In the world of rural Africa, the market is not just a place for buying and selling or commercial exchange. All over the continent, the market is a place characterised by an intense celebration of social exchange and becomes a place of encounter between the scattered members of one’s family, one’s own village and of…

In some rural areas of the Sahel such as the Mossi plateau in the north of Burkina Faso, or in the region of Atakora in northern Benin, one has the impression of never coming across a village. There is nothing but dwellings scattered throughout the bush, apparently independent of each other; the country people live…

It is still dark when Esther rises. The children are still asleep and her husband murmurs something inaudible. Today is market day. She fills a large basket with produce from her field.  She hopes to sell it and buy something for the house. Whatever the husband earns is his own and what she earns is…