Supermarket chains have expanded and internationalized to become large buyers and distributors in the global agri-food sector. Meanwhile, in Eastern and Southern Africa which is the focus area of this study, collecting data on rural poverty related to small farmers remains daunting. This study investigates the differences between large and small farmers, the transaction costs involved in supplying agricultural products to supermarket chains in Africa and the opportunities and challenges that small farmers face in accessing this market. This study begins with a qualitative exploratory survey and employs a theoretical review of the topic that is informed by New Institutional Economics and Transaction Costs Economic Theory. The study concludes that there are more reasons to believe in the opportunities than in the limitations for small farmers in accessing markets nurtured by supermarket chains after accounting for transaction costs and the organizational challenges involved.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.