Investigating the impact of short food supply chain on emigration: A study of Valencia community in Spain

Abstract

Recent financial crisis had severe impact on many economies around the globe. In Spain, it has resulted in increasing job loss, increasing short food supply chain businesses and rise in emigration. This research investigates how direct trades between producers and consumers (short supply chain) affect decisions of those who have decided to emigrate abroad. This paper also questions whether short supply chains can be part of the solution to restrict emigration by creating employment opportunities in depressed economies such as autonomous community of Valencia in Spain. This research adopts quantitative approach and a survey strategy. The research concludes that short food supply chain (SFSC) businesses could be one of the potential solutions to address some of the issues raised by the globalization, such as the unemployment and environmental damage. In addition, data findings also show that launching an SFSC business could be a way to avoid issues associated with emigration.

The Impact of COVID-19 Crisis upon the Consumer Buying Behavior of Fresh Vegetables Directly from Local Producers. Case Study: The Quarantined Area of Suceava County, Romania

“…Short food chain supply (SFSC) systems provide multiple benefits (of economic, social, environmental, cultural, and health nature) for people and society as a whole: new job opportunities in the agri-food sector at local level [ 54 ], encouraging knowledge transfer, counter-balancing the effects of population migration [ 55 ] or gentrification, supporting the local services and suppliers by sustaining the stores of small producers and farmers’ markets, preserving cultural heritage, including promotion of tourism [ 56 ] and local gastronomy, and improving the quality of life by securing access to healthier food [ 57 ].…”

Examination of Short Supply Chains Based on Circular Economy and Sustainability Aspects

“…In terms of economic sustainability, in optimal cases, short trade chains can support local and regional development and contribute to the consumers' food quality [9] and job creation [13,62]. Experiences from several case studies show that SSC channels are mostly used by relatively small farms [63][64][65] (or are most profitable for them).…”

“…They integrate supply chain functions in this way, but they also need to connect horizontally [66]. In many cases, producers' participation in SFSC is motivated by interdependence, self-employment [13], or by selling directly to the consumer at better prices, avoiding retail and wholesale trade [67]. In this way, they can receive a higher return on the value of the products [68].…”

“…They are unable to "replace" the global food systems in the lives of consumers [11,12]. They have the potential of supporting local and regional development and contributing to food quality for consumers [9] and job creation [13]. There are indications in the literature that these chains are capable of contributing to sustainability, due to their particular characteristics and small scale, although some aspects that are considered to be beneficial are also disputed by the experts' opinions [14].…”

Farmers’ Attitudes towards Participation in short Food Supply Chains: Evidence from a Chinese field research

“…Since then, the social benefits of SFSCs have been extensively investigated. The most widely acknowledged social benefits of SFSCs in existing studies are identified as the improved food quality and security (Hinrichs, 2000;Marsden et al, 2000;Hinson and Bruchhaus, 2008;Smith, 2008;Jones and Bhatia, 2011;Bimbo et al, 2015;Engelseth, 2016;Leiper and Sather, 2017), additional employment opportunities (Ilbery and Maye, 2005;Sgroi et al, 2014;Falguieres et al, 2015;Tudisca et al, 2015;Mundler and Laughrea, 2016;Rover et al, 2017), and the regained consumers' trust (Hinson and Bruchhaus, 2008;O'Kane and Wijaya, 2015;Giampietri, 2016;Giampietri, 2018). Meanwhile, the friendly shopping atmosphere (Hinson and Bruchhaus, 2008;Watts et al, 2011;Zirham and Palomba, 2015;Benedek et al, 2017;Leiper and Sather, 2017) and the social connection with customers and fellow farmers (Beckie et al, 2012) are also noted as the improved social sustainability of SFSCs.…”