Organisational and IT-supported models for growing local food markets for food security in the Baltic Sea Region and Ukraine
Professor Dr. Vilma Atkočiūnienė and PhD student Aušra Žliobaitė from the Faculty of Bioeconomy Development at the Vytautas Magnus University Agriculture Academy participated in the event series “Integrating the Short Food Supply Chain to Ensure Food Safety”, organized by the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, held in Kraków, Poland, from July 9 to 13, 2025.
The events are part of the Swedish Institute funded project “Organisational and IT-supported models for growing local food markets for food security in the Baltic Sea Region and Ukraine” (SFSC4FOODSEC). The project aims to create a learning and support network for those who shape short food supply chains (SFSC) in local markets in the Baltic Sea region and Ukraine, with the aim of sharing experiences, building capacities and developing common IT support mechanisms that would promote stable and resilient food systems.
Within the framework of the SFSC4foodsecurity networking project, partners from Poland, Sweden, Lithuania, Latvia and Ukraine, as well as representatives from the food sector and municipal institutions in Krakow, met. Good examples of short food supply chains in Krakow were also visited. The aim of these meetings was to assess how the development of short food supply chains could contribute to ensuring food safety in the Krakow metropolitan area, as well as in the Baltic countries and Ukraine.
The event of the first day of meetings was attended by Aušra Žliobaitė from the Chamber of Agriculture (Lithuania), Prof. Vilma Atkočiūnienė from Vytautas Magnus University (Lithuania), Aiva Apsa Kisemice from the Rural Development Forum (Latvia), Lisa Blix Germundsson from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (Sweden), First Deputy Mayor of Krakow Stanisław Mazur, Head of the Krakow “Jednosc” Foundation, whose main activity is to organize educational activities for children and adolescents of Ukrainian refugees and to build stronger Polish-Ukrainian relations, Olena Postolnyk, expert of SFSC Rafał Serafin from “IsoTech” (Poland), and Krzysztof Gorlich, Head of the Krakow Inter-institutional Working Group, which is preparing the Krakow Development Strategy 2030/2050. One of the Krakow Development Strategy areas is the development of short food supply chains and food security.
The events examined the potential of short food supply chains linked to non-industrial agriculture in the Krakow metropolitan area in ensuring food security during a crisis.
Eastern Poland has a strong agricultural tradition and produces a wide variety of food products, but in Krakow, the development of short food supply chains faces significant obstacles. The city has about a million inhabitants, but local organizations, not realizing the importance of food security, prefer to invest in urban infrastructure, parks and recreation areas. The influence of climate change and foreign capital (France, England) further accelerates urban development, displaces local agriculture, and farmers move their farms to central Poland or other regions.
It is no longer enough for a “place” to feed city dwellers and tourists with products produced by local farmers in Krakow. The question arises as to how secure the city can be in terms of food supply when producers are located far away. Can large mono-farms ensure sufficient food security? One possible solution is to encourage small farms to remain in place and to strengthen their ability to produce and sell food locally. This requires modern digital solutions that facilitate logistics and the availability of local products.
Polish agriculture is under great pressure from environmentalists, urban planners and city dwellers, often losing this battle of interests. Being a farmer in the Kraków municipality is becoming increasingly difficult. The surplus of food seen in supermarkets often obscures a conscious understanding of where the food came from and reduces the appreciation of farmers’ work. The best land suitable for farming, which can be irrigated by river water, is often given over to urban development.
Polish agriculture is characterised by a large number of small, family-run farms, which, despite their limited scale, maintain the rural economy and traditions. The SFSC strategy gives these farms the opportunity to strengthen direct links with consumers, increase profit margins, reduce dependence on intermediaries and promote ecological practices. They also strengthen communities through participatory models and promote the development of rural areas.
The benefits of investing in SFSCs include environmental benefits – reduced transport emissions and biodiversity, economic gains through direct trade and collaboration, social benefits through community and participatory governance through multi-level partnerships. At the same time, there are challenges: limited scale of production, complex regulatory environment, competition with industrialized systems, and issues of cooperation and power imbalance.
At the meeting, Deputy Mayor of Krakow Stanisław Mazur stressed the need to clearly define the role of the SFSC in the city’s strategy. Several key aspects were highlighted:
- Creating local demand – public procurement (especially for schools and public institutions) could become a key tool to encourage local farmers to produce food products.
- Revitalizing markets and food markets in the city of Krakow and its suburbs – they can become an alternative to retail chains and contribute to the creation of vibrant public spaces.
- Strengthening food infrastructure – it is necessary to improve logistics, warehousing, and develop digital platforms that would allow producers to reach consumers directly.
- Partnership management – a successful local food policy is only possible in cooperation with regional governments, farmers, universities, NGOs and business representatives, and consumers.
Anatoly Tkachuk from the Ukrainian Institute of Civil Society presented an important experience. According to him, during the war it became clear that well-developed local production is not a luxury, but a vital necessity. Although millions of tons of grain and warehouses were destroyed, fields were mined and logistics infrastructure was destroyed, Ukraine did not experience hunger. Local communities, municipalities and small farmers developed gardens, community initiatives, created local food markets and thus ensured food supply. This experience shows that food sovereignty is inseparable from national security. This is a signal for Krakow to prepare for possible supply disruptions that may arise not only due to war, but also due to climate change or pandemics.
