Farm Advisors of the Future: Supporting The Transition To Short Food Supply Chains (SFSCs) in Europe

This is a detailed academic report titled “Farm Advisors of the Future – Supporting the Transition to Short Food Supply Chains (SFSCs) in Europe.”

It was written by a Wageningen University student team (Team 3.495) in July 2025 as part of the Academic Consultancy Training (ACT) course. The project was commissioned by Marjolein Elings within the EU4Advice project, which aims to strengthen short food supply chains across Europe.

The report explores how farm advisors can best support farmers transitioning from long food supply chains (LFSCs) to short food supply chains (SFSCs) — systems that bring producers and consumers closer together socially, economically, and geographically.

It includes:

• A literature review on SFSCs, sustainable production systems (e.g., organic, regenerative, agroecological), and their benefits and challenges.

• Interviews with farm advisors and farmers from different European contexts, identifying real-world barriers and success factors.

• Development of training materials (including an interactive poster) to help advisors guide farmers effectively.

• Application of the MIDI (Measurement Instrument for Determinants of Innovations) and MOA (Motivation–Opportunity–Ability) models to evaluate how easily the tools can be implemented in practice.