World Food Policy Volume/Issue 2-2/3-1 Fall 2015/Spring 2016 | Page 73

World Food Policy

The results of stakeholder dialogue

were provided to supermarket investors
in terms of access to land, and building
four “modern” retail markets on sites
where the older markets previously stood
(Geertman 2011; Hanoi Department
of Trade 2010). It also resulted into the
continuous harassment of street vendors
by the police. But this top-down approach
has many limitations. The fees to get
access to market stalls are so prohibitively
high that the number of street vendors
decreased somewhat between 2009 and
2013 and has actually increased since
(Nguyen Thi Tan Loc et al., 2013). At the
same time, many consumers, especially
the less well-to-do, prefer to get their
supplies from vendors close to them,
at low prices, rather than from distant
supermarkets and markets which require
fees for parking and where food is usually
more expensive than that sold by street
vendors.

We first present the rationale
of stakeholder dialogue in Hanoi to
contribute solving the problems related
to street vendors. As explained in the
introduction, the perceptions and
attitudes of the district and city officials
relative to informal food trade were
initially negative and interventions
were top-down. Our conversations
with the officials and analysis of official
documents (Hanoi Department of Trade
2010; Vietnam Ministry of Trade 2006)
show that the informal food trade was
considered as a leftover of backward
activities, with a negative impact on
traffic and food safety, and which should
be made to disappear quickly and be
replaced by supermarkets and markets
equipped with cold storage and concrete
buildings. The result was that facilities

Box 2. Some quotes by residents and street vendors

Mrs N.T.T., a resident of Phuong Mai ward stated: “Areas where street vendors
commonly sell products are in essence small markets. They are a feature wherever
low-income consumers live. Street vendors sell produce at price levels that suit
them. However, we are concerned about the quality of vegetables sold. Therefore,
we hope that the ward authority will a rrange frequent spot checks on the quality
of vegetables.”
“I have been retired since 1986. To ensure my family’s daily subsistence, the only
income-generating activity I can do is vegetables street vending,” said Mrs NTD in
Quang Trung Ward. She adds: “I often purchase vegetables at the Phung Khoang
wholesale market because they are mainly from safe vegetable growing areas in
Dong Anh District.” She concludes by expressing the wish that “the ward will
arrange a stable area for street vendors.”

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