Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 104068 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Agricultural systems |
| Volume | 220 |
| Early online date | 19 Jul 2024 |
| Publication status | Published - Oct 2024 |
Abstract
Context: Amid an uncertain future with increasing environmental, economic, social, and institutional challenges, farmers in Germany need to find strategies to become more resilient through capacities of robustness, adaptability, and transformability. Parallel to that, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), an alternative food and value chain network in which producers and consumers share the risks involved in farming, is rapidly spreading in the country. CSA has the potential to address sustainability concerns while at the same time improving farm resilience. Objective: The main objective of this study is to provide an understanding of how a CSA-structure on a farm may impact farm resilience. It also aims to investigate how CSA farmers in Germany perceive the resilience of their farms, its functions, and the challenges they may face in the future. Methods: A mixed methodology was applied, consisting of a case study with one CSA farmer following the approach for a resilience assessment developed by Meuwissen et al. (2019), and a survey with CSA farmers from Germany. The case study involved an in-depth interview, a resilience perception assessment and a Fuzzy-Cognitive-Mapping workshop, whose results were used as a starting point for developing the survey. Results and conclusion: The case study revealed mechanisms for improving farm resilience through CSA, particularly through increased income security, risk protection, market independence, and satisfaction. These same resilience improving mechanisms could also be identified among the surveyed CSA farmers. Overall, CSA farmers showed a high level of perceived resilience in comparison to non-CSA farmers from a similar survey in a different study. Significance: The study is the first of its kind to analyze CSA farmers in Germany through the lens of farm resilience theory. The study provides first insights to how transitioning to CSA affects the perceived resilience of farmers as well as underlying motivations. The results provide a strong indication that CSA could offer a viable strategy to help combat the resilience crisis, shedding thus a positive light on the current spread of the movement in Germany.
Keywords
- Alternative food networks, Farm resilience, Fuzzy cognitive mapping, Satisfaction, Shocks and stresses, Transformation
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all)
- Animal Science and Zoology
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all)
- Agronomy and Crop Science
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In: Agricultural systems, Vol. 220, 104068, 10.2024.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Perceived resilience of community supported agriculture in Germany
AU - Rosman, Anna
AU - MacPherson, Joseph
AU - Arndt, Marie
AU - Helming, Katharina
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2024 The Authors
PY - 2024/10
Y1 - 2024/10
N2 - Context: Amid an uncertain future with increasing environmental, economic, social, and institutional challenges, farmers in Germany need to find strategies to become more resilient through capacities of robustness, adaptability, and transformability. Parallel to that, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), an alternative food and value chain network in which producers and consumers share the risks involved in farming, is rapidly spreading in the country. CSA has the potential to address sustainability concerns while at the same time improving farm resilience. Objective: The main objective of this study is to provide an understanding of how a CSA-structure on a farm may impact farm resilience. It also aims to investigate how CSA farmers in Germany perceive the resilience of their farms, its functions, and the challenges they may face in the future. Methods: A mixed methodology was applied, consisting of a case study with one CSA farmer following the approach for a resilience assessment developed by Meuwissen et al. (2019), and a survey with CSA farmers from Germany. The case study involved an in-depth interview, a resilience perception assessment and a Fuzzy-Cognitive-Mapping workshop, whose results were used as a starting point for developing the survey. Results and conclusion: The case study revealed mechanisms for improving farm resilience through CSA, particularly through increased income security, risk protection, market independence, and satisfaction. These same resilience improving mechanisms could also be identified among the surveyed CSA farmers. Overall, CSA farmers showed a high level of perceived resilience in comparison to non-CSA farmers from a similar survey in a different study. Significance: The study is the first of its kind to analyze CSA farmers in Germany through the lens of farm resilience theory. The study provides first insights to how transitioning to CSA affects the perceived resilience of farmers as well as underlying motivations. The results provide a strong indication that CSA could offer a viable strategy to help combat the resilience crisis, shedding thus a positive light on the current spread of the movement in Germany.
AB - Context: Amid an uncertain future with increasing environmental, economic, social, and institutional challenges, farmers in Germany need to find strategies to become more resilient through capacities of robustness, adaptability, and transformability. Parallel to that, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), an alternative food and value chain network in which producers and consumers share the risks involved in farming, is rapidly spreading in the country. CSA has the potential to address sustainability concerns while at the same time improving farm resilience. Objective: The main objective of this study is to provide an understanding of how a CSA-structure on a farm may impact farm resilience. It also aims to investigate how CSA farmers in Germany perceive the resilience of their farms, its functions, and the challenges they may face in the future. Methods: A mixed methodology was applied, consisting of a case study with one CSA farmer following the approach for a resilience assessment developed by Meuwissen et al. (2019), and a survey with CSA farmers from Germany. The case study involved an in-depth interview, a resilience perception assessment and a Fuzzy-Cognitive-Mapping workshop, whose results were used as a starting point for developing the survey. Results and conclusion: The case study revealed mechanisms for improving farm resilience through CSA, particularly through increased income security, risk protection, market independence, and satisfaction. These same resilience improving mechanisms could also be identified among the surveyed CSA farmers. Overall, CSA farmers showed a high level of perceived resilience in comparison to non-CSA farmers from a similar survey in a different study. Significance: The study is the first of its kind to analyze CSA farmers in Germany through the lens of farm resilience theory. The study provides first insights to how transitioning to CSA affects the perceived resilience of farmers as well as underlying motivations. The results provide a strong indication that CSA could offer a viable strategy to help combat the resilience crisis, shedding thus a positive light on the current spread of the movement in Germany.
KW - Alternative food networks
KW - Farm resilience
KW - Fuzzy cognitive mapping
KW - Satisfaction
KW - Shocks and stresses
KW - Transformation
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85199081173&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104068
DO - 10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104068
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85199081173
VL - 220
JO - Agricultural systems
JF - Agricultural systems
SN - 0308-521X
M1 - 104068
ER -