Quality compliance of fruits and vegetables sold at street vending sites of Tshwane, South Africa

The selling of fruits and vegetables in the street is a common phenomenon in developing countries due to high levels of unemployment. In South Africa, street vending of fruits and vegetables brings valuable income to many impoverished households, thereby improving the livelihoods of people who are not formally employed. The Agricultural Product Standards Act No. 119 of 1990 of South Africa provides for the standardisation of quality norms for agricultural produce. Enforcing the Agricultural Product Standards Act is essential to ensure that agricultural produce sold in the streets is regulated and controlled so it is safe throughout the supply chain from the farm to the vending site. The purpose of this research was to investigate quality compliance of fresh fruits and vegetables sold by street vendors in the Tshwane metropolis, South Africa. A cross-sectional study survey was conducted in which stratified random sampling was used to sample 200 fresh fruit and vegetable vendors. Their knowledge of the requirements of the Agricultural Product Standards Act of South Africa was analysed. The compliance of their produce with quality regulations and the level of monitoring by authorities were also evaluated. Most respondents (89%) did not know about the Act. Only a small majority of fruit (51.5%) and vegetable (56%) retailers indicated that their agricultural products had been monitored. A large majority of fruits (86% to 99.8%) and vegetables (85.4% to 97.5%) met all the quality requirements in the Act. In general, a fair proportion of fruits (58%) and vegetables (65%) complied with the requirements of the Act. There was a significant positive correlation (p≤0.05) between monitoring by officials and the level of compliance. Only a small percentage of fresh fruits and vegetables vending sites are monitored by authorities. This paper is of interest to stakeholders in street vending of agricultural food produce because it raises awareness of areas of non-compliance and a need for effective compliance. Awareness and adequate enforcement can translate into selling and consuming agricultural high quality and safe food produce on the streets of Tshwane metropolis.