Pattern and Extent of Street Food Consumption in Hohoe, Volta Region, Ghana: A Community-Based Cross-Sectional Survey

Abstract

Background. For most people in developing countries, street food is a major source of sustenance, and Ghana is no exception. Street food vending has seen tremendous growth in Ghana as a result of the insurgence of urbanisation. Despite being one of the largest sectors of national economy in terms of employment and sales of food, very little is known about street food consumption patterns in Ghana. The current study explored the patterns and extent of street food consumption in the Hohoe township. Methods. A cross-sectional design which recruited 403 subjects through a multistage sampling technique. A semistructured questionnaire was used to gather information on demographics, types of street foods, extent of street food consumption, safety concerns, and diversity of street foods patronised. Means, standard deviations, and Chi-square tests were used to determine the association between selected variables at <0.05 level of significance. Results. The top 5 foods mostly patronised by respondents are porridge foods-Koko (17.9%), rice and stew (17.4%), banku (12.6%), waakye (11.5%), and kenkey (8.7%) with porridge foods consumed almost on a daily basis. Convenience (37.2%) and affordability (17.1%) greatly influenced the choice of street foods among consumers. Occupation and the level of education are strongly correlated with the concern for safety of street foods {(X2 = 17.3094, P<0.008); (X2 = 17.1731, P<0.002)}. The dietary diversity score of most respondents was in the high tercile (77.7%) (≥6 food groups), whilst the cereals dominate the food group mostly consumed by respondents. Conclusion. The study suggests that patronising street food is very high in Hohoe municipality, irrespective of the gender, occupation, or educational level. As an “informal” sector of food business, street foods often escape formal inspection and control. They can, therefore, both be the source of food safety problems and contribute to the deterioration of environmental hygiene. This is a call on policy makers and regulators to take a critical look at the sector.