The four food systems in developing countries and the challenges of modern supply chain inclusion for organic small-holders

Summary

To promote developmental objectives, such as growth, food security and improvement of the livelihoods of the rural poor, a greater understanding of the four food systems prevalent in the South is of great importance. Inclusion of small-holder farmers into the various food systems depends to a large extent on the capacity of the intermediaries and their ability to cope with both internal as well as external constraints while linking farmers to the agro-supply chains. The greater discrepancy between the intermediary’s own social and human capital resource base as well as the supporting resource environment, and the level of requirements demanded from agro-food systems; the greater constraints the stakeholders along the supply chain will encounter and the more difficult the inclusion of small-holder farmers will be.