Nakasero Market vs. Usafi Market.

Nakasero market is the central; international market which started in 1927 as a colonial market. The market got its name from the local Buganda reed basket (akasero) which the vendors used to carry their produce to the market. The market originally dealt in mostly fresh produce which included exotic fruits and vegetables.

Today, the original market buildings still stand and the market covers about 2 acres of land. However, the old organization was lost gradually as more and more traders and customers started using the market. The market has three main buildings, one storied row building, a set of six stall rows, and an enclosed market area with outside stalls facing the streets.

The market has a diverse community of over 15,000 vendors and produce. The produce is mainly of fresh food and vegetables, spices, and hardware. The vendors are divided into zones which is supposed to make administration and shopping easier. We observed that the zones are mostly kept but still with a few vendors leaving their designated zones to trade on the surrounding streets. The vendors in the open yard and temporary structures work mostly in shifts with the first shift working between 3 a.m. to 9 a.m. doing the offloading and bulk purchases to sell to other traders and markets.

The busiest days of the week (market days) are Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. This is because the nights before a lot of offloading and the produce is still very fresh attracting more customers.

The biggest problem today, according to Ndawula Moses, a fresh legumes vendor who has worked in the market for the last 35 years is the increasing amount of vendors on the surrounding streets who have hindered customers from reaching the inside of the market to the stalls since the street purchases became more convenient for them. The market is also struggling with few clientele due to the high number of markets that have been established in the outskirt resident areas of Kampala. They make it irrelevant for the customers to carry all the bulk from the market to their homes.

Usafi market is far less populated than Nakasero market in terms of both vendors and clientele. Due to its structure, the market today has been left to become mostly for offloading in the late hours of the night. The stalls then are mostly left unoccupied.

The vendors in Usafi market deal in mostly legumes, cooked food and clothes. The cooked food section is very bigger than that of Nakasero market since they supply the Usafi Taxi Park which is located right near the market. The legume section mostly removes the beans and peas and they are given to hawkers who sell them in the traffic jam around Kampala. The clothes section is mostly made up of men’s and children’s clothes but even still are sold outside on the street.