Barter trading, an option in Kwahu Afram Plains
Barter trading remains a viable option in the Kwahu Afram Plains for traders and some educational institutions.
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The practice is equally a brisk system of trading along some of the fishing communities in the area.
Notably on market days at Donkorkrom, Maame Krobo and Ekye Amanfrom, interested individuals mutually exchange items which they would otherwise have bought with money.
Items mostly exchanged include fish, maize, cassava dough, palm oil, yam, groundnuts salt and pepper.
Some of the traders explained that some farmers in need of other food items such as salt and fish brought farm produce to the markets, while those from the fishing communities also brought fish to be exchanged for food items.
Why batter
Madam Mary Enyonam Kwakuvi who sells fish at the Donkorkrom market explained that people did not readily have money to spend on the items they required so it was mutually acceptable for the interested parties to exchange items after looking around and locating those who also had the needed items to exchange.
She said it was the best option for them because sometimes some people spent the entire day at the market without selling anything.
Asked how they were able to identify who needed what, she explained that normally when they got to the market early in the morning, they inquired from others with the items they needed, “and if the fellow also needs what you have, then you exchange.”
Batter for school fees
At the Donkorkrom Agriculture Senior High School (DASHS), the batter system has been implemented for parents and guardians who have the food items needed by the school but do not have cash to pay school fees.
The school accepts food items such as yam, maize and gari worth the school fees of a student, the Assistant Headmaster in charge of Administration, Mr Williams Kpedo, told the Daily Graphic in an interview.
He explained that the school had to adopt that system because most of the students were in arrears of school fees and the school had to negotiate with parents to find out the best option for settling their children’s indebtedness.
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