West African Market The topographic map shows the traditional village of Akwamufie in central Ghana on the Volta river -- the ferry crossing  and textile factory were added when I visited this village. What products are being sold in this market? Who shops here? Why are so many women selling the same foods? What else are the women doing?

Answers:

• the "waste" product from extracting peanut oil is used by local women to make peanut prexels! Each bundle is sold separately. Also on sale is peanut oil in the drums.

• ordinary people, not the rich and middle class

• when very few things are bought because of prices being too high and incomes too low, merchants sell the few items that are affordable.

• the women are also taking care of their infants which are strapped to their backs.

Optional: read about
1) the second-hand (Western) clothing market of Nairobi, Kenya.
2) an innovative clay pot design for cooling food in the dry regions of northern Nigeria.
3) the effect of the new 2002 European currency, the Euro, in West Africa

Created by Ingolf Vogeler on 1 February 1996; last modified on 26 November 2008.