Nutritional Aspects of Street Foods in Botswana

Abstract: Street foods provide a source of affordable nutrients to the majority of the people especially the low-income group in the developing countries. Street foods are ready-to-eat food items retailed by vendors and can be snacks, main meals, or beverages. They are usually sold from pushcarts or baskets, or stalls or shops. Urban Street food vending provides employment and income for many people, and can provide economic support to small farmers as an outlet for rural produce. In Botswana the majority of street food vendors are women, while in Bangladesh the opposite occurs with women-primarily the vendors ’ wives and female children-are involved in food preparation. Examples of street foods in Botswana are Fat cakes (magwinya) doughnuts; corn-on-the-cob (mmidi) crisp (madubula) extruded products, roasted beef and chicken, apples, bananas, pears, oranges, grapes and mangoes. Dried mophane worms-a high protein larvae of the emperor moth, imbrasis belina (Westwood), soft drinks, juices, and ice pop, Rice served with chicken or beef with gravy and salads, Maize meal with meat served with beef or chicken with gravy, “Samp” (broken maize corns) served with beef or chicken with gravy, “Dikgobe ” “Samp ” cooked with beans, “Bogobe” sorghum meal served with meat. Street foods are also prepared in a variety of ways including frying, roasting, boiling, baking and steaming, as well as served raw. Some populations, such as students and the homeless, are almost totally reliant on street foods, whereas other population groups buy them occasionally