Regional Syntheses now available

Both the sub-Saharan Africa and the Southern Africa Regional Synthesis reports are available to download and read.

These reports compile all the information together in each region from the Regoverning Markets programme.

Southern Africa

The essence of this study is a compilation of the wide array of information concerning the dynamics of agri-food markets in Southern Africa, focusing on achieving three objectives: first to establish the rate and level at which food markets have been restructuring in the region; second to understand the drivers of the restructuring process; and third to establish whether the restructuring process has been transmitted from the national to the household level. On the latter objective, the study also sought to explain the drivers of the inclusion and exclusion of smallholder farmers. The study’s main objective was to benchmark what is happening in the region relative to the rest of the world. Researchers of the market restructuring phenomenon have established that the region entered the restructuring race a little late i.e., ‘the fourth phase of the restructuring process. Thus, the fundamental question that this study attempts to answer is the following: “Is the restructuring of food markets in Southern Africa different from other regions, and if so, in what ways is it different?”

To download the report click here

Sub-Saharan Africa

The Regoverning Markets study in sub-Saharan Africa forms part of a global initiative in five regions that was designed to identify the factors involved in including small-scale producers in dynamically restructuring regional and local agrifood markets. The programme seeks to analyse market concentration in the food processing and retail sectors, as well as to predict future dynamics in the sector so as to ensure that small scale farmers can better prepare and shield themselves against exclusion. This synthesis paper deals with the dynamics of agrifood markets in sub- Saharan Africa (SSA), focusing on evaluating the extent to which food markets have restructured, including the subsequent implications for smallholder agriculture. This study draws extensively from the Regoverning Markets studies in Eastern, Western and Southern Africa.