About this module
Ghanaians buy street food every day. Customers choose the vendor who looks clean and whose food tastes good. This module teaches you to be that vendor.
Who it is for. People with no formal certificate. National Proficiency I is a bridging level for people with minimal education.
Why food processing
- In an FAO survey of 1,700 Accra street food vendors, almost all were women, and nearly half sold next to schools.
- In Kumasi, 63% of people buy street food daily, but 82% lack confidence in vendors' hygiene; customers choose vendors on neatness. A clean vendor stands out.
- Sekondi-Takoradi's Assembly gave persons with disabilities deep freezers and ice chests in 2025. Cold vending is a business they are already doing; training makes it safer and more profitable.
CTVET status. CTVET lists Culinary Art and Hospitality and Catering Management at National Proficiency I, but no separate food-processing programme. This module is not those curricula. It follows WHO and FDA Ghana guidance.
How the module works
Each unit has learning outcomes, performance criteria, the range and the evidence your assessor needs. You are judged Competent or Not Yet Competent from what your assessor sees, asks and reads in your logbook. About 70% of the time is practical, following CTVET's Oil Palm programme, which uses about 30% in school and 70% at the workplace.
Unit 1 · Keep food safe and the kitchen safe
Dirty food makes people sick, and a sick customer never comes back. A gas leak can kill. Both are prevented by habits.
Competency standard
| Learning outcome | Performance criteria — the trainee… |
|---|---|
| 1.1 Follow the Five Keys | keeps clean, separates raw and cooked, cooks well, keeps safe temperatures, uses safe water |
| 1.2 Wash hands properly | washes hands correctly at the right times |
| 1.3 Use LPG safely | sets up and checks the cylinder, hose and stove |
| 1.4 Handle oil and fire | uses frying oil and the extinguisher safely |
Range. Kitchen and vending point. Evidence. Observation every session; oral questions.
WHO Five Keys to Safer Food
- Keep clean.
- Separate raw and cooked.
- Cook thoroughly (to 70 °C).
- Keep food at safe temperatures: the danger zone is 5–60 °C. Keep cold food below 5 °C and hot food above 60 °C; do not leave cooked food at room temperature for more than 2 hours.
- Use safe water and raw materials; do not use food past its expiry date.
Wash hands with soap and water for 40–60 seconds: palms, backs, between fingers, thumbs and fingertips; dry with a clean single-use towel.
Gas safety
Never keep the gas cylinder indoors; keep it well aired and away from flames; light the match before turning on the gas. Check washers and hoses regularly, use proper hose clips, and take faulty hoses to a dealer. The Fire Service has inspected food vendors' cylinders for leaks at Takoradi Market Circle. Keep a fire extinguisher and learn to use it.
Frying oil
In Ho, frying oil got worse the longer it was reused and stored. India's food regulator advises reusing oil no more than three times and throwing it away when it smokes blue-grey, foams, darkens or thickens; never pour it down the drain. No Ghana limit was found.
Safe or unsafe?
- Ama keeps the gas cylinder under the kitchen table.
- Kofi lights the match, then turns on the gas.
- Esi leaves meat pies in the sun from 7 am to 3 pm.
- Yaw cuts raw chicken and then bread on the same board without washing it.
- Adwoa keeps yoghurt in the ice chest with plenty of ice.
- Akua reuses the same frying oil all week.
Clean and safe start
- Wash hands correctly; your partner checks each step.
- Set up the gas: cylinder outside, check the hose and clip, soapy-water leak test.
- Use a thermometer to check the fridge or ice chest is below 5 °C.
- Practise using the fire extinguisher (not discharged).
Kitchen check
Check your home kitchen for gas safety. Fix one thing.
Unit 2 · Permits, health checks and labels
A permit on your stand tells customers you are clean and legal. It also protects you from fines.
Competency standard
| Learning outcome | Performance criteria — the trainee… |
|---|---|
| 2.1 Know the permits | lists the permits a food vendor needs |
| 2.2 Get health screening | explains medical screening for food handlers |
| 2.3 Label a product | writes a label with all the required parts |
Range. Street vending and small processing. Evidence. Permit checklist; sample label.
Permits
- The FDA's Street Food Vending Permit in the Western Region needs a business certificate, a location permit, a food-handling test with the local Assembly, and the vending permit itself. In one training in Takoradi only 5 of 25 vendors met all the conditions.
- An FDA Food Hygiene Permit is needed by all food service businesses and street food vendors; it lasts one year and must be displayed.
- Making sobolo commercially must be registered with the FDA.
- Sekondi-Takoradi screened over 400 food vendors in 2023 and refused licences to those with conditions such as typhoid.
Labels
FDA labels must be in English and indelible ink and show: product name, net weight or volume, ingredients, date made, best-before or use-by date, batch number, country of origin, the maker's name and address (with GhanaPost GPS), and storage instructions.
Paperwork
- List the permits you need, where to get each, and the cost (ask at the Assembly).
