ASSESSMENT OF THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF STREET FOOD VENDORS IN ILORIN EAST LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF KWARA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study focused on the assessment of information needs of street food vendors in Ilorin east local government area of Kwara State, Nigeria. Eighty street food vendors were randomly selected for this study. Data were obtained using a structured questionnaire to elicit information on respondents’ socioeconomics characteristics, their sources of information, level of knowledge on food hygiene and safety practices, perceived information needs, Occupational and Health Risks of food vendors and the constraints affecting the street food vendors in the study area. Result reveals that the mean age of the respondents were 30.24 years, their average income was N 21,225. The result reveals that respondents had high level of knowledge on pre-vending medical examination with mean score of 1.66, use of hand gloves (1.64) and blowing air into polythene bag before serving is not a good practice (1.59), food packaging methods (1.64) was the highest ranked perceived information needs. High cost of input (2.0) was the highest ranked constraint. The result reveals that there is a significant relationship between the income of respondents and their information needs (r = -0.340, p=0.002). The study recommends the provision of information on hygienic food handling, processing methods and good sanitation practices to the street food vendors and there should be formation of groups among street vendors for easier access and dissemination of information.