Buying Tomatoes from the Middle of the Road: Informal Vending and Urban Governance in Malawi’s Cities

Authors

Fabiano Chikafa

University of Johannesburg, Lilongwe, Malawi (Malawi)

Article Information

DOI: 10.47772/IJRISS.2026.100700953

Subject Category: Education

Volume/Issue: 10/7 | Page No: 13976-13979

Publication Timeline

Submitted: 2026-08-03

Accepted: 2026-08-08

Published: 2026-08-18

Abstract

Malawi being a developing country has been experiencing a boom in its population. With challenges that come with population growth like high levels of unemployment, Malawi has experienced rural-urban migration surge with young people not skilled enough to secure formal employement. For survival, they have turned into street vending, selling various merchandise from vegetables to snacks to second hand clothes in roads with high traffic. This paper uses secondary sources to explain phenomenon using George Ritzer’s concept of Macdonaldization.

Keywords

Sociology

Downloads

References

1. Bantubonse, YB. 2008. ‘Bringing Order to the City: Informal Street Trading in the Johannesburg CBD’. Master’s Thesis. University of Witwatersrand [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

2. Government of Malawi. 2020. Malawi’s Decent Work Country Program III 2020-2023. Government Press [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

3. Kantor, P, Rani, U, and Unni, J. 2006. ‘Decent Work Deficits in Informal Economy: Case of Surat’. Economic and Political Weekly, 2089- 2097. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

4. Malawi Government. 2019. National Urban Policy. Government Press [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

5. Malawi National Planning Commission. 2020. ‘Malawi’s Vision 2063: An inclusive Wealthy and Self-reliant Nation’. P 45. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

6. Ritzer, R. 2011. Sociological Theory. 8th ed. McGraw-Hill [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

7. The Nations newspaper Reporter. 2020. Councils Mum on Street Vending. September 14. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

8. Trebilcock, A. 2005. Decent work and the informal economy, WIDER Discussion Paper, The United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), Helsink; 1-40 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

9. Webster, E. 2020. Rethinking the World of Work in Southern Africa: Building a Social Flow. In Uys, T and Fritz, J.M. Clinical Sociology for Southern Africa. Juta & Company Limited [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

Metrics

Views & Downloads

Similar Articles