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How important are supermarkets for the diets of the urban poor in Africa?

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Abstract

Many developing countries are undergoing a profound transformation of food systems and retail environments. Especially in urban areas, a rapid growth of supermarkets is observed, which can affect consumer food choices and diets. Supermarkets may improve access to diverse foods at affordable prices, but may also encourage a switch from unprocessed to highly-processed and energy-dense foods that contribute to obesity. However, the use of supermarkets is positively correlated with income. That supermarkets already play an important role for the diets of many urban consumers does not necessarily mean that this is also true for the poorest population segments that are of particular interest for development policy. This article analyzes the diets and food purchase patterns of poor urban consumers in Kenya and Uganda. Representative data were collected from households in the slums of Nairobi and Kampala. The data show that the majority of these households are undernourished. They buy most food items in unprocessed form from various traditional retail outlets, including mom-and-pop shops, local markets, and kiosks. Relatively few sample households buy any of their food in supermarkets. Supermarkets account for only 3% and 0.4% of all food expenditures of slum dwellers in Nairobi and Kampala, respectively. Reasons for the low supermarket use of these poor households are discussed. The findings suggest that a focus on the modern retail sector alone will not suffice to ensure food and nutrition security for all.

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Notes

  1. The term “village” does not imply that these are rural areas. Also in urban areas, this term is used locally to demarcate administrative boundaries.

  2. Questionnaire pretests were carried out with 20 households, which were not included in the actual survey.

  3. Other types of modern retailers, such as hypermarkets or convenience stores, exist in Nairobi and Kampala but are not used by sample households and not located in the studied neighborhoods.

  4. When the share of processed foods is expressed in value terms rather than absolute quantities, it is larger than what is shown in Figure 1. Especially highly processed foods are not necessarily heavy in weight, but more expensive than unprocessed foods. A recent study showed that even poor households in urban Africa sometimes spend around 30% of their total food expenditures on highly processed food items (GLOPAN 2016).

  5. This is the mean distance from households to the closest supermarket irrespective of whether any food items were actually purchased there.

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Acknowledgments

This research was financially supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through the project “Making Value Chains Work for Food and Nutrition Security of Vulnerable Populations in East Africa” (grant number C-030-16), led by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT). The authors thank the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) and the National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) in Uganda for their cooperation and support during the field work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, University of Goettingen, 37073, Goettingen, Germany

    Rosina Wanyama, Theda Gödecke & Matin Qaim

  2. International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Regional Office for Africa, Nairobi, Kenya

    Christine G. K. Chege

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  1. Rosina Wanyama
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Correspondence to Rosina Wanyama.

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Wanyama, R., Gödecke, T., Chege, C.G.K. et al. How important are supermarkets for the diets of the urban poor in Africa?. Food Sec. 11, 1339–1353 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-019-00974-3

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