Introduction

The Introduction describes the rationale and the aim of the book, together with an overall view on its content with a brief illustration of the content of each of the following chapters. The various chapters provide a wide-ranging multidisciplinary exploration of approaches and models capable to account for small farm's role in the food system and in its outcomes, with specific attention to food and nutrition security and system resilience, as well as to suggest policies capable to influence the food systems' development trajectories towards sustainable configurations.