Research & reports

Alphina jose · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · India

This study examines the burgeoning microgreen industry in India, synthesizing secondary data from 2023-2026 to evaluate the shift from traditional farming to "Zero-Acre" urban agriculture. It explores how Indian startups can leverage global concepts like Subscription-Based CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and AI-monitored Hydroponics to overcome local shelf-life challenges. The paper points out that the largely untapped Indian microgreens sector presents a unique "Blue Ocean" opportunity for young entrepreneurs.

Yusuf Iskandar, Andri Ardhiyansyah, Farhan Fadil Ghifari · Discover Sustainability · Indonesia

This study examined the ecosystem architecture of agricultural social enterprises in West Java, Indonesia, using the five-stage ecosystem architecture model. A qualitative case study design with semi-structured interviews with 12 informants from smallholder farmers, social enterprises, academia, and provincial government was used. Results showed two coexisting distribution pathways: a traditional market channel and three social enterprise pathways (Daun Desa, Seni Tani, and Kebun Belakang) that shorten distribution through urban retail, CSA, and eco-farming community markets.

Fatah ‘Izzani Salim, Trie Damayanti, Nurmaya Prahatmaja · SAFARI Jurnal Pengabdian Masyarakat Indonesia · Indonesia (Bandung City)

This final project report describes the production of the feature video "Menyemai Harapan, Memanen Kebersamaan," motivated by the urgency of food security in Bandung City's urbanization and the need to highlight community-based sustainable local alternative agriculture systems. The primary objective is to explain the implementation of image-taking techniques, including shot types, camera angles, camera movements, and framing, executed by the Director of Photography (DoP) during the video production presenting the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) model at Seni Tani. The report concludes that the DoP's mastery of filming techniques plays a crucial role in raising public awareness about community-based sustainable local alternative agriculture systems.

Budi Widianarko, Inneke Hantoro, Novita Ika Putri, Probo Y. Nugrahedi · Open Agriculture · Indonesia (Semarang)

This study explored the potential of short food supply chains (SFSCs) in Semarang City, Indonesia, to create a healthier, more inclusive, and sustainable food system. Desk studies and focus group discussions revealed Semarang City's readiness for SFSCs, evidenced by an increase in farmer groups (371 in 2017 to 406 in 2021) and urban farming initiatives (8 in 2015 to 113 in 2021). Key commodities include vegetables, fruits, cereals, and tubers, with success factors identified as quality, consistency, market access, technology, government support, institutional strength, and consumer education.

Hesty Nurul Utami, Resti Arini, Tomy Perdana, Sulistyodewi Nur Wiyono, Dini Turipanam Alamanda, Dinar Mariam Kurniati · Agrisocionomics Jurnal Sosial Ekonomi Pertanian · Indonesia (Bandung)

This quantitative study, using SEM-PLS with 60 respondents from an urban Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) in Bandung City, Indonesia, investigated the effect of customer experience, product knowledge, and customer involvement on electronic word-of-mouth (E-WOM) for organic vegetables. The results indicate that customer experience, product knowledge, and customer involvement significantly influence E-WOM. The findings offer implications for marketing organic products in online communities to enhance consumer trust and promote CSA sustainability.

Agustin Windianingsih, Mulki Siregar, Estu Mahanani, Aisyah Hikmatur Romadhonah, Nihlah Hariro Romadhona, Urvia Rahmadani, Adinda Putri Salsabila Salvi, Idham Nur Kholiq · Jurnal SOLMA · Indonesia (Jakarta)

This report describes a community-service activity (PKM) conducted by Universitas Islam Jakarta with D'Shafa, a farming community in Jakarta focused on urban agriculture development, aimed at strengthening food security and economic welfare. The activity followed five method stages — education, training, technology application, evaluation, and program sustainability — with the goal of helping the D'Shafa Women Farmers Group (KWT) create value-added processed products. The activity produced value-added products through the use of a vacuum-frying machine for making fruit and vegetable chips, and it broadened KWT D'Shafa members' knowledge of preparing simple and digital financial reports and of digital marketing.

Yuanyuan Huang, Yuhan Wang, Y. Pan · PLoS ONE · China

This study investigated the experiences of current Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) members in China, focusing on factors influencing their retention intentions. Using a convergent parallel mixed methods approach, it analyzed quantitative data on retention factors and qualitative data from member interviews. Findings indicate that convenience, product quality, and positive interactions are pivotal factors contributing to members' intentions to continue their CSA memberships.

