Short Food Supply Chains (SFSCs) or producer-consumer chains are supply chains involving a limited number of intermediaries between farmers and consumers, who are committed to cooperation, local economic development, and maintaining close geographical and social relations. In rebuilding post-Covid, SFSCs are being promoted by governments, civil society and consumer groups in many EU member states as a means for building more inclusive, resilient and sustainable food systems. But SFSC initiators, participants and promoters are confronted by a fragmented knowledge landscape, coupled with a lack of clarity as to essential skills and competencies in all phases from farm to fork.
The COREnet project proposes to respond by supporting the systematic development of more effective SFSC advising, based on bringing together public, private and civic advisors through IT-enabled peer-to-peer learning and mutual support. This approach requires interacting with advisors, farmers, consumers and a more holistic approach aimed at helping SFSCs achieve not just a bigger market share, but a greener market impact.
Project' activities are concerned with:
(1) developing SFSC advisory capabilities based on a knowledge mapping and on-line listing of SFSC advisors from all EU27 in ways that enable the sharing and exchange of cost-effective practice solutions that improve SFSC social, economic and environmental performance and increase their impact in the food value chain;
(2) preparing learning resources in the form of a network of 30 Golden Cases (exemplars of SFSC models that have achieved business success) and initiating 27 Lighthouse Projects (initiatives using Golden cases to introduce advisory services for improving SFSC performance with at least one in each of the EU-27);
(3) establishing a pan-European peer-to-peer learning network for SFSC advisors and proposing a formal organizational solution that assures its sustainability and integration into the AKIS.
COREnet has already started to support the development of a more relevant and effective SFSC advising, built around peer-to-peer learning and sense-making to complement the more conventional expert-client approaches that have dominated extension services. In this approach, advisors and advisory services are no longer confined to public services, but are a mix of public, private and civic arrangements with farmers and consumers as peers rather than beneficiaries.
