Agriculture of the Middle

Research, education and policy strategies that keep farmers and ranchers on the land

  • Home
  • About
    • Research
    • Education
    • Policy
  • People
  • Publications
    • Definitions
    • Background Reading
    • Research
    • Guides for Producers and Extension Educators
    • Values-Based Food Supply Chain Case Studies
    • Teaching Materials
    • Food Hubs Map
  • Participatory Action

Strategies for Agri-Food Enterprises-of-the-Middle

Some people in the agri-food business community use the term “value chain” to focus on supply chains that deal with food products given incremental value through processing and/or attribute differentiation (#1 and #2 above). Within the Agriculture of the Middle (AOTM) initiative, the term “values-based food supply chain’ places emphasis on both the values embodied in the food products and the values associated with the business relationships within the supply chain.

Values-based food supply chains:

  • Have the capacity to combine scale with product differentiation, and cooperation with competition, to achieve collaborative advantages in the marketplace.
  • Emphasize high levels of performance and inter-organizational trust.
  • Emphasize shared values and vision, shared information (transparency) and shared decision-making among the strategic partners.
  • Make commitments to the welfare of all strategic partners in the chain, including appropriate profit margins, fair wages and long-term business agreements.

 
Read more (PDF)

Filed Under: Publications, Values-Based Food Supply Chain Case Studies

What We Do

  • Education
  • Policy
  • Research

Publications

  • Definitions
  • Background Reading
  • Research
  • Guides for Producers and Extension Educators
  • Values-Based Food Supply Chain Case Studies
  • Teaching Materials
  • Food Hubs Map
Member log in (coming soon)
Contact our webmaster: mmmille6@wisc.edu

Current funding support provided by United States Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) through the Multistate project, NC-1198, “Renewing an Agriculture of the Middle: Value Chain Design, Policy Approaches, Environmental and Social Impacts”(2017 -2022).

nifa logo

Copyright © 2023 Board of Regents · University of Wisconsin· Log in