Possible Actors in Local Foodscapes? LEADER Action Groups as Short Supply Chain Agents—A European Perspective

Csaba Ruszkai, Ilona Pajtók Tari and Csaba Patkós
Additional contact information
Csaba Ruszkai: Innoregio Knowledge Centre/Institute of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Eszterházy Károly University, 3300 Eger, Hungary
Ilona Pajtók Tari: Innoregio Knowledge Centre/Institute of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Eszterházy Károly University, 3300 Eger, Hungary
Csaba Patkós: Innoregio Knowledge Centre/Institute of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Eszterházy Károly University, 3300 Eger, Hungary

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 4, 1-21

Abstract: In recent decades, alongside industrialized agriculture and food-supply systems, an alternative, network-based framework has evolved supporting local development, social innovation and sustainability objectives. Short supply chains are in the focus of the new era. At the same time, from the 1990s a new, bottom-up, spatially bound rural development method, the Liaison Entre Actions pour le Development de l’Economie Rurale (LEADER) approach, has arisen. The purpose of this study is to examine the involvement of LEADER local action groups in the management of alternative food systems in Europe. After a literature-based, detailed theoretical review, a quantitative analysis concerning the content of the official websites of action groups was conducted. A local product promoting quantitative index was created from the qualitative characteristics of the sites. From the collected data, using basic statistical analysis and thematic mapping connections were searched between local action group general characteristics and their short supply chain support activities. The results indicate notable national differences between Western and Eastern European and Mediterranean LEADER groups, supporting previous literature. It may be concluded that local action groups as potential hubs of social innovation, can be crucial actors in local foodscapes, mainly in less developed areas where other non-profit or for-profit organizations are unable to manage supply chains.

Keywords: short food chains; LEADER approach; alternative food networks (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/4/2080/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/4/2080/ (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:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:4:p:2080-:d:499821

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().