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IntroductionThe economic condition of workers in the fast-growing urban centres of African countries is of concern to scholars and policymakers interested in developing programmes to alleviate the persistent poverty. However, there is a dearth of micro-level research on the economic activities of the numerous occupations to be found in these settings. This information would provide a more realistic basis for policies and the assessment of competing theoretical models of social change (Moser, 1980). The aim of the present paper therefore is to provide baseline data on the economic situation of one group of workers within the urban economy—vendors of street foods. Street foods are defined as edibles which have been prepared outside the consuming household and are ready for consumption at point of purchase; however, the buyer may take them elsewhere. The study does not include those ready-to-eat foods prepared within the confines of modern establishments with four walls. Modern restaurants and the cafeteria sections of hospitals, prisons, colleges and universities were therefore excluded. The small-scale businesses under study are part of what is known as the informal sector. The study was conducted in Ile-Ife, a university town in Oyo State (Yorubaland). Among the Yoruba, women became active in small-scale trade following changes in the patterns of international trade and in farming since the fifteenth century. This process was also facilitated by colonial penetration into the socioeconomic fabric of the society (Afonja, 1981). Within the trading business the marketing of street foods was dominated by women (Bascom, 1951; Marshall, 1964; Fadipe, 1970). Central to the concerns of this paper therefore are the levels of income generated by these women, the problems associated with the enterprise and possible recommendations on how to improve the situation of food vendors in the urban economy.

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