Spotlight on Informal Food Systems Workers in Ghana
While we know a fair amount about fairtrade certification or the ingredients for a healthy diet, we know surprisingly little about the working conditions in the urban food service sector, particularly in the Global South where meals are often sold by small informal establishments.
Wherever we are, whatever we do, all our lives are intimately intertwined with the food systems that sustain us. While we know a fair amount about fairtrade certification or the ingredients for a healthy diet, we know surprisingly little about the working conditions in the urban food service sector, particularly in the Global South where meals are often sold by small informal establishments.
A recent ETH4D Pilot project takes us to the bustling streets of Ghana’s capital, Accra, and explores the working lives of the women preparing freshly-cooked traditional meals at local restaurants. These chopbars are scattered across the city, from busy markets to residential roads, and are almost exclusively run by women - called madams. While madams are prominent figures in Ghana’s society, they often hire young women to help in their restaurants. These young workers, however, often remain invisible in the public discourse and are rarely captured in official statistics.
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Deborah Freeman from Informal Economy Workers' Forum (INFORUM) Ghana gives a tour of the exhibition to ETH students. ETH4D Photovoice Project -
Poster showing the work of a chopbar wage worker. ETH4D Photovoice Project -
The photo exhibition featured the photographs of 20 chopbar workers and madams from Accra.
ETH4D Photovoice Project
Using a participatory photovoice approach, researchers from ETH Zurich and the University of Ghana collaborated with the Informal Economy Workers' Forum (INFORUM) Ghana to empower madams and workers to tell their stories to a larger audience and make their daily joys and struggles visible. The photos taken by the madams and workers were showcased in a public photo exhibition at the University of Ghana in May (a Ghanaian news report is accessible external page here) as well as at ETH Zurich from 24 to 27 September. In their photographs and accompanying statements, the photovoice participants express both the significance of their work and the pride they take in doing it, as well as the physical pain, frustration and harsh working conditions.
On their scientific exchange visit to ETH Zurich, Dr. Edward Asiedu from the University of Ghana and Deborah Freeman, Executive Secretary of INFORUM, gave tours of the exhibition and offered their insights at a panel discussion hosted by ETH. The event was moderated by Dr. Patrick Illien from the Food Systems Economics and Policy Group and featured Nicole Bolliger from Brücke-LePont, a Swiss NGO that co-founded the Decent Work Alliance, as well as Dr. Sabin Bieri, Co-Director of the Centre of Development and Environment (CDE) from the University of Bern. The panelists highlighted the role collective action can play within the informal economy, the need for locally adapted interventions and indicators as well as the importance of accounting for gender relations at the community, not the individual, level.
The project underlines that any attempt to provide “decent work for all” - as formulated in the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 8 - should investigate the challenges and opportunities presented by the informal economy, where the majority of the world’s population is making their living. Findings will be published in scientific articles as well as a policy brief. For further information, contact .