Livelihood Strategies And Household Food Security Of Vegetable Street Vendors In Morogoro Town, Tanzania: An Empirical Analysis

ABSTRACT

ii The study attempts to examine the livelihood strategies and household food security of vegetable street vendors in Morogoro town, Tanzania. Specifically, the study sought to: (1) To document the nature of the institutional environment in which vegetable street vending business is taking place, (2) To identify the type and extent of livelihood assets owned by individuals working as vegetable street vendors, (3) To measure household food security and dietary diversity of vegetable street vendors and (4) To identify strategies employed by vegetable street vendors to cope with food shortage. A cross sectional study design with mixed methods of sampling was employed whereby data were collected from a total of 234 respondents between February and May, 2018. The study used both quantitative and qualitative data. Semi structured questionnaire, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions were used to obtain the data. Descriptive, inferential, and content analysis methods were used for data analysis. The results showed that respondents own various livelihood assets categorized as human, natural, physical, social and financial capitals. On the other hand, the prevalence of household food insecurity was high (55.5%) among respondents and most of them consumed between 5-9 different food groups (moderate 50.5%) diverse diet. Several factors were identified to influence household food security. These include land size (p