Quantitative assessment of economic, social and environmental sustainability of short food supply chains and impact on rural territories

The main objective of this report is to assess the economic, social and environmental impacts of Short Food Supply Chains (SFSC) on rural territories.The first observation concerns the fact that individual producers participate simultaneously in several, short and long chains. This creates a dimension for hybridity – whereby producers participate in a mix of supply chains, combining different production methods and distribution paths. The study confirms that participation in SFSC is beneficial for producers from a strictly economic perspective. Short chains provide a relatively high Price Premium since they allow to capture a large proportion of margin, otherwise realized by different intermediaries. Producers’ self-evaluation of different chains and their bargaining power within different channels were examined in the context of the social sustainability dimension. The results suggest that short chains appear to perform noticeably better compared to longer chains. Moreover, SFSC seem to promote gender balance due to greater employment of women in the preparation of sales and sales activities in contrast to long chains, where the role of women in distribution is rather limited. Taking into account both economic and social advantages, the evidence suggests that SFSC may be particularly advantageous for small and medium scale producers who may have often a difficulty accessing long, conventional food chains otherwise

Региональная интеграция и прямые иностранные инвестиции

Секция 4 «Современные тенденции развития мировой экономики и международных экономических отношений

Report on the determinants of the social, environmental and economic impact of food quality schemes on food chains and rural areas based on cross-case analysis

This report presents a cross-comparison of the economic, environmental and social sustainability performance of food quality schemes (FQS) along 23 performance indicators (Table 1). The economic indicators cover prices, gross operating margins, exports and local spill-overs. The environmental indicators include carbon footprint, food miles, water use and water pollution. The social indicators cover employment, social capital, bargaining power distribution, generational balance and gender equity. The fields in which FQSs perform better or worse than conventional reference products are presented and discussed. The possible drivers of these differences in performance are discussed, including technical specifications, governance and terroir

Report on assessment of the social, environmental and economic sustainability of food quality schemes

This report provides an assessment of the social, environmental and economic performance of 29 Food Quality Schemes including organic, Protected Designation of Origin and Protected Geographical Indication products. Each FQS is compared to a reference product in the same country which is not certified or to the national average for the relevant value chain. The same method and the same 20 indicators are applied to all products and their reference at farm, processing and – where possible and relevant – retail levels. The economic indicators cover prices, gross operating margins, exports and local spill-overs. The environmental indicators include carbon footprint, food miles, water use and water pollution. The social indicators cover employment, social capital, bargaining power distribution, generational balance and gender equity. The results for each case are summarized in a sustainability diagram displaying the value chain average differences for the key indicators. The diagrams are followed by an interpretation of the results and more details on each indicator on a case-by-case basis. Wherever an indicator could not be estimated, the reason for this is discussed, providing a basis for improving either the indicator or the data collection system

Assessing the contribution of food quality schemes to rural economies and territorial cohesion based on the case study analysis

Considering the features of GIs and organic production, Deliverable 5.2 analyses the relationships between Public Goods (PGs) and Food Quality Schemes (FQS). The deliverable evaluates the impacts of the cases study described in Deliverable 5.1 in terms of their contribution to rural development and territorial cohesion given by the capacity to generate positive externalities and hence PGs. The analysis focuses on: i) contribution to local economies; ii) generation of environmental, social and cultural externalities; iii) contribution of different governance mechanisms to ensure the valorisation of producers’ know-how and local resources; iv) social cohesion in term of creation of social capital and social networks. Overall, the products that fall within the organic FQS category, contribute to the generation of environmental PGs more than the GI FQS. However, the latter contribute more to the generation of socio-economic PGs. In general, most FQS present a low capacity to generate Cultural Heritage PGs. This indicates that there is considerable space to improve the cultural dimension of these products for the benefit of producers and consumers. The analysis conducted by the Strength2Food methodology show that if there is political will on the part of producers, there is room for improvement in the generation of PGs. At the same time, the measurement of the capacity to produce PGs would further justify the greater economic value of these products to consumers

Assessing the contribution of food quality schemes to rural economies and territorial cohesion based on the case study analysis

Considering the features of GIs and organic production, Deliverable 5.2 analyses the relationships between Public Goods (PGs) and Food Quality Schemes (FQS). The deliverable evaluates the impacts of the cases study described in Deliverable 5.1 in terms of their contribution to rural development and territorial cohesion given by the capacity to generate positive externalities and hence PGs. The analysis focuses on: i) contribution to local economies; ii) generation of environmental, social and cultural externalities; iii) contribution of different governance mechanisms to ensure the valorisation of producers’ know-how and local resources; iv) social cohesion in term of creation of social capital and social networks. Overall, the products that fall within the organic FQS category, contribute to the generation of environmental PGs more than the GI FQS. However, the latter contribute more to the generation of socio-economic PGs. In general, most FQS present a low capacity to generate Cultural Heritage PGs. This indicates that there is considerable space to improve the cultural dimension of these products for the benefit of producers and consumers. The analysis conducted by the Strength2Food methodology show that if there is political will on the part of producers, there is room for improvement in the generation of PGs. At the same time, the measurement of the capacity to produce PGs would further justify the greater economic value of these products to consumers