Street food vendors in Nairobi County are now required to adhere to certain guidelines as they source, prepare and sell food to consumers within CBD and other informal settlements within the city.
The Nairobi County Director of Environmental Health, Anthony Muthemba, said this move follows a ban on the sale of street food by County Authorities after it emerged that they were not regulated and had over the years resulted in outbreaks of foodborne diseases.
Street food is an integral part of Nairobi’s urban food landscape, providing affordable meals and livelihood opportunities to thousands of vendors, especially in low-income settings.
However, food safety within the street food sector remains a pressing challenge due to gaps in hygiene practices and limited access to tailored training for vendor.
Muthemba said that the new regulations and also the first-ever Food Safety Training Manual for Street Food Vendors will see resumption of food hawking on the streets.
The training manual was developed by The African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC), in collaboration with the Nairobi City County Government and the University of Nairobi.
“The new component recognizes the trade and now comes in with the important aspects that need to be looked into for safe production of food along the streets,’’he explained.
The Director said the legal framework will offer rules that guide the training of food vendors on the production of safe food for consumers.
“We are looking at first training the vendors and making them allies in food provision for the urban population. This recognizes their trade and equips them with the necessary knowledge in terms of food production, food handling and sourcing. Therefore, food vendors will be into it for the economic gain,” he added.
Furthermore, the director said the new policies conform with the required food hygiene standards in terms of the management of the solid or liquid waste and emphasized that trained vendors will undergo medical examinations and be issued with certificates for easy identification.
“We will then issue them with special badges that will indicate that they have been trained, medically examined and are allowed to be in specific areas,” Muthemba stated.
The manual also spells out components that address the sources of food contamination, starting from food preparation, cooking, serving, storage and handling in addition to sourcing of food products and the ingredients.
Muthemba said the regulations will similarly address the issue of food fraud resulting from deception propagated by unscrupulous food vendors.
“It defines what it entails about food fraud. Then there is also another very important component on street food regulation and control because we are coming from an era whereby the existing legal framework was not addressing the issue of street food,” said Muthemba.
Dr Elizabeth Kimani-Murage, Senior Research Scientist and Lead – Nutrition and Food Systems Unit, APHRC, emphasized that food safety is a public health imperative and a human rights issue.
“This manual is a step toward our goal of transforming food systems to ensure food safety. It supports vendors in upholding the right to food by ensuring that food is not only available but also safe to consume.”
While welcoming the new regulations, Consumer Grassroots Association Director Dr Alice Kemunto said the manual will offer solutions to the food that is needed in Nairobi.
“The food basket is going to be full of safe and affordable food because, in the street, most of the foods are quite affordable; they are pocket friendly for the consumers. So, this manual is going to not only help the vendors but also the consumers to know what to look for when they go to purchase this food from the streets,” she said.
Dr Kemunto urged consumers to go through the manual, saying it will help them to identify zoned food places.
Sophia Wangui Wachira, a street food vendor from Korogocho who shared her experience and the impact of support from public health officers, said they used to buy food near the dumping sites as it was cheap.
We used to come and sell, but since public health officers came to train us, there is a big improvement on how to handle food, and we will now go and educate others on cleanliness in our market and working spaces,” she said
The Food Safety Training Manual for Street Food Vendors is now available for use by county governments, health officers, training institutions, and civil society organizations working to transform food systems across Kenya.
The manual is expected to enhance the overall safety and reputation of the street food sector and protect the health of consumers.
By Wangari Ndirangu and Douglas Namunane
