International Institute for Environment and Development 
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| International Institute for Environment and Development |
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Market Governance Project Summary:
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Theme: Regoverning Markets in AgriFood Systems Project name: SUS-CHAIN: Marketing Sustainable Agriculture Dates / Duration: New project 2003
Introduction: SUS-CHAIN is a 3-year EU-funded international project, to assess the potential role of food supply chains in the enhancement of sustainable food production and rural development by identifying critical points in food supply chains which currently constrain the further dissemination of sustainable production, and recommend actions that are likely to enhance the prospects for sustainable food markets. Specific attention will be given to factors related to the organisational structure of food supply chains and interactions between different stages of the chain. The project is co-ordinated by the University of Wageningen. Other partners include the Universities of Gloucestershire (UK, main UK contractor), Gent (Belgium), Pisa, (Italy), JWGoethe University, Frankfurt (Germany), Baltic Studies Centre (Latvia), and ETH Zurich, Switzerland. An NGO partner is associated with the project in each country. Objectives: Specific objectives are: (1) To map the diversity (in time and place) of current definitions of sustainability that are associated with new food supply chains. To examine the extent to which there is convergence / consensus regarding competing meanings of sustainable production and quality at different levels of different food supply chains in various European regions, i.e. southern Europe (Italy), eastern Europe (Latvia) and western Europe (The Netherlands, United Kingdom, Belgium and Germany). To examine the extent to which sustainability claims are intertwined with other quality attributes, such as health, food safety, regional identity and ethics (e.g. fairness of trade and labour standards). To map, on the basis of a set of indicators (e.g. actors involved, types of relations, spatial distribution, degree of formalisation of standards, etc.), the diversity of food chains, which incorporate sustainable farm products, taking account of situational specificities in different member states. (2) To order this diversity by identifying the most widely encountered bottlenecks and constraints that inhibit the enhancement of sustainable food production. To examine in detail the ability of the food chain as a whole to convey consumers’ expectations and civic values related to sustainability and food quality to farmers. (3) To examine different ways of communication and mechanism of economic co-ordination between the actors in the food chain (e.g. labelling, face to face selling, product regulations, farm plans, codes of best practice etc.) and assess their capacity to enhance cohesive, collective action within sustainable food supply chains. To do so a carefully selected, representative set of case examples in different countries will be studied to assess their performance in relation to factors such as marketing channel choice, institutional embeddedness and policy interfaces. (4) To develop performance indicators (e.g. high / low consumer prices, improvement/worsening of farmers’ income, participation to the process of standard setting, degree of concentration of power along the chain, consumer confidence, etc.) and methods that assess the collective performance of the food chain as a whole towards sustainable food production and transparent food markets. (5) To examine the relevant policy environment for the development of sustainable food supply chains. To formulate policy recommendations to public institutions at different levels (local, regional, national and European) that could help to overcome the bottlenecks in the food chain that inhibit the wider development of markets for sustainable farm products. Key findings/ progress to date: Key Publications: Links to partners: Project Coordinator
University of Gloucestershire, UK.
SVRA, Switzerland
Latvian Association of Agricultural Organisations, Latvia
Project supported by: Contact: Bill Vorley, IIED Copyright © 2005 International Institute for Environment and Development. |
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