Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

Sudanese Female Vendors Struggle in Scorching Heat | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Media ID: 55370394
Caption:

A Sudanese woman walks past one of the Chinese flags lining the
streets of Khartoum, Thursday, Feb. 1, 2007.Alfred de Montesquiou/AP


Khartoum- In Sudan, women selling snacks represent an important category of marginalized citizens who live under the poverty line. These women are found on the streets, on the doorsteps of institutions and schools, aiming to sell their commodities under the scorching sun.

One of these women, known as Hajja No’ma, 30, who works in the center of the Sudanese capital, says that she has no other profession, and that her mother and grandmother worked as vendors too.

These days, Hajja No’ma suffers from low demand as a result of inflation in the country.

Wars have played a major role in women’s displacement from rural areas to the city to work in unorganized work fields.

Some women are ashamed of selling these snacks on the streets. Therefore, they prepare them in their houses, and distribute them to other women.

Although some stores offer the same commodities, the snacks are mostly sold by these women. A limited number of men also sell the snacks on small carriages.

After school, students crowd around these poor women to buy some salty snacks, which they carry in bags.
In 2003, statistics showed that ages of women working in this profession range between 30 and 50.