Habtamu Tolera

The Study of Informal Economy in Sustaining Urban Livelihood: Vending on Street As Business Venture Habtamu Tolera

The study mainly focused on investigating the characteristics of street vendors, particularly their socio-demographic and economic aspects, types of vendor activities and economic linkages. To this end, it had an overall objective aimed at enhancing the productivity of vendor operations. In order to achieve this objective a sample of 140 street vendors were selected and relevant data were gathered mainly through questionnaires and analyzed. The finding of the study revealed a variety of vendor activities such as fruit and vegetables, secondhand clothes, prepared food, bicycle services, household goods and miscellaneous activities. The study also revealed that the majority of street vendors joined sidewalk business due to economic hardships in their life. Finally, the study investigated backward, forward, consumption and technological linkages.