An Assessment of Food Value Chains to Identify Gaps and Make Recommendations for Further Development: A Slovenian Case Study

Abstract

The content of this paper presents the research results of a three-year research project in which a multi-criteria evaluation model (according to the DEX methodology) was developed for the evaluation of three different food sectors (represented by a cattle breeding chain, a pig farming chain, and a milk production chain) with added value in Slovenia. Indicators for the assessment of the economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable development of food chains were taken into account. The data for the analysis, such as prices and costs of food, wage levels by sector, food miles and others, were obtained from various public services between 2020 and 2023. The final qualitative assessment of the food sectors was uniform (“average”), while the longest analysis of the results using the plus-minus-1 analysis method showed the reasons for such an assessment in individual sectors (such as the ratio between the price of agricultural products and the price of agricultural inputs is poor, the ratio between average gross salary in the individual food sector and gross salary in the agricultural sector is poor, etc.). In addition to the results already mentioned, recommendations or suggestions for building a sustainable food chain were made using the results of the modelling. The research results contributed to a better understanding of the importance of stable relationships between different groups of indicators and later showed their importance for improving the functioning of agri-food chains. The results of the research will help various stakeholders (such as the agricultural advisory service, decision-makers at the level of agricultural policy, researchers in further analyses, and especially the international professional public interested in various case studies from EU countries) to further analyse and plan for the organisation of the agricultural sector.