The Rapid Rise of Supermarkets in Developing Countries: Induced Organizational, Institutional and Technological Change in Agri-Food Systems

Supermarkets ¹ are traditionally viewed by development economists, policy makers and practitioners as the rich world's place to shop. The three regions discussed here are where the great majority of the poor on the planet live. But supermarkets are no longer just niche players for rich consumers in the capital cities of the countries in these regions. The rapid rise of supermarkets in these regions in the past five to ten years has transformed agri-food markets, albeit at different rates and depths across regions and countries. Many of those transformations present great challenges – even exclusion – for small farms, processing and distribution firms, but also potentially great opportunities. Development models, policies and programmes need to adapt to this radical change.