Link between the Farmers' Age and Farm Engagement in Short Food Supply Chains: Empirical analyses of small and medium farms in the Czech Republic
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.52340/idw.2025.68Keywords:
Local Food Systems, SFSC, small and medium farms, socio-demographic characteristicsAbstract
The article aims to assess whether there is a link between the farmers' age and farm engagement in the short food supply chains (SFSC). We interrogate this link using the primary data from 172 interviews with small and medium farmers in the Czech Republic (99 participating and 73 not participating in SFSC). Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the responses. The results suggest an existing relationship between the age of farmers and engagement in SFSC. The young farmers are willing to participate in SFCS more when compared to older farmers. Nonetheless, the Cramer's V indicates a moderate association (0.192). Despite the Czech Republic being a post-communist country with specific social and economic conditions for SFSCs, the results showed consistency with most of the existing literature on the link between age characteristics of farmers and uptake of the SFSC strategy. Given that participation is influenced by age, the future policy design should consider more targeted outreach to older farmers, who may face informational or administrative barriers.
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