Maula Fadhilata Rahmatika, Agus Suman, Wildan Syafitri, Sri Muljaningsih · Journal of Ecohumanism · Indonesia

This study examined socio-demographic factors influencing Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) participation among 385 Indonesian non-participants. Findings reveal that urban residents and larger households are more likely to join CSA due to better information access and convenience. Income showed a near-significant impact, while education showed no effect, highlighting awareness gaps.

Ghulam Fathir Authar Insaniy, Lastini Lastini, Sofiatin Sofiatin · Jurnal Agristan · Indonesia (Bandung)

This study investigated the influence of green marketing on purchase intention through brand image among 34 consumers of CSA Seni Tani's organic vegetable products in Arcamanik, Bandung City, from September to November 2023. Analysis using Structural Equation Modeling showed that while the influence of green marketing on purchase intention through brand image was positive, it was not statistically significant, indicating that brand image was not effective as a mediator between the two variables.

Maula Fadhilata Rahmatika, Agus Suman, Wildan Syafitri, Sri Muljaningsih · Regional Sustainability · Indonesia

This study examined potential customers' interest in Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) in Indonesia using the UTAUT2 model, surveying 1200 respondents. The model explained 44.4% of customer intentions, identifying performance expectancy (0.292) as the decisive factor. Hedonic motivation (0.262), social influence (0.259), and facilitating conditions (0.086) also positively influenced interest in CSA participation.

Meiling Wu · Sustainability · China

A study of a Sharing Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm in China examined, through semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis, how external investment drives the conventionalization of alternative agriculture. The farm's low economic sustainability was the trigger that drew in external investment; investors then compelled the farm manager to relax adherence to organic agriculture's ecological values and principles and shift toward specialized, intensive farming to secure profitability, and a new business model was adopted that further entrenched this conventionalization.

Catharina Any Sulistyowati, Suraya Afiff, Muhammad Baiquni, Mia Siscawati · Analisis Kebijakan Pertanian · Indonesia

This literature study, drawing on Scopus-indexed social science journal articles on community-supported agriculture (CSA) published between 1994 and 2022, examined CSA's potential to address problems facing small farmers in Indonesia, including low income, low productivity, crop failure, price fluctuation, infertile land and debt bondage. It identifies financing the transition from chemical to sustainable agriculture, access to land, farmers' quality of life and farmers' capacity as key elements on the production side, and consumer motivation and awareness, member contributions, member inclusiveness and member sustainability as key elements on the consumer-support side, concluding that supporting institutional development and policy is also essential.

Xiaoying Yan, Mei Yin, Renren Li · Atlantis Highlights in Computer Sciences/Atlantis highlights in computer sciences · China

High customer turnover is a significant challenge in China's Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) industry. This study utilized RFM models (Recency, Frequency, and Monetary) and algorithms to regularly rank and classify the consumption ability of CSA customers. This was achieved by analyzing their recent purchase time, number of times of consumption, and consumption data.

Ziyi Liu, Nicola Dempsey, Eckart Lange · ˜The œurban book series · China (Pearl River Delta)

This chapter investigates Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) in the Pearl River Delta, China, aiming to understand its role in the local food system and in reducing food safety concerns. It notes a limited understanding of barriers to promoting and developing CSA, and little published evidence on public attitudes or their influence on CSA demand and development in the region. The study identifies current socio-economic and environmental catalysts and barriers for CSA farming.

Diffa Nida Haniyah, Endah Djuwendah, M. Gunardi Judawinata, Agriani Hermita Sadeli · MIMBAR AGRIBISNIS Jurnal Pemikiran Masyarakat Ilmiah Berwawasan Agribisnis · Indonesia (Bandung)

This qualitative case study in Bandung, Indonesia, examines Seni Tani, an organic farming business applying the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) concept. Seni Tani practices regenerative organic agriculture, producing organic products without synthetic chemical inputs and operating as a socially responsible urban farming enterprise. Its CSA program, CSATani Sauyunan, fulfills the principles of partnership, locality, solidarity, and producer-consumer relations, categorized as a small-scale, informal Multi-Farm, Subscription, and Mixed-Vegetable CSA.

Daren Shi-chi Leung · China Perspectives · China (Guangzhou)

The Chinese community-supported agriculture (CSA) movement advocates for peasant farming and food sovereignty, promoting "ethical" food often through intermediary certification. However, controversy exists among CSA activists who question the effectiveness of certification in improving consumer-producer relationships. This paper presents an alternative approach focusing on strengthening participatory culture within the consumer-producer nexus, based on an empirical study of Chengxianghui (CXH) in Guangzhou and outlining a "convivial agriculture" framework.

