Bolga baskets are hand-woven baskets made of natural material in certain areas around Bolgatanga, northeastern Ghana. They are produced for export, mainly to Europe, the United States, and Japan as fashion items or products for interior use. This paper analyzes the production and trading “system” of Bolga baskets at village level, by focusing on local intermediaries who mediate between producers and foreign companies. The research identified three types of intermediaries, that is, Village N Craft Society, an American fair-trade company, and local middlemen. The study found that: 1) higher prices were offered to the baskets with better quality and newer design, which led to the improvement and diversification of quality and technique as a whole. On the other hand, 2) local middlemen have encouraged more producers to join the industry by buying various baskets, including that with lower quality, regularly and frequently. More importantly, 3) all the intermediaries stimulated the production in the way that respected farming schedule of the producers and kept an intimate relationship with them. In conclusion, the paper argues that local intermediaries have played a role of interface, which buffers the discord between the foreign market and rural Africa, and assured the international supply of Bolga baskets.
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