Farmers Profits: Can the Standard Weights and Measures Help?

Abstract—In Ghana, rural people, mostly farmers, experience food insecurity. In bargaining with marketers, farmers tend to lose profits. The use of traditional weights and measures led to inefficient transactions. These difficulties have negatively affected farmers’ productivity, calories intake, and international competitiveness. This research investigates how standard weights and measures can secure farmers’ profits at local markets. Using a random selection of 312 farmers for the questionnaire survey at two markets, we examine the impact of current pricing methods on farmers’ profits and advantages of standard weights and measures for farmers. The results show that price decision-making was based on three primary methods: (1) traditional weights and measures, (2) negotiation with individual marketers, and (3) negotiation with market queens. Markets queens and traditional measures negatively influenced farmers’ profits. Farmers’ perceptions showed that standard weights and measures would not only increase their profits at local markets but also enhance their international competitiveness.