- Design a label for a 500 ml bottle of sobolo with all the required parts.
Visit the Assembly
Visit or call the STMA Environmental Health office. Ask about food vendor screening: where, when and how much.
Unit 3 · Make safe sobolo
Sobolo is loved by everyone, but in Takoradi much of it is not safe. Make yours properly and say so.
Competency standard
| Learning outcome | Performance criteria — the trainee… |
|---|---|
| 3.1 Prepare ingredients | sorts and washes hibiscus, ginger and spices |
| 3.2 Boil and bottle | boils for at least 30 minutes and fills clean bottles |
| 3.3 Keep it cold | stores and sells below 5 °C |
Range. Sobolo with ginger and pineapple. Evidence. Product; process record.
A warning from Takoradi
A study of sobolo makers in Sekondi-Takoradi found poorly stored and sorted hibiscus, mostly cold extraction (not boiled), poorly washed bottles, and harmful bacteria in every sample. In Kumasi, sobolo was made with unclean water and sold from bare floors.
The method
One tested recipe: 2 cups dried hibiscus to 16 cups water, with a pineapple, ginger, cloves and grains of selim; boil at a rolling boil for at least 30 minutes, strain, add sugar to taste, cool and chill. Sobolo kept at about 4 °C grows bacteria more slowly.
Boil for how long? Some recipes boil for only 10–15 minutes; others at least 30 minutes. Because Takoradi sobolo was found contaminated, boil for at least 30 minutes. Never make sobolo by soaking in cold water.
Ginger prices more than doubled in a year to June 2026: check your costs.
Make a batch
- Sort and wash the hibiscus, ginger and pineapple in safe water.
- Wash bottles with hot soapy water; sanitise.
- Boil for at least 30 minutes; strain; sweeten.
- Fill hot or cool quickly, cap, label and chill below 5 °C.
- Record quantities, times and temperatures.
Taste survey
Give small samples to five people. Record what they liked and the price they would pay.
Unit 4 · Make yoghurt
Yoghurt is milk made safe and tasty by good bacteria, but only if everything else is clean and kept at the right heat.
Competency standard
| Learning outcome | Performance criteria — the trainee… |
|---|---|
| 4.1 Pasteurise and cool | heats and cools milk to the right temperatures |
| 4.2 Incubate | holds the right temperature until set |
| 4.3 Store and sell | keeps yoghurt cold and labelled |
Range. Yoghurt from milk or milk powder. Evidence. Product; temperature record.
The method (Practical Action)
- Heat the milk to 80–85 °C for 15–20 minutes.
- Cool quickly to 40–45 °C.
- Add the starter culture; keep at 40–45 °C for 3–4 hours until set.
- Refrigerate.
For thicker yoghurt, add about 50 g of milk powder per litre before heating. Clean equipment with 2 tablespoons of bleach per gallon of water, then rinse. Nobody with a stomach upset, cough or skin infection should handle the milk. Properly stored yoghurt keeps up to about ten days. A cool box with a 40 W bulb can keep the temperature.
Make a batch
- Clean and sanitise all equipment.
- Pasteurise, cool, add starter and incubate; record temperatures every 30 minutes.
- Check it has set; chill, pack and label.
Price check
Find the price of a yoghurt cup or sachet at three shops near you.
Unit 5 · Pastries and frying
Meat pies and bofrot sell everywhere. Good ones sell out.
Competency standard
| Learning outcome | Performance criteria — the trainee… |
|---|---|
| 5.1 Bake meat pies | makes pastry and filling and bakes to the right colour |
| 5.2 Fry bofrot | proves dough and fries at the right oil heat |
| 5.3 Keep them safe | cools, covers and sells within safe times |
Range. Meat pies, bofrot. Evidence. Products; observation.
Meat pies
Rub butter or margarine into flour, chill the dough for 30 minutes, fill with cooked minced beef, onion, carrot and seasoning, and bake at about 200 °C for 20–25 minutes. The meat filling must be fully cooked before baking.
Bofrot (puff-puff)
Mix flour, sugar, yeast, nutmeg and lukewarm water; let it rise 1–2 hours until doubled; fry at about 160–170 °C. If the oil is too hot, the outside browns but the inside stays raw.
Bake and fry
- Make and bake a tray of meat pies.
- Make and fry a batch of bofrot; check the oil heat with a thermometer.
- Cool, cover and display in a clean, closed case.
- Record costs and how many you made.
Watch a vendor
Watch a busy pastry vendor for 15 minutes (politely). What makes customers choose them?
Unit 6 · Your location and business ideas
Sell where hungry, thirsty people pass every day, and where the Assembly allows you to trade.
Competency standard
| Learning outcome | Performance criteria — the trainee… |
|---|---|
| 6.1 Choose a location | scores sites using the checklist |
| 6.2 Know the rules | knows where vending is allowed |
| 6.3 Add income ideas | plans at least three extra lines |
Range. Real or planned vending sites. Evidence. Location report; business plan.
