Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/90501 
Year of Publication: 
2009
Series/Report no.: 
Discussion Papers No. 18
Publisher: 
Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Courant Research Centre - Poverty, Equity and Growth (CRC-PEG), Göttingen
Abstract: 
Supermarkets and high-value exports are currently gaining ground in the agri-food systems of many developing countries. While recent research has analyzed income effects in the small farm sector, impacts on farming efficiency have hardly been studied. Using a survey of Kenyan vegetable growers and a stochastic frontier approach, we show that participation in supermarket channels increases mean technical efficiency by 19%. This gain is bigger at lower levels of efficiency, suggesting the potential for positive income distribution effects. However, disadvantaged farms often have problems in meeting strict supermarket requirements. Innovative market linkage initiatives can increase the probability of participation significantly.
Subjects: 
supermarkets
small farms
technical efficiency
stochastic frontier
sample selection
Kenya
JEL: 
Q12
O12
O13
D24
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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