6. MANUAL DE GESTIÓN DEL CONOCIMIENTO
6.1 FORMATO ATRAPA
One Hungarian case comply with this category. Here there is an informal group of consumers who take substantial part of the organisation of the CSA because the lack of capacities of
the producer. This CSA follows the share model, the members pay all the cost of farming activities and accept the possible losses of production.
Legal setup
The different starting conditions, motivations and requirements of the CSAs are reflected in a variety of legal forms. The farmer-led CSAs are organised by the farmer itself, here the CSA does not have a formal entity, but the producer has legal form as individual agricultural entrepreneur or licensed traditional small-scale producer. In these cases (10 or 71%) the land is owned and/or rented by the farmer.
Apart from these cases there is one case where the CSA organised around a former cooperative and one where the CSA is run by a non-profit Ltd. In the former case the land is owned by the farmer while in the former case it is owned by the members.
Further details from The
Census
For most of the farms the farmer and his/her family provide the primary labour force. The CSAs bigger than 1ha cropping are mainly hire seasonal and/or seasonal workers. Most CSA farmers want to provide year-long membership to its employees. A few CSAs accept volunteers or interns. Only 2 CSAs (14%) involve members in production. This means that members mainly do not take a highly active role in the organisation and maintenance of the CSA scheme and the production. Only in one case (7%) they help pack or deliver product and in 3 cases (21%) perform some administrative task regarding of running the CSA. In 6 CSAs (43%) take members role in decision making, 71% of the cases exchange recipes and almost all cases (12 from the 14) attend open/ social events at the farm.
Agroecological practices
All CSA follow organic production principles, 9 have and 5 have not organic certification. from the 14. For the Hungarian CSA farmers, organic, synthetic pesticide-free production methods are important, but so far there is no strong discussion on the wider agroecological debate and there was no influence of the Nyéléni Declaration on the development Hungarian CSA movement. Mainly because it was out of scope for most of the Hungarian CSA farmers.
Outlook
The CSA model appeared in 1999 in Hungary but at that time the only pilot project could not maintain financial viability under the given socio-economic conditions, and after a few years the scheme transitioned into an organic food delivery service. CSA appeared again in Hungary in 2010 after the Association of Conscious Consumers (ACC) held workshops on the idea of CSA with the involvement of French AMAP farmers. This direct experience was a decisive moment for a handful of young, educated, enthusiastic farmers to gain momentum and to implement a share model CSA initially build on their prior customer base. A few other farmers who had community building experience set up organic vegetable box subscription schemes in farmer-community arrangements initiated by formal or informal groups of environmentally conscious urban consumers. Irrespective of these above- mentioned initiatives two nonprofit organisations set up CSA arrangements, recruited members using the organisation’s interpersonal network, took the role of management and hired growers for production. These types of CSA make up the range of CSA in Hungary at the time of writing.
During the last years approximately 15 CSA arrangements emerged. They are all considered small farms, with cropping area ranging between 0.2ha and 10ha. Seven of them are located around Budapest, the capital of Hungary and the biggest market for organic produce in the country. The number of members or subscribers ranges between 10 and 100. CSA in Hungary represents an ambition and provides a number of flexible models that initiatives adapt according to their local circumstances and the needs, ideas and ideals of their participants. Important to stress that despite the Western- European trend where the community perspective is stronger and most of the schemes are initiated by communities, almost all Hungarian cases are farmer-led CSAs
Farmers following CSA in Hungary are mainly skilled organic growers even though some of them have only a few year of farming experience. Though these few initiatives tend to be relatively small in size, their impacts and role in the alterative food movement are disproportionately significant. They provide volunteering opportunities and informal local food education, serve as hubs of stakeholder networks, and take lead roles in the reconceptualisation of the agro-food system in the context of the discourses of sustainable development. Within certain
limitations (geography, access to adequate market in urban areas, ability to build up necessary assets), CSA provides an opportunity for small farms in the country as an alternative niche market outlet which secures regular income, eases farmers from dependency on fluctuating prices and carries the possible rewards of community building. Limitations should also be stressed here; for other farmers to adopt the practice requires considerable social capital creation and possession or ability to build essential stocks of human capital.
Expansion of CSA is rational in the country since the first adopters have already reached initial success and can serve as good examples, sources of knowledge, and possible mentors for prospective followers. During the last ten years the number of consumers motivated by environmental and health consciousness, quality choice, sense of community and solidarity in purchasing from local farmers has been increasing.
References
1 www.ksh.hu/docs/hun/xftp/stattukor/haztfogy/haztfogyhavi1312.pdf 2 wsm.wsu.edu/researcher/wsmaug11_billions.pdf 3_http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Agricultural_census_in_ Hungary#Key_indicators4 Ministry of Agriculture (2014) Report on the Economy of Agriculture.
5 Vadovics, Edina & Hayes, Matthew (2010). ‘Open Garden: a local organic producer- consumer network in Hungary, going through various levels of system innovation’ in Ursula Tischner, Eivind Stø, Unni Kjaernes & Arnold Tukker (eds.) System innovation for sustainability: case studies in sustainable consumption and production - food and agriculture.
Author
Zoltán Dezsény (M.Sc. Agronomy and Environmental Management, M.Sc. International Agricultural Development) is a research associate at the Hungarian Research Institute of Organic Agriculture. He is co-founder of the informal Hungarian CSA Network Közösségi Kisgazdaságok Szövetsége (KöKiSz) (Small-scale Community Farm Alliance). Zoltán is a new entrant in farming and a small- scale organic grower.
Native name
Although no native name is decided upon yet, the Irish CSA network are considering alternative names for the Irish incarnation of CSAs, for example, Community Backed Farming. Similarly, Irish language terms are under consideration, including Pobal Laistiar d’Fheirm.
Common definition
In Ireland, CSA is seen as a model in which people who would like good food can club together to pay a farmer who will provide for them. The important elements are therefore: direct relationship, quality food, agroecological principles. If the model is followed through, importance is placed on the 3Rs (shared Risk, Reponsibility and Rewards) and on formal long-term commitment. In order to cut down on financial costs, participants in CSA can take on some of the work of the food- production which opens up the possibility of strengthening a community.
Country context
General information
Unemployment rate: 9.7%
Population living under poverty line: 8.2%
Average net salary: €2,227 /month; €26,724 /year
Standard rate of social welfare for unemployed person €188 /week; €815 /month; €9,776 /year
GDP: €180 billion; GDP per capita: €39,870
Number of inhabitants: 4.6 million [island of Ireland: 6.4 million; NI: 1.8 million]
Average density of people/land: 66p/km² [island of Ireland:76p/km²; NI: 127p/km²]
Area: 70,273km²; 27,133 sq miles [island of Ireland: 84,421km²; NI: 14,130km²]
Agricultural information
54% of the country is farmed Average farm size: 32.7ha
Number of farms/holdings: 139,829
Number of registered organic farms: 1,721 (Eurostat figure is 870), approximately 1% of farms are organic
81% of agricultural area is devoted to pasture, hay and grass silage (3.63 million hectares), 11% to rough grazing (0.48 million hectares) and 8% to crops, fruit & horticulture production (0.38 million hectares).
The agri-food sector employs 150,000 people, the equivalent of 7.7% of national employment.