Emergence of Community Supported Agriculture in Hungary: A Case Study of Sustainable Rural Enterprises.

摘要

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) gained increasing attention and experienced rapid growth in the US and Western Europe over the past 25 years as a special form of direct marketing where producers and consumers form an alliance in a relationship based on mutual trust, openness, shared risk and shared rewards. This paper provides a general background on the spread of CSA farming worldwide and focuses on the development, state and opportunity of CSA in Hungary. In the Central Eastern European (CEE) region socio-economic conditions significantly differ compared with the countries CSA has already spread within, and, as a result, the adoption of CSA principles have led to special characteristics. Using interviews and participant observation this thesis evaluates Hungarian CSA enterprises as sustainable rural businesses and analyzes the necessary attributes of success as elements of human and social capital. The findings of this study suggest that creative enterprises such as CSA can bring people together through food production and contribute to the emergence of stronger communities. As early adopters and leaders of the paradigm change in the agro-food sector, the interviewed CSA growers are often challenged as they are following not-yet-walked paths, but they have certain attributes which make them distinctive compared with other farmers and enable them to overcome difficulties. The conclusion notes that although CSA is not for every producer or consumer, agriculture in general is likely to realize a collective benefit as a result of even a modest increase in the linkages among stakeholders of the food web. In Hungary the demand for local food is relatively new and anticipated to increase, and the expansion of the CSA sector seems likely in the country.