Assessing the role of small farms in regional food systems in Europe: Evidence from a comparative study

Farm diversification as a potential success factor for small-scale farmers constrained by COVID-related lockdown. Contributions from a survey conducted in four European countries during the first wave of COVID-19

“…The availability of market linkages in the context of small farms (i.e. the degree of direct sales) is an important factor in food availability in European regions [ 24 ], even outside the COVID-related situation when borders are more open. Our results implied that in most countries, producers involved in direct marketing typically used 1–2 or 1–3 channels before the outbreak of the pandemic (this magnitude corresponds to the findings of [ 61 ]); the case of Romania stands out due to the higher number of channels that were actively used by many.…”

“…As above mentioned for short food supply chains, also defining small-scale farmers is challenging [ 14 , 23 ] and it is often based on certain thresholds that are highly dependent on the geographical context of the analysis [ 14 ]. Since the countries involved in our study represent markedly different contexts [ 14 , 24 ] and building on the considerations of Kneafsey et al [ 21 ] and Martinez et al [ 22 ], small-scale farmers were identified through their participation in short food supply chains, instead of using a specific threshold. The terms ‘small-scale farmers’, ‘farmers participating in SFSCs’, and ‘local farmers’ are used interchangeably in this paper.…”

“…[ 11 ] found that agricultural output diversification (and the combination of on-farm agricultural and non-agricultural activities, or on-farm and off-farm work) is a typical resilience strategy of small European farms. The actual type of product [ 24 ] as well as the level of output diversification [ 28 ] have been found to determine the commercialization strategies of European small-scale farmers to some extent (e.g. products requiring processing are more typically marketed through vertically integrated supply chains; or the market linkages and the actual choice of short food supply chain marketing channels differ among diversified and more focused businesses).…”

Prospects and Constraints of Low-Intensity Farming in Marginal Peri-Urban Areas: The Case of Lesvos, Greece

“…To focus on Europe, according to EUROSTAT and the Farm Structure Survey (2016), two-thirds (65.5%) of agricultural holdings in the EU were less than 5 ha in size and their vast majority (95.2%) were classified as family farms, with Malta and Romania featuring highest in this classification. In their comparative analysis of 25 regions in 15 European countries, Rivera et al (2020) show the importance of the contribution of small farms to regional production and food availability and suggest that this trend ought to be taken into consideration in policy making. Family and small-scale farming are important because they are linked to world food security, preserve agro-biodiversity and sustainable use of natural resources and support environmental, economic and social sustainability (Gliessman, 2014(Gliessman, , 2015…”

Development of Non-Traditional Agricultural Business: Case Analysis of Viticulture Business

“…However, small farms are significant to the rural economy. Small farms are very important to the rural economy, because they create jobs not only for the farmers and for their family members, sometimes they establish job places to the rural residents; also, they buy goods and sell a part of their production (Rivera, 2020;The future…, 2017). Both scientists and practitioners are searching for solutions how to help these farms to survive and remain viable.…”