Sustainable Practices, Sustainable Markets? Institutional innovations in agri-food systems

This paper attempts to provide an answer to how sustainable practices interact and co-evolve with sustainable markets governance. The research is based on an international survey of fourteen case studies of institutional innovations in linking sustainable agricultural practices with markets. We explore how farmers and organisations are moving toward more sustainable practices through the collective mobilisation of technologies, resources, and capacity building. Each of the cases illustrates a unique approach to creating linkages to markets, such as the use of international standards, farm stalls, traditional markets, school canteens, and cooking schools among other techniques. We find trends in the linkages between the socio-technical controversies that spurred the innovation and the form of the institutional innovation. Initial results point to the importance of charismatic leadership and a common vision for sustainable agriculture, as is common in social movements, but also to the building of collective commitments among other actors. While the focus of many market arrangements is on building local networks, we find the influence of international value chains in each case. This suggests that both community and international dynamics influence the development of institutional innovations in developing countries