Guidelines for Institutions

Within the framework of the AgriShort Project the Thermal Valley of Zala Association (LAG) has prepared the Guidelines for institutions: „How to establish SFSCs” in Hungarian language for those institutions that are already concerned in this subject. Including the Croatian experience with SFSCs, the same document will also be published by the project’s lead partner – REDEA Development Agency - in Croatian language within a short time.

The overall goal of this publication is to provide local entrepreneurs who are just starting a business in local product services with useful hints and ideas. An important goal is to establish well-functioning short food supply chain groups, which could help preserving rural areas, and enhancing their economic and social development in the long run.

The publication first of all introduces the concepts, theses, and the findings of SFSCs related social and environmental researches in Hungary, then presents the most important outcomes of the gastronomic study elaborated about the project related area in Hungary. Later in the Guidelines, practical knowledge and hands-on skills required for organizing SFSCs are discussed; finally methodological steps for creating short food supply chain groups are described.

One of the important tasks of the Guidelines is to show practical examples for the importance of community organization and the possibilities for co-operation. Specifically, the organization of short food supply chains is always based on communities as they serve the jointly formulated goals and interests of a certain community, whether it is to get access to good quality products, maintain the natural environment or develop the local economy through tourism.

The document is available in the Downloads section of the website.