Emerging Food Retailers and the Development of Hybrid Food Retail Institutions in Ugandan Produce Supply Chains Sheila Navalia Onzere Iowa State University
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Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Graduate Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 2012 Emerging food retailers and the development of hybrid food retail institutions in Ugandan produce supply chains Sheila Navalia Onzere Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd Part of the African Languages and Societies Commons, African Studies Commons, Agriculture Commons, and the Sociology Commons Recommended Citation Onzere, Sheila Navalia, "Emerging food retailers and the development of hybrid food retail institutions in Ugandan produce supply chains" (2012). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 12772. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd/12772 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Emerging food retailers and the development of hybrid food retail institutions in Ugandan produce supply chains by Sheila Navalia Onzere A dissertation submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Major: Sociology Program of Study Committee: Robert E. Mazur, Major Professor Mike Duffy Jan Flora Marta Maldonado Francis Owusu Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 2012 Copyright © Sheila Navalia Onzere, 2012. All rights reserved. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACRONYMS .............................................................................................................................................. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................................ iv ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................................. v CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 2: OPEN-AIR MARKETS, EMERGING FOOD RETAILERS AND HYBRID INSTITUTIONAL LOGICS IN PRODUCE SUPPLY CHAINS IN KAMPALA, UGANDA ............................................................... 38 CHAPTER 3: ANALYSIS OF LONG-TERM CHANGE IN MARKET ORIENTED PRODUCER GROUPS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA: INTEGRATING THE SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS FRAMEWORK AND ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE THEORY ...................................................................................................... 79 CHAPTER 4: ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE AND TRANSFORMATION OF THE INTERNAL DYNAMICS OF MARKET ORIENTED FARMERS ASSOCIATIONS: A CASE STUDY OF THE NYABYUMBA FARMERS’ ASSOCIATION ........................................................................................................................................ 113 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................................... 156 iii ACRONYMS A2N Africa 2000 Network AAR After Action Review AGILE African Grassroots Innovation for Livelihood and Environment AHI African Highlands Initiative AISs Agricultural innovation systems ASERECA Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa CEED Coalition for Effective Extension Delivery CIAT International Center for Tropical Agriculture CIP International Potato Center DEO District Environmental Office ESA Eastern and Southern Africa ERI Enabling Rural Innovation [Program] FAO UN Food and Agriculture Organization FID Farmer Institutional Development FDI Foreign direct investment FFS Farmer field schools FFV Fresh fruits and vegetables FMO Farmers’ Marketing Organizations GNI Gross National Income [Index] ICRAF World Agroforestry Center IARCs International Agricultural Research Centers IMF International Monetary Fund INRM Integrated natural resource management KaZARDI Kachwekano Zonal Agricultural Research and Development Institute LPA Lagos Plan of Action MDG Millennium Development Goals MFIs Micro-finance institutions NAADS National Agricultural Advisory Services NAP National Agriculture Policy NARIs National Agricultural Research for Development Institutes (NARIs NARO National Agricultural Research Organization NFA Nyabyumba Farmers Association NGO Non-governmental organization PAL Participatory action learning PMA Plan for the Modernization for Agriculture PREPACE Regional Potato and Sweet Potato Improvement Program for Eastern and Central Africa ROSCAs Rotating savings and credit associations SACCOs Savings and credit cooperatives SAPs Structural Adjustment Programs SLF Sustainable Livelihoods Framework SRL Sustainable Rural Livelihoods SSA sub-Saharan Africa UNSSPA Uganda National Seed Potato Association WED United Nations Commission on Environment and Development iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My deepest gratitude is to my advisor, Dr. Robert E. Mazur for his guidance and patience throughout this dissertation writing process. Thanks also to my dissertation committee who read my work and provided feedback. I am also particularly grateful to my research assistants in Uganda and to the producers, intermediaries and retailers who made this study possible. v 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 cafés) 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 vi schemes; 2) articulation of standards mimicking private food standards but lacking the requisite administrative and technical enforcement mechanisms; and 3) identification with global food systems but complete reliance on local informal institutional arrangements. Suppliers have responded to emergent hybrid institutional arrangements either by increasing the scale of operation or by carving out supply niches for knowledge intensive crops. At the producer level, transformations in the market and local institutional environment increased the perceived cost in time and effort spent on those association activities geared towards supplying the emerging food retailer. In addition, different levels of technical knowledge and skills resulted in significant modifications in the motivation and consistency of participation in association activities and the decision making structure. The findings have implications for the likely impacts of retail transformation processes on the roles of global processes in the transformation of food systems in ESA, the responsibility of government and non-governmental actors in assuring market access for small scale producers and food security for urban populations as well as the conditions under which women are likely to benefit from market oriented collective action. 1 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Institutions are regulations, practices, organizing principles and meanings that become established and achieve rule like status within social fields (Scott 2004; Zucker 1987). Within traditional food markets (The term open-air markets is used henceforth) in eastern and southern Africa (ESA), the basis of contractual agreements, as well as risk mitigation between buyers and sellers, are rooted in and regulated by informal mechanisms including kinship, personal ties, social networks and reputation (Fafchamps 2008, 2003; Ferris et al. 2006; Best, Ferris and Schavione 2005; Vorley 2003; Good 1975). Although open-air market institutions still dominate food markets in the region, there has been a steady increase in new forms of food retail in the region. These emerging food retailers include supermarkets, hotels, fast food restaurants and cafés (Kaganzi et al. 2006; Cacho 2003). They bring with them new institutional arrangements supported by more formal and legal structures than are present in the traditional