Agricultural products, because of their character, are used to a lesser extent in their original, and much more in the processed condition. In addition, by increasing degree of specialization and division of labor, the quantity of agricultural products that are consumed in fresh condition increases, but their sites of production and consumption are much more physically distant. These facts influence the number of intermediaries in the chain from production to consumption of agricultural products, unprocessed or processed, increases.
On the other hand, subsistence agricultural production was replaced by a commercial production, which means that more and more inputs needed for production are purchased, instead of being produced on the farm. Investment caused by the need to modernize and expand production, often exceeds available own funds, so lending becomes one of indispensable links in the agricultural-food supply chain. In addition to lending, subsidizing agricultural production has become one of the forms of financing. Information about supply, demand, prices and knowledge transfer from specialized institutions to producers and processors are another link in that chin.
These facts affect the size of agro-food supply chain, which becomes longer and more complex and number of participants is increasing, which means it must be well connected and coordinated. In transitional countries connecting this chain is a problem, because the old links through which the food went from producers to consumers are broken and new ones are hard to establish. The reasons for this are in the privatization of state enterprises and conglomerates of the food industry, the collapse of the cooperative sector, changes in financial market liberalization, and becoming non-agricultural area and depopulation of rural areas and others.
This paper presents a model of supply chain of agricultural and food products and analyze the factors that positively and negatively affect any of its links, with special emphasis on the situation in BiH.
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Tematska oblast:
Datum:
01.06.2012.
Br. otvaranja:
496
