Community Supported Agriculture: Towards a Flourishing Movement in Europe
2019 (English)Independent thesis Advanced level (degree of Master (One Year)), 20 HE credits
Student thesis
Abstract [en]
As a response to the growing global sustainability challenges related to industrial agriculture, alternative approaches of food production and distribution are emerging. One approach that fosters direct consumer-producer relationships and sustainable local food production is known as Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). This study explored how the CSA movement can be supported strategically towards a flourishing movement in Europe. A qualitative research approach was chosen with a comparative element of the two countries with contrastive characteristics in terms of the degree of successfulness of the movement; with France being successful and Sweden having less success in terms of the number of CSAs. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 CSA farmers, network members and researchers. The results revealed barriers and enablers for a flourishing movement under five overarching themes: (1) Definition, structure and operation (2) The direction of the movement (3) Social aspects (4) Knowledge and communication, and (5) Country-/region-specific aspects. Crucial factors and contrastive features between countries were identified and discussed in relation to how they hinder or enable a flourishing movement. Based on the findings, strategic guidelines were developed with the aim of contributing to CSA practitioners and leaders in Europe.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2019. , p. 71
Keywords [en]
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), alternative food systems, Local Food Networks (LFN), industrial agriculture, strategic sustainable development
National Category
Other Social Sciences not elsewhere specified Environmental Sciences related to Agriculture and Land-use
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:bth-18336OAI: oai:DiVA.org:bth-18336DiVA, id: diva2:1333689
Subject / course
SL2538 Master's Thesis in Strategic Leadership towards Sustainability
Educational program
SLASL (Master programme in Strategic Leadership towards Sustainability
Supervisors
Examiners
2019-07-022019-07-012019-07-02Bibliographically approved