Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a new approach to agriculture that is growing fast in Europe and other parts of the world. In a nutshell, a typical CSA works as follows: a group of consumers and a producer form an association. In the beginning of the farming season, the members of the association share the costs of production (including seeds, other agricultural inputs and the farmer's wage). In the course of the farming season, all the produce that's harvested is shared between all members. Usually, they receive a box of vegetables each week. In contrast to a conventional agricultural setting, in a CSA the agricultural produce doesn't have a price and the risks (such as losses to bad weather etc.) as well as the benefits (such as a great harvest) are shared between all members. Consumers thus receive fresh produce from a person they know and trust and farmers can work in dignity without being exposed to market pressures.
For more information on CSA, have a look at the website of Urgenci: http://www.urgenci.net/
In Brazil, CSA is little known although a few pioneers have been setting up associations in the last few years: http://csabrasil.org/
After talking with some of our Brazilian friends about CSAs in Europe, Fabiana organized an event at the University of Brasília during which we gave a presentation about CSA. After that, we discussed with the >50 highly interested and motivated persons present (among others 7 producers) of how a CSA can work in the setting of Brasília.
We hope that soon, the first CSA will take off in the Brazilian capital!
