Do small food businesses enable small farms to connect to regional food systems? Evidence from 9 European regions

Paola A Hernández (1) , Francesca Galli (2) , Paolo Prosperi (3, 4, 2) , Šūmane Sandra (5) , Dominic Duckett (6) , Henrik Eli Almaas (7)

1 MED - Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, Environment and Development
2 University of Pisa - Università di Pisa
3 CIHEAM-IAMM - Centre International de Hautes Etudes Agronomiques Méditerranéennes - Institut Agronomique Méditerranéen de Montpellier
4 UMR MoISA - Montpellier Interdisciplinary center on Sustainable Agri-food systems (Social and nutritional sciences)
5 Baltic Studies Center
6 The James Hutton Institute
7 NTNU - Norwegian University of Science and Technology [Aalesund]

For small farms across Europe, connecting to small food businesses offers a significant route to market. We analyse survey data from 85 small food businesses in nine European regions and explore the enabling and limiting conditions around this connectivity. We show how connectivity depends on context-based interrelationships among food system actors and consider the effects of these relations on small farm integration. Results show stronger connections when small food businesses are themselves farm-based. Weaker linkages are also apparent in the absence of public and social support. We argue that regional food systems can be enhanced by increasing small food businesses’ capacity to source from small farms, with the added benefit of increasing the viability of these small businesses.

Mots clés: Small food business; Small farms; Food system approach; Integration; Localised food systems

Mots clés: INDUSTRIE ALIMENTAIRE; SYSTEME AGROALIMENTAIRE; TRES PETITE ENTREPRISE; APPROVISIONNEMENT; PME; PETITE EXPLOITATION AGRICOLE; PRODUCTION AGRICOLE; PRATIQUE COLLABORATIVE; ACCES AUX MARCHES; SYSTEME DE PRODUCTION LOCALISE; EUROPE

Domaines: Agriculture, économie et politique; Economies et finances

Paola A Hernández, Francesca Galli, Paolo Prosperi, Šūmane Sandra, Dominic Duckett, et al.. Do small food businesses enable small farms to connect to regional food systems? Evidence from 9 European regions. Global Food Security, 2021, 29, pp.100505. ⟨10.1016/j.gfs.2021.100505⟩. ⟨hal-03463710⟩