Analyzing Alternative Food Networks sustainability in Italy: a proposal for an assessment framework

Luigi Mastronardi (), Davide Marino (), Vincenzo Giaccio (), Agostino Giannelli (), Margherita Palmieri () and Giampiero Mazzocchi ()
Additional contact information
Luigi Mastronardi: University of Molise
Davide Marino: University of Molise
Vincenzo Giaccio: University of Molise
Agostino Giannelli: University of Molise
Margherita Palmieri: University of Molise
Giampiero Mazzocchi: University of Molise

Agricultural and Food Economics, 2019, vol. 7, issue 1, 1-19

Abstract: Abstract The aim of the paper is to evaluate the sustainability of Alternative Food Networks in Italy through the construction of a composite indicator, the Global Sustainability Index. The index is able to provide decision-makers with indications on synergies and tradeoffs between the different dimensions of sustainability. The methodological approach is of the quantitative type, and the information used in the study comes from a direct survey that involved 226 producers. The results show that the environmental indicators that take the greatest value are those concerning problems of great impact on the actual debate such as the loss of genetic diversity and the use of packaging for agro-food products. Regarding economic sustainability, the indicator with the highest value is related to the ability of the Alternative Food Networks to diversify sales channels. This evidence confirms the producers’ increasing difficulty to adopt mono-directional strategies, favoring a differentiation of markets and, consequently, a reduction of economic risks. In terms of social sustainability, two interesting evidences emerge: the considerable importance attributed to the information of the features of the products and the increase in work involvement following participation in the Alternative Food Networks.

Keywords: Alternative Food Networks; Sustainability; Index; Short food supply chain; Producers; Food policies; Italy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1186/s40100-019-0142-8 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:agfoec:v:7:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1186_s40100-019-0142-8

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer. ... nomics/journal/40100

DOI: 10.1186/s40100-019-0142-8

Access Statistics for this article

Agricultural and Food Economics is currently edited by Alessandro Banterle, Liesbeth Dries, Andrea Marchini and Carlo Russo

More articles in Agricultural and Food Economics from Springer, Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA) Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().