Semi‐subsistence Farms and Alternative Food Supply Chains

Abstract

Summary The engagement of small farms, including semi‐subsistence farms (SSFs), in short/direct food supply chains varies significantly across EU Member States (MSs). It is far more prevalent in Southern EU MSs and in some New Member States (NMSs), such as Poland and Romania, than in North‐West Europe. Farmers' markets, the most prevalent form of short/direct food supply chains, are most successful where they target ‘ethically concerned’ consumers and those for whom direct relationships with producers are considered as the main guarantee of quality. Such consumers are typically middle‐class urban residents, so that successful farmers' markets are often located some distance from the point of production. Engagement with geographical indication schemes e.g. Protected Designation of Origin and Protected Geographical Indication labels also varies significantly between MSs. In some MSs, for example, Romania, despite the importance of the small‐farm sector, the number of protected designations is negligible, and this is unlikely to change soon. In some cases, particularly in Italy, the involvement in quality schemes has led to farmers receiving a significantly higher share of the final retail price. Generally, however, protected designations have had most impact in safeguarding products with pre‐existing widespread prestige, rather than serving as a mechanism for creating it.

Measuring the Economic, Environmental, and Social Sustainability of Short Food Supply Chains

“…SFSCs seem to promote gender balance due to greater employment of women in the logistics activities in contrast to long chains, where the role of women in distribution is rather limited. Taking into account both economic and social attributes of the short chains, this implies that they might be particularly important for small and medium scale producers who may often have difficulty accessing long, conventional food chains [49] especially as they can offer better prices or other trading arrangement, but demand large quantities of produce to be delivered.…”

Resilience in agri-food supply chains: a critical analysis of the literature and synthesis of a novel framework

“…Furthermore, the framework described in Figure 9 is orientated towards developed world supply chain structures and specific risks in this context. However, resilience is equally pressing in developing world supply chains, particularly given the greater prevalence of subsistence agriculture in such regions and the fact that it is in the developing world that a great proportion of global population growth and urbanisation is projected to occur (United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, 2015; Gorton et al , 2014). Here, it is likely that risks will stem from primary production challenges and post-harvest storage issues.…”

Factors affecting farmers’ decisions to participate in direct marketing: A case study of cherry growers in the Kemalpasa District of Izmir, Turkey

“…Yet at the same time, there were 384,995 Polish farms (16% of the total) for which direct sales accounted for over half of the total sales value. Direct marketing of farm products is most developed in Italy, where the number of farms involved in such activities rose by 64% between 2001 and 2009 (Gorton et al, 2014).…”