Aiva Apša-Ķīšeniece, a specialist in resilience and sustainable at the Latvian Rural Forum, noted that Riga is one of 116 cities whose representatives have signed the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact (MUFPP) – an agreement that commits to developing food policies and sustainable food systems that are inclusive, flexible, safe and diverse, provide healthy and nutritious food for all, reduce poverty, conserve and preserve biodiversity, while adapting to and mitigating the effects of climate change.
The leader of the project “Organizational and IT-supported models for growing local food markets for food security in the Baltic Sea Region and Ukraine” (SFSC4FOODSEC), prof. dr. Lisa Blix Germundsson from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Competence Center for Advisory Services, presented the project results, shared the experience and research results of Swedish short food supply chain developers.
Rafał Serafin from IsoTech (Poland), a network of short food supply chain consultants CORONET, presented the features of the APPETIT platform. He noted that there are opportunities to develop SFSC and national innovations at the regional level through closer cooperation. The alignment of CAP strategic plans could open up synergies in funding and policy implementation, and the proposed Baltic food and drink store network under the SFSC4FOODSEC initiative provides a platform for knowledge exchange and joint articulation of positions. The emerging model of urban-rural partnership in Krakow is a prototype that could be adapted across the region, especially if supported by the EU Urban Agenda funding mechanisms. The current food security crisis, highlighted by the resilient informal networks of Ukraine, is both a challenge and an opportunity to position food and drink sales as essential components of crisis-responsive food systems.
At one of the events, prof. Vilma Atkočiūnienė presented the specifics of SFSC development in Lithuania. V. Atkočiūnienė noted that preschool institutions in Lithuania are encouraged to feed children with organic and local products of national quality. A national program implemented since 2019 supports such feeding, and in recent years the support has increased both in financial volume and in the number of participating kindergartens. The support compensates for the price differences between intensively grown and organic and national quality products and is allocated to preschool institutions, which purchase most of their food according to quality systems.
The Lithuanian food market is dominated by large retail chains, which control about 77% of the total market, while local farmers often do not have direct access to the large market. As a result, small and medium-sized farms experience low profitability, have weak bargaining power and do not pool resources. Consumer trust in local products also remains low. Consumer demand for health-friendly, locally grown products is often unsatisfied.
In order to address these problems, it is recommended to promote farmer cooperation, increase the value of local products, form healthy eating habits, encourage the public sector to purchase local food products, and increase the purchasing power of the population and the availability of health-friendly products.
The organization of SFSCs can be both private farm decisions and the result of a partnership between the public sector and civic initiatives. The current situation is characterized by a narrow range of local products, high cost prices, low entrepreneurship of farmers, and limited contribution to strengthening the local economy.
The ideal local food system in Lithuania would be a networked one, covering the entire process from farming, processing, sales to consumption and waste management. It would be based on various business models (B2C, B2B, B2G), would combine cooperative and individual farm SFSCs, and would develop pilot and multi-stakeholder projects. The concentration of local products, geographical location, population density and infrastructure would be assessed when planning supply chains. The transition to the ideal model is proposed through community systems, multifunctional centers or food sharing HUBs, where farmers would coordinate the marketing, distribution and partial processing of local fresh products before providing them to consumers or wholesalers.
Project partners from Sweden, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Ukraine conducted national SFSC needs analyses. They revealed common obstacles:
- dominance of large retail chains (over 70% of the market in Poland and Lithuania),
- weak support for small producers,
- consumer habits prioritizing convenient shopping and cheaper products,
- gaps in logistics and infrastructure.
At the same time, “bridges” connecting the countries were identified:
- Lithuanian school feeding programs that include local products,
- Poland’s 2017 Agricultural Retail Act and Lithuania’s Law on Public Procurement (2023), which simplified direct sales,
- Latvia’s green public procurement,
- Sweden’s education campaigns about the value of local food,
- Ukraine’s community-based initiatives and digital food trading platforms.
On the second day of meetings, project partners participated in discussions with representatives of the Krakow city municipality, regional authorities, advisory centers, farmers, universities, NGOs, restaurants and markets. The discussions emphasized:
- there is a need to preserve agricultural lands in urban and peri-urban areas,
- strengthening the role of small-scale farming, community gardens, school gardens and farmers’ markets,
- the need to systematically integrate food issues into urban development and land use planning,
- the need to recognize local food products and develop critical infrastructure, local food systems.
All participants at the event agreed that regular meetings of stakeholders are needed, and Krakow could initiate the creation of a state agricultural exchange for both wholesale and retail trade in local products.
The discussions also highlighted that the development of short food supply chains is more than an economic opportunity – it is the basis for urban resilience, sustainability and social cohesion. Krakow, in cooperation with partners in the Baltic region and drawing on the experience of Ukraine, has the opportunity to become one of the leading European cities that recognises local food systems as a critical infrastructure and a priority for sustainable development.
During the last two days of the meeting, project partners visited examples of good practices, discussed innovations implemented by SFSC developers, policy measures, and new projects.
SFSC4FOODSEC the project is funded by the Swedish Institute
