NETWORKS IN THE MACEDONIAN ORGANIC PRODUCTION CONTEXT

Abstract

Economic performance and competiveness of commercial farms, in producing and selling organic products, is often dependent on the structure of networks and the organization of supply chains. Networks play an important role in information dissemination, particularly in the otherwise scarce information flow in rural areas. Informal networks are in most cases a valuable source of social capital and information exchange. The aim of this paper is to understand network and stakeholder position and relations in the information channels among the actors in the supply chain for organic productions, by mapping information diffusion on horizontal level - farmer’s relations with other farmers. A survey on 122 organic farms was carried out in 2018 in the Republic of North Macedonia. The data were processed in UCINET. Mapping social capital structure contributes in identifying key individuals (social capital hubs), that can be activated for information dissemination and ultimately for active mobilization of organic production networks. The findings confirm that farmers with similar production type are more likely to cooperate and share information among each other.