Marketing and Market Queens: A Study of Tomato Farmers in the Upper East Region of Ghana

This book analyzes how global, regional, and national trade policies have influenced the domestic agricultural food market in Ghana. Through a detailed investigation of the tomato sector in the Upper East Region, a theoretical analysis of risks, power, and the moral market shows a complex market structure dominated by powerful tomato market queens who control the market. Empirical evidence reveals a market chain captured by local actors at various levels who, in an attempt to protect their position, exhibit a moral obligation towards traders by assisting them to buy at cheap prices at the farm gate. At a higher level, the book presents challenges confronting Ghanaian tomato farmers as they are faced with a flooding of the domestic market with tomato paste from European countries and a weak processing sector. Compounding their problem is regional competitions from Burkina Faso farmers. (Series: ZEF Development Studies - Vol. 21)