AbstractThis chapter 6 examines maize remittances, market participation and consumption among smallholders in Africa. In-kind remittances of foodstuffs among family members constitute a tangible but hitherto unexplored reflection of spatial linkages in the developing world. This chapter sheds some light on in-kind remittances of staple foodstuffs and assesses the wider reciprocal and livelihood implications for the remitters. Findings are substantiated through data on remittances of Africa's main staple crop, maize, collected in 2008 as part of the Afrint II resurvey of the maize and cassava belt. The paper draws on cross-sectional data covering 2900 maize producers in 91 villages and discusses the relationship between in-kind remittances and market participation among the remitting households, as well as the food security implications of remittances. It is concluded that in-kind remittances of maize and other staple foodstuffs constitute crucial sources of supplementary food and may act as a source of food security for both rural and urban recipients. This is especially so where markets cannot be trusted to deliver foodstuffs due to various infrastructural, institutional and policy constraints. Meanwhile, the subsistence obligations of remitting smallholder households and the extent of urban dependence on family-produced food may be underestimated since the remittances are informal and therefore invisible.