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The Impacts of Supermarket Procurement on Farming Communities in India: Evidence from Rural Karnataka
Author(s) -
Pritchard Bill,
Gracy C. P.,
Godwin Michelle
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
development policy review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.671
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1467-7679
pISSN - 0950-6764
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-7679.2010.00491.x
Subject(s) - business , restructuring , procurement , agriculture , quality (philosophy) , agricultural economics , geography , marketing , economics , philosophy , archaeology , finance , epistemology
The rapid expansion of supermarket retailing, with its impact on farmer communities, represents a contentious part of India's recent economic development. This article reports on three districts of Karnataka, where a survey of 78 farmers supplying fruits and vegetables to Reliance Fresh, a leading supermarket chain, reveals low levels of vertical co‐ordination, a lack of written contracts, and highly competitive environments, with the quality parameters used by supermarkets specifying only a limited set of conditions. These findings suggest that supermarket‐led restructuring in India has not yet reached a stable institutional situation.