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Globalization and the Changing Networks of Food Supply: The Importation of Fresh Horticultural Produce from Kenya into the UK
Author(s) -
Barrett Hazel R,
Ilbery Brian W,
Brown Angela W,
Binns Tony
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
transactions of the institute of british geographers
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.196
H-Index - 107
eISSN - 1475-5661
pISSN - 0020-2754
DOI - 10.1111/j.0020-2754.1999.00159.x
Subject(s) - kenya , supply chain , business , intermediary , context (archaeology) , traceability , agriculture , contract farming , quality (philosophy) , globalization , international trade , marketing , economics , market economy , geography , philosophy , statistics , mathematics , archaeology , epistemology , political science , law
Set within the context of the global food supply system, this paper examines the growing trade in fresh horticultural produce between Kenya and the UK. The links between UK retailers and Kenyan producers are investigated using the concept of the marketing chain. Two major chains are identified ‐ wholesale and supermarket – and, whilst having no direct investment in Kenya, it is the supermarkets who control production there, through intermediaries who ensure that standards of quality and presentation are met. Importers play a crucial role in facilitating this trade, acting as a vital link between farmers and exporters in Kenya and supermarkets in the UK. The need for quality and traceability dictates that contractual arrangements are made predominantly with large‐scale farms using productivist farming methods. The irony is that it is post‐productivist demands by ‘new consumers’ in the UK that are encouraging these productivist horticultural systems in Kenya.