i AN ASSESSMENT OF TOMATO PRICE VARIABILITY IN LUSAKA ...

Through this Trust, farmers are educated on the safe use of agricultural chemicals,
pesticides and herbicides, and on personal and consumer safety (United Nations, 2006).
The second main focus of research on African horticultural sectors has been on the rise of
supermarket chains. These chains have been seen as the leading edge of globalization in
developing country food systems, and concerns have been raised about the ability of local
retailers to compete, and also about the possible exclusion of smallholder farmers from
these new supply chains (Weatherspoon and Reardon 2003; Humphrey 2007; Reardon
and Berdegue 2002; Reardon and Timmer 2006).
Both strands of work – on horticultural exports and on the rise of supermarkets – have
made important contributions to our understanding of African horticultural sectors.
Exports have been a major and continuing success story in Kenya, and other countries,
such as Cote d’Ivoire have also made some progress in developing these sectors.
Supermarkets have also expanded fairly strongly in some African countries, and represent
a potentially important force of change.
Though these two strands of work have highlighted important aspects of current fresh
produce systems in Africa, they both miss two fundamental facts. First, the vast majority
of fresh produce in the continent is purchased by domestic consumers, not foreign buyers.
For example, Tschirley et al (2004) show that, in Kenya, during the period 1997 to 2000
retail domestic sales of vegetables accounted for 52% (valued at Kenya Shilling
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