Abstract
Although the rapid expansion in the number of supermarkets in Africa in recent years is well-documented, the potential impact of this process is not well understood. The existing literature does not engage adequately with the spatial distribution of supermarkets within cities and is therefore unable to address the impact of these stores on household food security. The paper presents a mapping of the location of supermarkets in Cape Town with reference to income characteristics of neighbourhoods and transport routes. The distribution of supermarkets is shown to be highly unequal and the distance of low-income areas from high-income areas hinders access to supermarkets for the urban poor. The chapter further argues that the supermarkets in lower-income areas typically stock less healthy foods than those in wealthier areas and, as a result, the supermarkets do not increase access to healthy foods and may in fact accelerate the nutrition transition.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Abrahams, C. (2010). Transforming the region: Supermarkets and the local food economy. African Affairs, 109, 115–134.
Altman, M., Hart, T., & Jacobs, P. (2009). Food security in South Africa. Paper for HSRC Food Security Project, Pretoria.
Battersby, J. (2011). Urban food insecurity in Cape Town, South Africa: An alternative approach to food access. Development Southern Africa, 28, 545–561.
Battersby, J. (2012). Beyond the food desert: Finding ways to speak about urban food security in South Africa. Geografiska Annaler Series B: Human Geography, 94, 141–159.
Bisseker, C. (2006). Retailers’ drive into the township market threatens spaza shops. Financial Mail, 28 September.
Bourne, L., Lambert, E., & Steyn, K. (2002). Where does the black population of South Africa stand on the nutrition transition? Public Health Nutrition, 5, 157–162.
Crush, J., & Frayne, B. (2011). Supermarket expansion and the informal food economy in Southern African cities: Implications for urban food security. Journal of Southern African Studies, 37, 781–807.
GAIN (Global Agricultural Information Network). (2012). Republic of South Africa. Retail food sector. Retail sector grows despite downturn. Washington, DC: USDA.
Holt-Giménez, E., & Shattuck, A. (2011). Food crises, food regimes and food movements: Rumblings of reform or tides of transformation? Journal of Peasant Studies, 38, 109–144.
Humphrey, J. (2007). The supermarket revolution in developing countries: Tidal wave or tough competitive struggle? Journal of Economic Geography, 7, 433–450.
Igumbor, E., Sanders, D., Puoane, T., Tsolekile, L., Schwarz, C., Purdy, C., et al. (2012). ‘Big Food’, the consumer food environment, health and the policy response in South Africa. PLoS Medicine, 9, 1–7.
Kirsten, J. (2012). The political economy of food price policy in South Africa. Working Paper No. 2012-102. Helsinki: UNU-WIDER.
Lang, T., & Barling, D. (2012). Food security and food sustainability: Reformulating the debate. Geographical Journal, 178, 313–326.
Ligthelm, A. (2008). The impact of shopping mall developments on small township retailers. South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences, NS, 11, 37–53.
Louw, A., Jordaan, D., Ndanga, L., & Kirsten, J. (2008). Alternative marketing options for small-scale farmers in the wake of changing agri-food supply chains in South Africa. Agrekon, 47, 287–308.
Magwaza, N. (2013). Pick n Pay to face off with Shoprite. IOL Business Report, 12 April.
Mantshantsha, S. (2013). BP teams up with Pick n Pay in retail deal. Business Day, 24 April.
McGaffin, R. (2010). Shopping centres in township areas: Blessing or curse? Report for Urban Landmark, Pretoria.
Neven, D., Odera, M., Reardon, T., & Wang, H. (2009). Kenyan supermarkets, emerging middle-class horticultural farmers, and employment impacts on the rural poor. World Development, 37, 1802–1811.
Planting, S. (2010). Into the trolley. Financial Mail, 23 July.
Popkin, B. (2003). The nutrition transition in the developing world. Development Policy Review, 21, 581–597.
Reardon, T., & Minten, B. (2011). Surprised by supermarkets: Diffusion of modern food retail in India. Journal of Agribusiness in Developing and Emerging Economies, 1, 134–161.
Reardon, T., & Timmer, C. (2012). The economics of the food system revolution. Annual Review of Resource Economics, 4, 225–264.
Reardon, T., Timmer, C., Barrett, C., & Berdegué, J. (2003). The rise of supermarkets in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 85(5), 1140–1146.
Reardon, T., Henson, S., & Berdegué, J. (2007). ‘Proactive fast-tracking’ diffusion of supermarkets in developing countries: Implications for markets institutions and trade. Journal of Economic Geography, 7, 399–431.
Reardon, T., Timmer, C., Barrett, C., & Berdegué, J. (2001). The rise of supermarkets in Africa, Asia and Latin America. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 85, 1140–1146.
Reardon, T., Timmer, P., & Berdegué, J. (2004). The rapid rise of supermarkets in developing countries: Induced organizational, institutional, and technological change in agrifood systems. Journal of Agricultural and Development Economics, 1, 15–30.
Strydom, J. (2011). Retailing in disadvantaged communities: The outshopping phenomenon revisited. Journal of Contemporary Management, 8, 150–172.
Temple, N., & Steyn, N. (2009). Food prices and energy density as barriers to healthy food choices in Cape Town. Journal of Hunger and Environmental Nutrition, 4, 203–213.
Temple, N., Steyn, N., Fourie, J., & de Villiers, A. (2010). Price and availability of healthy food: A study of rural South Africa. Nutrition, 27, 55–58.
Timmer, C. (2008). The impact of supermarkets on farmers, consumers and food security in developing countries. In R. Semba & M. Bloem (Eds.), Nutrition and health in developing countries (2nd ed., pp. 739–752). Totowa NJ: Humana Press.
Tustin, D., & Strydom, J. (2006). The potential impacts of the formal retail chains’ expansion strategies on retail township development in South Africa. South African Business Review, 10, 48–66.
Van der Heijden, T., & Vink, N. (2013). Good for whom? Supermarkets and small farmers in South Africa: A critical review of current approaches to increasing access to modern markets. Agrekon, 52, 68–86.
Weatherspoon, D., & Reardon, T. (2003). The rise of supermarkets in Africa: Implications for agrifood systems and the rural poor. Development Policy Review, 21, 333–355.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Battersby, J., Peyton, S. (2016). The Spatial Logic of Supermarket Expansion and Food Access. In: Crush, J., Battersby, J. (eds) Rapid Urbanisation, Urban Food Deserts and Food Security in Africa. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43567-1_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43567-1_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-43566-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-43567-1
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)