When the finance doesn't fit, the system stays stuck
The ambition is there. The financial infrastructure isn't.
Regional food systems across Europe are faced with growing systemic risks. Farmers, communities, businesses and regional governments are responding by building decentralised supply chains and local infrastructure, collaboratively regenerating landscapes, and facilitating access to land for younger generations.
Efforts, however, remain fragmented and undercapitalised. Properly funded and aligned, they could be transformative for communities, economies and landscapes, and replicated across regions. But this requires a shift from isolated interventions to place-based food system strategies and financial innovation.
For capital to flow across the diverse set of projects regional food systems need, new structures to deploy and attract finance are needed. The challenge is not simply to better coordinate existing sources of capital or apply traditional financing tools to new contexts, but to design new ways of mobilising capital towards where it is most needed.
