Crowdfarming. A public-private crowdfunding campaign to finance sustainable local food systems: A case study of short food supply chains in Madrid

Resumen

Civic crowdfunding (CiC) and matchfunding (MF) are innovative private-public financing tools that can back projects with positive social and environmental characteristics. The purpose of this study is to analyse the potential opportunities and challenges of CiC with MF as a policy tool for local governments to finance place-based food initiatives and promote sustainable local food systems. The Matchfunding Madrid-Km-Región case study comprised three CiC calls in which institutional funds supplemented the money raised by crowdfunding campaigns for innovative short food supply chain projects. The results highlight the potential of CiC/MF to help local food project promoters to raise financial resources, as well as learn marketing skills and build a social support base around their projects. With the launch of CiC/MF campaigns, local and regional governments can enable innovative local food producers to launch their projects through community commitment. Further CiC/MF campaigns can support the entrepreneurship of agrifood initiatives in the region of Madrid. To do this, there is a need for more research and the dissemination of good practises.