Supermarket Sovereignty and the Recolonisation of Rural Food Systems: A Rural Sociological Analysis of Chain Stores and Agrarian Displacement in Southern Africa

Edmore Ntini^1,

¹School of Social Sciences (Howard College) University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 4001, South Africa

Cite this paper:
Edmore Ntini. Supermarket Sovereignty and the Recolonisation of Rural Food Systems: A Rural Sociological Analysis of Chain Stores and Agrarian Displacement in Southern Africa. Journal of Food Security. 2026; 14(2):32-45. doi: 10.12691/jfs-14-2-1

Abstract

Supermarket expansion in South Africa, Botswana, and Zambia is widely framed as a marker of rural development, yet this paper argues that chain stores fundamentally displace agrarian autonomy and reorganise rural life. The study advances the Retail Recolonisation Thesis, which contends that supermarkets restructure rural food systems through mechanisms that consolidate corporate control, marginalise smallholders, and erode local food knowledges. Using a qualitative, comparative approach grounded in rural sociology and agrarian political economy, the paper draws on secondary literature, empirical case studies, and policy documents to analyse how procurement systems, infrastructural investments, and pricing strategies enable supermarkets to penetrate rural regions. The findings reveal systemic agrarian displacement through procurement exclusion, loss of indigenous food knowledge, nutritional transition towards ultra-processed diets, the reconstitution of rural subjectivities around consumption, and heightened dependency as informal markets collapse. These dynamics demonstrate that supermarket expansion is not a neutral or benevolent development but a rural power project that recentres food governance in corporate hands while weakening agrarian livelihoods, cultural autonomy, and local sovereignty. The paper concludes that reframing supermarketisation as a form of recolonisation is essential for understanding its deep social, economic, and epistemic impacts. It calls for policies and grassroots initiatives that rebuild agrarian citizenship and strengthen food sovereignty as foundations for rural resilience.

Keywords:
Rural restructuring supermarkets agrarian change food sovereignty retail recolonisation Southern Africa

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