Short food supply chains for promoting local food on local markets

The aim of this paper is to give an insight over the main typologies of Short food sup0ply chains (SFSCs) initiatives, and to discuss their potential benefits and drawbacks. The ultimate goal is to raise consciousness on the potential of SFSCs initiatives for achieving local development, better market access to smallholders, and higher food quality to consumers, and to discuss how these initiatives may be developed in a sustainable way. Section 1 is devoted to introducing the main features of SFSCs and give the general framework and basic concepts. Section 2 describes the main typologies of SFSC initiatives, together with some dimensions that characterize these initiatives. Section 3 analyses potential benefits and limits of SFSCs for producers, consumers, and society as a whole, while section 4 focuses on main functions affecting the performance of SFSC initiatives. Section 5 draws some conclusions and recommendations.