The conditions enabling short food supply chains as strategies for rural development: A smallholders’ perspective

Abstract Alternative food networks (AFNs) have been considered a potential solution to sustain rural livelihoods, while short food supply chains (SFSCs) are the main strategy for producers to participate in AFNs. To explore the conditions to develop SFSCs from the producers’ perspective, this study conducts a multi-case study of the aquaculture food networks in Taiwan and establishes an analytical framework based on the concepts of quality assemblage and positionality. By breaking the binary opposition between AFNs and conventional food networks, this study deepens the current understanding of AFNs in a glocal context and contributes to policy-making related to the application of SFSCs for rural development.