Completed In many situations in sub-Saharan Africa, small-scale, commercial vegetable production is a relatively new and particularly dynamic component of the agricultural sector. It is entrepreneurial and input-intensive, and concerned prmarily with production of food items for urban consumption and/or overseas trade. Compared to subsistence production or production of staple crops for the market, it represents what appears to be a significantly different configuration of human, financial and natural resources to meet a particular market opportunity (which may be the result of either an emerging new demand or a gap in existing supplies). The proposed resreach will focus specifically on vegetable production and marketing: at the proposed research sites, tomatoes, onions and shallots are grown as labour and land intensive, commercial crops, with producers harvesting 2-3 crops per annum. Producers depend on innovative production and marketing strategies and, as individuals or groups, need a dynamic approach to addressing problems such as variety selection, pest management, and so forth. In the case of tomatoes, which are highly perishable, issues of dynamism are as relevant in the marketing sphere as they are in the production sphere. Farmers act to moderate periods of glut and scarcity through local marketing organisations and by extending the harvest season through staggered planting. At the same time, traders maintain diverse sets of social and economic relations and purchase from a variety of sites. As a labour intensive activity, the focus on enterprise agriculture coincides with current poverty-focussed rural development strategies which highlight labour-intensive growth. Commercial vegetable production and marketing is also an activity which is often attractive to women and young men. Both are frequently regarded as marginal in terms of their access to and control of resources such as land and labour, and both groups have been pinpointed as possible competitors for scarce resources within rural areas in countries where structural adjustment policies have led to a reduction in urban employment. Horticulture has been specifically identified as an activity around which gender conflict over land rights might emerge. In this research the issue of access to small parcels of potentially valuable land will be explored in relation to the long tradition of research into land questions in Ghana. To achieve an enhanced policy understanding in developing countries of key aspects of rural livelihood diversification. Specifically: to characterise enterprise agriculture in terms of the types of individuals and groups involved, the social relations of production, and marketing and policy issues.To understand the role of enterprise agriculture in diversified rural livelihoods in West Africa.To interpret the policy significance of enterprise agriculture within diversified rural livelihoods. Findings on the socio-economic factors associated with different levels of engagement in commercial vegetable production.Findings on the differences in relations among producers in terms of (i) levels and models of co-operation and (ii) sources and movement of information.Findings on the ways in which enterprise agriculture relates to other farm and non-farm livelihood activities.Findings on the factors governing access to land, water for irrigation and labour which enable individuals to participate in enterprise agriculture.Findings relating to the significance of agricultural sector and rural development policies, including those relating to agricultural research and extension, or the development and evolution of enterprise agriculture. This report uses primary data collected from three sites in Ghana to analyse the livelihoods and policy implications of small-scale, commercial vegetable production activities. The research is set within on-going debates around the implications of structural adjustment, decentralisation and the adoption of a livelihoods perspective for poverty alleviation, and the role of policy in fostering more sustainable rural livelihoods.Analysis indicates that vegetable production has emerged as a keystone of the economies of the three sites. A significant number of individuals is able to use vegetable production to accumlate relatively quickly the capital needed to build their livelihoods, while a much broader range of individuals actually contribute to and benefit from these activities. No significant institutional or structural barriers to participation in vegetable production were identified, although the nature of women's social responsibilities combined with the time and management demands of production are probably the most important factor limiting the scale of their involvement. Depending on the site, however, women may play a critical role in the marketing of vegetable crops.The report's analysis of policy implications focusses on the paradox of the simultaneous globalisation of the environmental agenda and the increasing interest in decentralisation and local involvement in resource management. It is clear that livelihoods based on intensive natural resource use are one of the potential victims of this paradox, particularly given the general lack of information at the local level which would allow greater understanding and specification of problems identified at global or national level. The challenge of a more livelihoods-friendly policy will depend on the development of better understanding of local conditions, as well as a co-evolutionary approach to policy and livelihood change that makes more explicit environmental and livelihood trade-offs, and ultimate and proximate policy objectives.