New research highlights role SMES can play in future food security
SMALL and medium sized enterprises (SMES) played a key role in maintaining the resilience of the UK’S food system during Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic.
Now they could continue to contribute to greater UK food security by collaborating with larger players in the industry, according to research by Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) in partnership with sustainability advisers 3Keel. The research, published by the Resilience of the UK Food System in a Global Context research programme, looked at SMES’ ability to innovate, create neutral spaces for collaboration, and their potential to hedge risk in the food system.
SMES constitute around 97 per cent of enterprises in the UK food system and collaboration with major players could bring about positive change. Much of the research was conducted through interviews with SMES across Scotland.
Working more with universities was a key recommendation in the report for boosting SME innovation and collaboration across the food system. It was recognised in the research, as universities sometimes have connections with actors from across the food system, they can be a natural intermediary between their interests, with the potential to bring SMES into strategic and well-funded initiatives. The role of universities is to explore and test new ideas and it was noted that because of this quality, universities could also act as third spaces for collaboration, building physical and virtual spaces that can encourage and improve knowledge sharing practices across the food system.
In turn, large businesses have capacity to support SMES within their supply chains, and promote resilience. Accepted across the interviews was the fact that big businesses have greater more secure cashflows and are therefore able to directly respond to the investment challenges that SMES face. It was also noted that big businesses can support SMES in other ways, for example by providing longer term contracts, networking and training opportunities, and supplying practical business solutions (e.g. software and hardware) to SME partners.
The report also recommended governments provide support by making infrastructure investments and restructuring research grants. There was a general sentiment among interviewees that the government should focus on investing in basic infrastructure (such as road networks, wifi access) to materially help SMES to fulfil their roles and functions in the food system.