Middlemen (2)

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In Côte d'Ivoire, farmers are forced to sell to pisteurs, as they never make enough money to be able to afford a wheelbarrow, much less a car. Thus, they are heavily reliant on the middlemen, which are the pisteurs who come to the village and the traitants, who have warehouses dispersed throughout the countryside and who eventually sell to the buyers who are located in the two ports.



1) Karim_Bandre_Pisteur.jpg
Karim Bandre, a pisteur in Batteguedea. He lives in the village and handles paying the farmers and getting their beans to the traitant. 2005.







2) Traitant8.jpg
Lebanese Traitant's warehouse on the Issia-Gagnoa road. Traitants are usually Shiites, as are most Lebanese living in West Africa. They earn a handsome living and bring their gains back to Southern Lebanon, where they build nice homes and support the activities of Hezbollah. The Lebanese owner is standing in the middle.