Choosing a location
Nearly half of Accra's street food vendors sell beside schools. In Takoradi, the Assembly has cleared streets around Market Circle; trading on its edges is allowed only on Saturdays and after 4 pm on weekdays. Traders along the Takoradi–Cape Coast highway were marked for removal for road works. The Assembly runs a weekend on-street market at Ahenfie Hotel, Port Quarters, Baptist and Zenith.
- Hungry, thirsty crowds. Schools, lorry stations, markets, offices, building sites, hospitals.
- Allowed by the Assembly. Not on road reserves or cleared streets.
- Shade and cleanliness. Away from gutters, rubbish and dust.
- Power or ice. To keep drinks below 5 °C.
- Water for handwashing.
- Access for all. Level ground for wheelchair users.
Assembly fees (STMA 2025, per year)
| Item | GH¢ |
|---|---|
| Health screening, staff of chop and drinking bars | 100 |
| Ice cream and yoghurt dealer, retail | 140 |
| Local fast food vendor, grade 2 | 100 |
| Fine: selling food without medical certificate | 100 per staff |
Check these with the Assembly: the table was hard to read.
Ideas to earn more
- Supply schools, offices and churches with drinks and pastries on order.
- Party and event packs (small chops boxes).
- Delivery by WhatsApp to offices and homes.
- Smoked fish with improved ovens: the FAO-Thiaroye method cuts harmful smoke chemicals far below traditional kilns, and CSIR-FRI is testing improved low-cost ovens.
- Use the freezer twice: sell ice and cold water with your drinks.
Ten customers
Ask ten people near your chosen site what they would buy, when, and at what price.
Unit 7 · Market yourself and manage the money
Customers choose with their eyes first. Clean stand, clean uniform, clear prices, good taste.
Competency standard
| Learning outcome | Performance criteria — the trainee… |
|---|---|
| 7.1 Market yourself | sets up a brand, label and WhatsApp catalogue |
| 7.2 Cost a product | calculates cost and price per unit |
| 7.3 Keep records | records daily sales, costs and stock |
Range. The trainee's planned products. Evidence. Catalogue; costing; record book.
Look clean, be known
- Customers judge the look of the food, the stand and the vendor, and choose vendors on neatness.
- Display your permit and wear an apron and hairnet.
- WhatsApp Business catalogue: up to 500 items with photos and prices.
- Ghanaian small businesses that use social media (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok) show better profit; food vendors grow with short cooking videos.
- A brand name and label on every bottle (Unit 2).
- Same taste every time. Write your recipe down and stick to it.
Cost a bottle of sobolo
A batch of 30 bottles (500 ml) uses: hibiscus GH¢40, ginger and spices GH¢30, pineapple GH¢15, sugar GH¢35, gas GH¢15, bottles and labels GH¢60, ice/power GH¢15. (1) Total cost? (2) Cost per bottle? (3) Price for a 40% margin? (4) Profit if you sell all 30?
Launch kit
- Choose a brand name; make labels.
- Set up a WhatsApp Business catalogue with three products.
- Run a one-day sale at the hub; record every sale.
- Write a one-page business plan: products, site, permits, costs, prices.
First regular customer
Find one office, school or shop that will buy from you every week.
Glossary
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Competent / Not Yet Competent | The two possible results of a CBT assessment |
| Cross-contamination | Germs moving from raw food to cooked food |
| Danger zone | 5–60 °C, where germs grow fast |
| FDA | Food and Drugs Authority |
| Incubate | Keep warm so the yoghurt bacteria work |
| LPG | Liquefied petroleum gas (cooking gas) |
| Pasteurise | Heat to kill germs |
| Starter culture | Good bacteria that turn milk into yoghurt |
Logbook
Copy these pages into an exercise book. Your logbook is part of your assessment evidence.
- Unit 1: handwashing and gas checks; fridge temperatures
- Unit 2: permit list; sample label
- Unit 3: sobolo process records; taste survey
- Unit 4: yoghurt temperature records
- Unit 5: baking and frying records
- Unit 6: location report; ten customers
- Unit 7: catalogue; costing; daily sales records
- Every homework, dated
Self-check quiz
- What are the WHO Five Keys?
- What is the temperature danger zone?
- Where should the gas cylinder be kept?
- What do you light first, the match or the gas?
- What did the Takoradi sobolo study find?
- How long should you boil sobolo?
- At what temperature do you add the yoghurt starter?
- Why must the bofrot oil not be too hot?
- Name four things on an FDA label.
- Where is street trading allowed around Takoradi Market Circle?
Further reading and sources
Best next reads: WHO's Five Keys to Safer Food; FDA Ghana's labelling requirements; Practical Action's yoghurt brief.
What this module does not cover: full catering, large-scale factory processing, fish smoking practice (a separate course is advised), and current Takoradi prices (not found; check local markets).
Every source used in this manual is listed, with links, in the Teacher Copy.