Analyzing alternative food networks in highly-globalised and standardised agrifood systems to attain sustainability for small-scale growers: inferences from tea sector

Alternative Food Networks (AFNs) are often seen as an opportunity to promote sustainability among small-scale farmers. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a greater realisation to explore more about AFNs due to the noticeable shortcomings of the globalised agri-food systems. However, understandings of AFNs from developing countries and in the context of highly-globalised and standardised agrifood systems are limited. In this study, we seek to explore the nature of AFNs and their development considering the tea sector. While doing so, we consider diverse perspectives from the AFN literature to critically discuss the case of the small-scale organic tea growers from two globally renowned tea-producing regions, Darjeeling and Assam in India. We adopt a mixed method approach, i.e. qualitative and quantitative approaches. We found that the differences in the spatial, economic, and sociocultural characteristics, which drive the development of AFNs in a given region, may result in significant differences in the very nature of the existence of the AFNs. The differences also lead to a diverse set of AFN participants. Accordingly, we suggest that attempts to develop resilient AFNs should consider the heterogeneities within and between the AFNs in different regions, even though the AFNs emerge under the same dominant regime. Further, local entrepreneurial growers can play a significant role in promoting resilient AFNs. However, how their contribution would influence AFNs would depend on how the "local niche" created by the entrepreneurs interacts with the "dominant regime".