More than a niche? How citizen-led food initiatives can contribute to transforming the agrifood system

Mourits, Ellis (2022) More than a niche? How citizen-led food initiatives can contribute to transforming the agrifood system. Bachelor thesis, Global Responsibility & Leadership (GRL).

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Abstract

A global food system transformation is urgently needed to safeguard food security in times of economic instability, social inequalities and a changing climate. This research looked into the ways that citizen-led food initiatives as social innovations are contributing to the transformation of the agrifood system. Three case studies of diverse citizen-led food initiatives in the Netherlands were conducted and analyzed through a multi-level perspective (MLP) lens, focusing on niche development and the processes of interaction between the niche and regime through which regime configuration takes place. It was found that the citizen-led food initiatives are able to develop into successful niches where they serve as places of experimentation, generate new knowledge and concrete products, and contribute to raising awareness of the urgency and opportunities of nature inclusive farming among citizens. Nevertheless, the studied initiatives face several challenges of increasing their impact, including restricting regulations and policies, member recruitment and establishing effective collaborations. Finally, it was found that the initiatives so far showed very limited interaction with regime actors. This might impede the spreading and institutionalizing of their knowledge and practices. The paper also considers ways in which the potential of the initiatives could be strengthened.

Item Type:	Thesis (Bachelor)
Name supervisor:	Kraamwinkel, C.T. and Beaulieu, J.A.
Date Deposited:	09 Sep 2022 12:58
Last Modified:	09 Sep 2022 12:58
URI:	https://campus-fryslan.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/219

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