In the 21st century, it is completely normal to have your food delivered from all over the world. People have become accustomed to the fact that their meat, fruit and vegetables, or even their cookies and drinks travel thousands of kilometres before they reach the customer's table. It has been proven that such a way of life is not sustainable, and consumers are becoming more aware of this. Nowadays, there is an increasing demand for local production and pressure on food safety and quality. Consumers are buying more consciously, which increases the demand for local agricultural products and income opportunities for small and medium-sized farms.
However, in many European countries, agricultural production of local, organic and ecological products is not sufficient to meet demand. The number of farms marketing or processing their own products is insufficient compared to those selling them to large companies in the food (retail) trade. The promotion of a farm-based agriculture goes hand in hand with contributions to the preservation of an intact landscape, biodiversity and the reduction of risks as well as the avoidance of possible supply disruptions through the distribution of production among smaller producers.
The OnFarm project is developing information materials to increase value creation on small and medium-sized farms. A status quo analysis of the framework conditions and prerequisites for direct marketing approaches presents the opportunities for farms. Case studies show in practice how farms implement the different concepts. A podcast series deals with individual topics and lets farmers and experts have their say. eLearning materials present individual topics and round off the OnFarm offering.
The IfLS is part of a consortium of six partners from six European countries, coordinated by the Association of Czech Private Farmers. More information on the individual partners will soon be available on the project website. You can find the latest news on the project's progress and first results in our newsletter #1 and newsletter #2 [in German].
Project no.: | 230 |
Categories: | Information and knowledge dissemination | Socio-economics of farm business | |
Client: | European Commission, Erasmus+ |
Executing Organization: | Institute for Rural Development Research (IfLS) |
Duration: | 2022-2023 |
Contact person/s at IfLS: | Dr. Ulrich Gehrlein, Christoph Mathias |
Project management: | Dr. Ulrich Gehrlein(gehrlein[at]ifls.de), Christoph Mathias (mathias[at]ifls.de) |
