Abstract: The subject of the study is the legal, organizational, and infrastructural problems of distribution of agricultural products from small producers to the end consumer. The object is the complex of relationships arising during the production, processing, storage, and sale of farm products, as well as the conditions for small farms to access markets. The author examines the role of small producers in ensuring food security and their contribution to the agricultural economy of Russia and foreign countries. Special attention is given to analyzing distribution channels—from traditional markets to digital platforms— as well as the requirements of technical regulations regarding quality, packaging, and labeling, and their impact on costs. The foreign experience (USA, EU, China, India, Belarus) is compared, revealing common patterns and national features of support for short supply chains. Formal-legal, comparative-legal, systemic, and analytical methods are used to analyze norms, compare approaches, and assess sales as a multifactorial system of legal, organizational, and financial conditions. The novelty lies in the justification of the need to form a holistic institutional solution in Russian legislation that combines legal regulation, infrastructure, and digital services. Insufficient systematization of existing regulations and institutional gaps due to the lack of special regimes for short supply chains have been identified. A key direction is the development of agricultural consumer cooperation, which allows for consolidating resources for processing, storage, and sales, thus increasing the competitiveness of small farms. It is concluded that effective solutions require not piecemeal amendments but a comprehensive model: a simplified regime for direct sales, subsidizing cooperative infrastructure, digital platforms, and proportional labeling requirements. Without tax incentives, concessional lending, and state support, small producers will not be able to overcome market barriers and ensure sustainable long-term rural development.

Keywords: food security, small forms of farming, farm products, agricultural products, marketing, short supply chains, agricultural cooperation, digitalization of the agro-industrial complex, consumer protection, sustainable development of territories