Paper short abstract:

Market queens are not only the key intermediator between maize farmers in rural and consumers in urban areas in Ghana, also play an important and unique role in Ghana's agricultural value chain.

Paper long abstract:

There are women as a bridge from rural to urban, from small-scale farmers to processors or consumers so called market queens or 'ohemma.' Market queens are not just traders of agriculture products within food system in Ghana, they are rather a female-led institution. Market queens who are leaders of sections of the market such as yam, maize, or tomato sections are known for controlling market price and supply side. Generally, these queen mothers are elected by the traders and have the direct influence on producers by supporting small-scale farmers in rural areas as well as consumers in big cities.

Among diverse agricultural products, this paper deals with Ghanaian's important staple food maize and its market queens. Maize is particularly for the approximately 1 million small-scale households engaged in the primary production. It is one of the most important crops for Ghana's agricultural sector and for food security.