Emerging food retailers and the development of hybrid food retail institutions in Ugandan produce supply chains

Abstract

Changing institutional arrangements are central to the nascent transformation of food retail in Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA). These emergent arrangements are reshaping the power relations, roles, and livelihood outcomes for actors in the region’s food systems. This study examines processes of institutional change within fruit and vegetable supply chains that are stemming from the expanding geographical scope of global private food standards, and from policy and demographic shifts in Uganda. First, the study examines the mechanisms through which global private food standards influence procurement strategies of emerging food retail operators (supermarkets, hotels, fast food restaurants and cafes) and how suppliers are responding to these institutional changes. Second, the dynamics of long-term change within market-oriented producer organizations linked to emerging food retailers are analyzed. Dissertation fieldwork involved 12 months of qualitative research in Uganda. During the first phase, data on the influence of global private food standards on procurement strategies were collected through in-depth interviews with 14 large format food operators in Kampala and 25 produce suppliers to these retailers. Additional data were collected through participant observation in a supermarket and fast food restaurant for a period of one month. The second phase analyzed institutional change at the farmer level, based on a case study of the Nyabyumba Farmers Association, a small scale producers’ group in Kabale district that supplies an international emerging food retailer in Kampala. Seven focus groups and 40 household interviews were conducted with members of the association. Three mechanisms through which global private food standards are transferred to the local level are identified: 1) direct embedding of retailers within international quality assurance