Implications of supermarket expansion on urban food security in Cape Town, South Africa

Abstract

The rapid rise in supermarkets in developing countries over the last several decades resulted in radical transformations of food retail systems. In Cape Town, supermarket expansion has coincided with rapid urbanization and food insecurity. In this context, retail modernization has become a powerful market-driven process impacting food access for the poor. The introduction of formal food retail formats is viewed simultaneously as a driver of food accessibility and as a detriment to informal food economies established in lower income neighborhoods. Through a mixed-methods approach, this article assesses the spatial distribution of supermarkets within Cape Town and whether this geography of food retail combats or perpetuates food insecurity, particularly in lower income neighborhoods. Spatial analysis using geographic information systems at a city-wide scale is combined with a qualitative case study utilizing semi-structured interviews and observational analysis in the Philippi township in order to illuminate the limitations of supermarket expansion as a market-oriented alleviation strategy for food insecurity. While supermarkets have been successful in penetrating some low-income communities, they are often incompatible with the consumption strategies of the poorest households, revealing the significance of the informal economy in Cape Town and the limitations of a food desert approach toward understanding urban food security.

Keywords:

• urban food security
• supermarket
• informal economy
• food desert
• Cape Town

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Bongi Makanya for her support with field research and as a translator for the first author, Nicholas Lindenberg and Thomas Slingsby from the University of Cape Town GIS Laboratory for their technical assistance in GIS data collection, geocoding, and formatting, Laura Smith from Macalester College for her assistance in statistical analysis, and Paul A. Anderson of the Macalester College Board of Trustee’s for providing funding for this project.

Notes

1. Data from the most recent 2011 census was not available at the time the research was conducted.

2. Interviews were divided as such: 11 interviews with Spaza shops, 6 with F&V stands, and 3 with meat stands.

3. 1Rand = .10 USD and .078 Euro.

4. Higher income neighborhoods tend to have lower density settlement and higher access to private transportation.

5. Informal dwellings typically take the form of small residential units assembled out of scrap metal by residents, often referred to as shacks.

6. It must be recognized that these are the views of those shop owners that have adapted to the supermarket’s introduction and not representative of business that may have not survived the transition.