With most of their customers being travelers, the women said they have learnt to target prospective buyers and peak periods
they sometimes paid the school fees of their children from the money.
Asked if they didn’t buy landed property or build houses with the money, the initial responses were giggles followed by an
explanation. “If we have to build houses, we need the approvals of our husbands.
After they have approved, they then build the houses; but with our money, not theirs.”
From their looks and shrug of their shoulders there seemed to be an unspoken question: ‘ why bother if the glory isn’t mine but his?’
In the over 40 years this market has been in existence, “we have customers who have remained patriotic to us from all over Guinea and even Mali and Sierra Leone as well as other occasional visitors from various destinations,” the women said assuring that they never lacked money to meet their needs.
The women, however, lament that they are getting close to scarcity time which is usually in the dry season because of the lack of fresh green grass on which the animals feed and are well nourished to produce good enough milk.
According to Mariam Diallo, “at such times we pay twice the amount of what we currently offer for the same measures of milk and we have to break even by selling more expensive to our customers.
The Fulani women, traditionally, are not farmers, but in down times, “we resort to farming to make ends meet.”
The women farm in a very organized method, creating an association of tomato and potato sellers alongside a corporative so that all women in the community who are interested can benefit from whatever scheme is available.