Cross-Border Tomato Trade and Susceptibility to HIV Infection: A Caseof Ghana-Burkina Faso Tomato Traders: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

One of the core objectives of establishing the West African regional integration body (ECOWAS) is to promote cross-border trade and cooperation among member states. HIV infection has been found to be associated with population mobility, including cross- border trade and labour migration. The objective of this study is to provide evidence based recommendations for government and other stakeholders to respond to and address the HIV/AIDS epidemic in a multi-disciplinary approach. Qualitative method was used to collect data for the study. It involved 2 Focus Group discussions, 15 in-depth interviews with women tomato sorters and 3 Key Informant interviews with tomatoes market Queens. A purposeful sampling method was used to select eligible participants.
The data were analyzed using a thematic framework approach. The women admitted that poverty, household’s food insecurity and household assets were the main motivational factors for them engaging in the cross border
tomato trade. This study has highlighted the risk of HIV susceptibility among cross border tomato traders in rural Ghana. Improving the knowledge and livelihood opportunities of women and young girls engaged in the cross border tomato trade, calls for a comprehensive community- based educational campaigns targeted at mobile women engaged in the cross border trade in the study area.