The aim of the doctoral thesis is to determine the perception of producers of organic agricultural and food products on the key factors that slow down the development of short food supply chains (SFSCs), to test the factors that can contribute to the inclusion of the mentioned producers in SFSCs, and to determine the difference in readiness to plan an increase in production between producers who are involved and those who are not involved in SFSCs. Based on the theory of neo-endogenous development and the theory of social capital, key constructs were defined - sociodemographic characteristics, self-assessment of the competences of research participants and their perceived advantages of direct relations with consumers, and their contribution to explaining the willingness of research participants to participate in SFSCs was tested. Quantitatively, the research was conducted on a sample of 374 producers. The results of the research show that according to the perception of the participants, SFSCs in the Republic of Croatia are developing slowly, mostly due to the high level of bureaucracy and insufficient support policies. The results of testing the mutual relations between the defined predictors and their contribution to the explanation of producers' willingness to participate in SFSCs showed that sociodemographic characteristics explain 2% of the variance of willingness, where education shows a significant contribution. Self-assessed competencies explain 13% of the variance, where management and networking competencies contribute positively to willingness, while entrepreneurial-marketing competencies have a negative contribution, and collaborative competencies are not statistically significant. Perceived benefits of direct contact with consumers explain 9.2% of the variance, which means that producers who better perceive the benefits of direct contact with consumers show a greater willingness to engage in SFSCs. The results of the research showed that producers who are actively involved in SFSCs, compared to those who are not involved, statistically significantly, more often plan to increase production in the future three-year period. The scientific contribution of this work is in determining the perception of organic food producers about the key factors that slow down the development of SFSCs, as well as evaluating and explaining the relationship between several different factors - sociodemographic characteristics, self-assessment of competences, the perception of the advantages of direct relations with consumers and the willingness of producers to be involved in SFSCs. This doctoral thesis complements the existing literature and offers a foundation for future policies and practices that could advance this field.