Corporate power in the agrofood system and South Africa’s consumer food environment

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dc.contributor.authorGreenberg, Stephen
dc.date.accessioned2019-03-14T11:01:12Z
dc.date.available2019-03-14T11:01:12Z
dc.date.issued2016-05
dc.description.abstractThis report maps the extent of corporate power in the South African agro-food system using a value chain approach. It identifies major corporate actors in the various nodes of the agro-food system as of 2014. Some nodes tend to be dominated by corporations, for example input supply, grain storage and handling, and feedlots for commercial livestock. Other nodes have a strong corporate core but there is also a wide periphery, for example agricultural production, food manufacturing, wholesale and retail and consumer food service. The large periphery of marginalised actors in some parts of the system point to possible areas of intervention to boost livelihoods by supporting economic activity in the periphery. Although there are pockets of concentrated power in the system as a whole, there is also some distribution of power across nodes as well as between commodities. Vertical integration is less prevalent than in the past. The report looks at governance in the food system, the expansion of corporate self-regulation, and the implications for food security and nutrition. Corporations have immense power in structuring consumer perceptions on food quality and health, from input into apparently neutral dietary-based guidelines to advertising. Financialisation in the food system, including the institutionalisation of share ownership and the rise of agri-investment companies, and the multi-nationalisation of South African agro-food capital especially into Africa, have implications for the ability of the nation state to regulate activities in the agro-food system.en_US
dc.identifier.citationGreenberg, S., 2016. Corporate power in the agro-food system and South Africa’s consumer food environment, Working Paper 32. Cape Town: PLAAS, UWC and Centre of Excellence on Food Security.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10566/4522
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.publisherInstitute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Capeen_US
dc.relation.ispartofseriesWorking Paper;32
dc.subjectAgro-food systemen_US
dc.subjectWholesaleen_US
dc.subjectAgricultural productionen_US
dc.subjectValue chain approachen_US
dc.titleCorporate power in the agrofood system and South Africa’s consumer food environmenten_US
dc.typeWorking Paperen_US

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