SUPERMARKETS AND CONSUMERS IN AFRICA: THE CASE OF NAIROBI, KENYA

by David Neven, Thomas Reardon, Jonathan Chege and Honglin Wang

Department of Agricultural Economics, MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY Staff Paper 2005-04   February 2005

Abstract: Supermarkets are rapidly penetrating urban food retail in Kenya and spreading well beyond their initial tiny market niche into the food markets of lower-income groups. Having penetrated processed and staple food markets much earlier and faster than fresh foods, they have recently begun to make inroads into the fresh fruits and vegetables category. The important changes in their procurement systems bring significant opportunities and challenges for small farmers, and have implications for agricultural diversification and rural development programmes and policies.

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