Markets in Benin

With a large portion of the population producing much of their own food, particularly for starches, open markets are where the diet is rounded out with items not self-produced.

Fish, meats, staple starch crops, legumes, soy and milk cheeses, fruits, and vegetables are available in the market every week of the year in most places with significant variations in the quantity supplied.

Visits to markets in the Parakou and Nikki areas observed avocados from Lomé in Togo and red onions from Niger.

Eastern border markets have many Nigerian traders coming into Benin to purchase fruits and vegetables for sale in Nigeria.

The long marketing channel of vegetables in the larger peri-urban and urban areas involves several types of intermediaries, from local traders to wholesalers.