Modern Food Supply Chains and Development: Evidence from Horticulture Export Sectors in Sub-Saharan Africa

The global food system is undergoing rapid processes of transformation and modernisation. This is causing important changes in developing-country food supply chains, particularly in supermarket-driven and high-value export chains, but the welfare implications of these changes are poorly understood. This article analyses and compares the welfare effects in different horticulture export chains in sub-Saharan Africa, disentangling different types of effects and the channels through which rural households are affected. Its main conclusion is that increased high-value exports and the modernisation of export supply chains can bring about important positive welfare effects, which can occur in various ways through product- or labour-market effects and through direct and indirect effects. © The Authors 2012. Development Policy Review © 2012 Overseas Development Institute.