ABSTRACT
Recent research shows that there has been a rapid expansion of supermarkets in several countries in eastern and southern Africa, which resembles similar phenomena in Latin America and Asia. According to Weatherspoon and Reardon (2003), supermarket chains such as Shoprite, Pick'n'Pay and Woolworths have established themselves in urban areas and have also opened retail outlets in smaller cities and poorer areas and neighbourhoods (‘supermarkets for the poor’). Growth in the supermarket sector in southern Africa could have both positive and negative effects on the structure and conditions of the agri-food economy in the region. Some policy makers have argued that domestic producers may be increasingly marginalized by third-country imports of cheaper and often higher quality products. Others argue that these transformations may offer huge opportunities for integrating rural communities into the evolving local economic and trading system, thereby contributing to reducing poverty.
