Adaptation Strategies of Small Farms in Short Food Supply Chains during the Pandemic and Post-Pandemic Crisis

The Short Food Supply Chain (SFSC) strategy offers an alternative to conventional (long) food supply chains. It can be an effective strategy for small farmers to establish closer connections with consumers. This closer proximity to consumers allows for faster strategic decision-making and actions on consumer needs. SFSCs are also praised for their contribution to sustainable economic, social, and environmental development. The policies of the European Union also endorse the SFSC model. Small farms constitute a significant share of the total number of farms in the Czech Republic and play important social roles in rural areas. In 2020, the Czech Republic had a total of 28,910 farms, comprising 16,000 farms (55.3%) with an area of less than 20 hectares. The pandemic and subsequent postpandemic crisis affected the entire Czech economy and firms in all sectors. Farmers in SFSCs had to find ways to deal with such a disruptive event. The article aims to evaluate farmers' perceptions of the impact of the pandemic and post-pandemic crisis on the functioning of SFSCs and their impact on farming operations, as well as to discuss the adaptation strategies of small farms in SFSCs in the Czech Republic during the recent crisis period. The article answers two questions: 1) How did the pandemic and post-pandemic crisis affect the functioning of SFSCs and farming operations in the Czech Republic? and 2) What adaptation strategies did small farms in SFSCs in the Czech Republic use during the pandemic and post-pandemic crisis? The data were obtained through semi-structured interviews with 73 small farmers involved in SFSCs in the Czech Republic during the years 2024 and 2025 and were analysed using statistical methods. Results indicate that, despite farmers’ perception of the impact of the crisis on their farming operations, their perception was rather negative. In the case of the functioning of SFSCs during the crisis period, their perception was slightly more positive than negative. The reason is that farmers in SFSC often implemented strategies to cope with the situation, e.g. by improving their online sales, e-shops, and social media presence. We argue that changes in marketing practices during the crisis period will enable farmers to improve their SFSC operations in the future.