that 90 per cent of the male street vendors and only 55 per cent of the female street vendors are literate. Thus, there is a great difference in the literacy rate between male and female street vendors. Women street vendors have not yet been able to grasp the opportunity for education due to different social circumstances and lack of awareness. Both women and men street vendors are not aware of computers and other business and marketing-related technologies. They possess little information about new trends of marketing and selling and also possess little information about the quality or the uses of the goods they sell. They also do not have sufficient time and money to find out about the technology. In this area, women street vendors are far behind the men. As businesses in the informal sector and especially street vending are becoming competitive day by day, there is need for street vendors to be aware of user-friendly technology and product knowledge. Technocrats, especially women technocrats, should be engaged to train women street vendors in terms of product knowledge and technology in order to sharpen the competitive edge of street vendors, especially women street vendors.