This paper explores the origins of pressures on reeds and sedges used for mat making in the lower Volta basin of Ghana, and their impact on the socially embedded system which dictates access to reed fields. The findings showed that the mat-weaving
of reed is exerting immense pressure on this once freely available resource, thus inducing landlords to impose a price on the rights of entry into marshlands by reed collectors. The imposition of these charges affected the very people that the mat-weaving