scispace - formally typeset
Search or ask a question
Author

Thomas Reardon

Bio: Thomas Reardon is an academic researcher from Michigan State University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Food security & Supply chain. The author has an hindex of 79, co-authored 285 publications receiving 25458 citations. Previous affiliations of Thomas Reardon include International Food Policy Research Institute & University of Adelaide.


Papers
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors introduce a special issue on the topic of income diversification and livelihoods in rural Africa: Cause and Consequence of change, where the authors concentrate on core conceptual issues that bedevil the literature on rural income diversity and the policy implications of the empirical evidence presented in this special issue.

1,726 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe the traditional retail and wholesale system in the midst of which emerged modern food retailing and its procurement system, and discuss the determinants of and patterns in the diffusion of supermarkets in the three regions.
Abstract: Supermarkets are traditionally viewed by development economists, policymakers, and practitioners as the rich world’s place to shop. The three regions discussed here have the great majority of the poor on the planet. But supermarkets are no longer just niche players for rich consumers in the capital cities of the countries in these regions. The rapid rise of supermarkets in these regions in the past 5-10 years has transformed agrifood markets – at different rates and depths across regions and countries. Many of those transformations present great challenges – even exclusion – for small farms, processing and distribution firms, but also potentially great opportunities. Development models, policy and programs need to adapt to this radical change.This brief article describes this transformation of agrifood systems in Africa, Asia (excluding Japan), and Latin America. First, we describe the traditional retail and wholesale system in the midst of which emerged modern food retailing and its procurement system. Second, we discuss the determinants of and patterns in the diffusion of supermarkets in the three regions. Third, we discuss the evolution of procurement systems of those supermarkets, and consequences for agrifood systems. At the end, we hint at emerging implications for farms and firms in the region.

1,337 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a review of evidence provides some surprising departures from traditional images of non-farm activities of rural households, and the most worrying finding was the poor distribution of nonfarm earnings in rural areas, despite the importance of these earnings to food security and farm investments.

1,020 citations

Posted Content
TL;DR: The authors of as discussed by the authors have shown that supermarkets are now dominant players in most of the agrifood economy of Latin America, having moved from a rough-estimate population-weighted average of 10-20% in 1990 to 50-60% of the retail sector in 2000.
Abstract: Why are we writing, in the same article, about ‘supermarkets’ and ‘development’ in a region where 39% of the people are in poverty and 13% in absolute poverty (Echeverria, 1998)? Are not supermarkets niche players for rich consumers in the capital cities of the region? The answer is ‘no’; that traditional image is now a distant memory of the preliberalisation period before the 1990s. This theme issue of Development Policy Review shows that supermarkets are now dominant players in most of the agrifood economy of Latin America, having moved from a rough -estimate population-weighted average of 10-20% in 1990 to 50-60% of the retail sector in 2000. In one globalising decade, Latin American retailing made the change which took the US retail sector 50 years. The supermarkets, together with large-scale food manufacturers, have deeply transformed agrifood markets in the region. Many of those changes spell great challenges – even exclusion – for small farms and processing and distribution firms, but also potentially great opportunities. Development policy and programmes need to adapt to this radical change. The above findings are derived from the articles in this theme issue, the key points of which are compared in this overview article, and set in the context of background and other recent case literature. Earlier versions of the articles 1 were presented at the International Workshop ‘Concentration in the Processing and Retail Segments of the Agrifood System in Latin America, and its Effects on the Rural Poor’, held in November 2000 in Santiago, Chile, organised by the International Network for Research on Farming Systems (RIMISP) and funded by the Department for International Development (DFID) of the United Kingdom. The nine articles are on Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, and Mexico. They focus on the rise of supermarkets and large-scale food manufacturers over the 1990s to the present, and illustrate the effects of their rise on the dairy products and fresh fruit and vegetables (FFV) sectors. Dairy and FFV were chosen because of the interest development programmes have for these products: they are seen as good prospects for sma ll farms and firms because of their higher value-added and income-generation potential and their relative lack of economies of scale (compared with basic grains and

834 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors reviewed the literature from the late 1980s to the present and found evidence first of food processing then retail transformation, and mixed evidence of impacts on small farmers, both inclusion (particularly with resource-providing contracts) and exclusion (sometimes from scale-constraint, sometimes from inadequate non-land assets).

832 citations


Cited by
More filters
Book
01 Jan 2009

8,216 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors build a theoretical framework to explain governance patterns in global value chains and draw on three streams of literature, transaction costs economics, production networks, and technological capability and firm-level learning, to identify three variables that play a large role in determining how global value chain are governed and change.
Abstract: This article builds a theoretical framework to help explain governance patterns in global value chains It draws on three streams of literature ‐ transaction costs economics, production networks, and technological capability and firm-level learning ‐ to identify three variables that play a large role in determining how global value chains are governed and change These are: (1) the complexity of transactions, (2) the ability to codify transactions, and (3) the capabilities in the supply-base The theory generates five types of global value chain governance ‐ hierarchy, captive, relational, modular, and market ‐ which range from high to low levels of explicit coordination and power asymmetry The article highlights the dynamic and overlapping nature of global value chain governance through four brief industry case studies: bicycles, apparel, horticulture and electronics

5,704 citations

01 Jan 1999

3,389 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Rapid increases in the rates of obesity and overweight are widely documented, from urban and rural areas in the poorest countries of sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia to populations in countries with higher income levels.
Abstract: Decades ago, discussion of an impending global pandemic of obesity was thought of as heresy. But in the 1970s, diets began to shift towards increased reliance upon processed foods, increased away-from-home food intake, and increased use of edible oils and sugar-sweetened beverages. Reductions in physical activity and increases in sedentary behavior began to be seen as well. The negative effects of these changes began to be recognized in the early 1990s, primarily in low- and middle-income populations, but they did not become clearly acknowledged until diabetes, hypertension, and obesity began to dominate the globe. Now, rapid increases in the rates of obesity and overweight are widely documented, from urban and rural areas in the poorest countries of sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia to populations in countries with higher income levels. Concurrent rapid shifts in diet and activity are well documented as well. An array of large-scale programmatic and policy measures are being explored in a few countries; however, few countries are engaged in serious efforts to prevent the serious dietary challenges being faced.

3,215 citations