Analena Bruce, Elizabeth Maynard, Julia Valliant, James Farmer · HortTechnology · United States (Indiana)

An analysis of survey and interview data examined how farm characteristics affect the outcomes of growing specialty crops in high tunnels in Indiana. Three farm types (alternative food and agriculture enterprises, mixed enterprise, and side enterprise) adopted distinct approaches to high tunnel integration and management. Alternative food and agriculture enterprise farmers, who made high tunnels central to their business, showed higher capacity use and greater financial return compared to mixed and side enterprise farmers who invested less time and labor.

Gusti Nur Asla Shabia · BHUMI Jurnal Agraria dan Pertanahan · Indonesia

Drawing on an ethnographic study of Garten Coop, a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) group in Freiburg, Germany, and comparing it with CSA studies in other countries, this paper examines how CSA could contribute to Indonesia's agrarian movement. It finds that CSA reorganizes management of production resources in a more democratic, autonomous and equal way, provides farmers income certainty through consumer commitment and a solidarity economy, and fosters independence through sustainable agriculture principles — thereby indirectly supporting the agrarian movement by helping farmers maintain their land and farming operations and by creating a forum for organizing farmers and consumers.

Punnaros Pisarn, Man‐Keun Kim, Shang‐Ho Yang · Sustainability · Taiwan

This pilot study investigated consumers' willingness to participate in a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program at a farmers' market in Taiwan. Analyzing 320 survey responses collected from a farmers' market, results showed that respondents are willing to pay and share upfront payment risks with farmers as CSA members. Flexible contract length and budget were identified as considerations for implementing CSA programs in Taiwan.

Zhenzhong Si, Theresa Schumilas, Weiping Chen, Tony Fuller, Steffanie Scott · Canadian Food Studies / La Revue canadienne des études sur l alimentation · Canada; China

A comparative study of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) models in Canada and China was conducted based on interviews and survey results. The study developed a framework to compare CSAs based on initiators’ motivations, economic characteristics, ecological practices, shareholder relations, and community building. It was found that CSAs in both Canada and China are struggling to maintain the movement’s original values and economic viability, moving away from the traditional ‘risk sharing’ approach to more flexible payment mechanisms. However, other original tenets of the CSA model, such as member engagement, are strengthening.

Anders Sybrandt Hansen · Journal of Current Chinese Affairs · China

This article focuses on organic farming, which has grown in response to unsafe food on the Chinese market, based on ethnographic fieldwork at one such farm in northern China. While the farm's Community Supported Agriculture model relies on establishing personal trust with member households, the entire organic farming project is shown to be undergirded by strong expressions of solidarity with conventional farmers. The article proposes an extended concept of moral economies to capture the coexistence of differential care alongside horizontal solidarities within contemporary China's moral landscape.

Hok Bun Ku, Yan Hairong · · China

China's food-security crisis, caused by unsustainable development, has diminished the country's farmland through large-scale land acquisitions, ecological restoration projects, agricultural structural adjustments, natural disasters, and pollution, among other factors. This chapter argues that local producers and consumers are not passively waiting for government policy changes but, organized by green social workers, are actively searching for alternatives to achieve self-sufficiency and food security through a new initiative called the "rural–urban alliance." Framed within the social economy perspective advocated by green social work as a way to rethink economic development and consider alternatives to capitalism, the rural–urban alliance and community-supported agriculture (CSA) are positioned as a potential new route for China's sustainable development that could change the pathway of economic development forms that cause inequality and undermine livelihoods. This is a proposed, forward-looking argument, however; the abstract does not report empirical evidence that CSA or the rural–urban alliance have actually mitigated the food-security crisis.

Kees Krul, Peter Ho · Sustainability · China

A study in urban China examined the role of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) in addressing food safety and sustainability issues through surveys and interviews with key stakeholders. The CSA model demonstrated an innovative approach to dealing with these issues and future food demands. However, the movement's structural embeddedness is bound by several limitations and contradictions.

Chieh-Fu Cheng, Simon Chen-Tsang Tsai, Bin-Min Sung · · Taiwan

This study in Hualien, Taiwan, applied social capital theory to investigate how social capital dimensions facilitate the development of community-based organic agriculture, focusing on an experimental green restaurant. Participant observations and in-depth interviews with 7 local organic farmers were conducted. Results revealed that the experimental green restaurant must continually fulfill various social functions (e.g., educator, information platform, resource distributor) and accumulate social capital to extend its internal ties with local farmers into relationships based on mutual trust and reciprocity.

Yan Xiaohui · Digital Commons - Lingnan (Lingnan University) · China

This paper presents a lecture by Mr. Yan Xiaohui on Community and Ecological Agriculture, focusing on the experiences and reflections of Little Donkey Farm. The lecture discusses the farm's origins, current activities, and future vision for a shared community.