Constructing community economies: a pathway toward just agri-food transitions?

Abstract

Exploring pathways toward just agri-food transitions has attracted increasing attention in political discourse and civic action. Community economies focus on alternative economic practices, reciprocity, and ethical commitments, aligning with the just transition goal of preventing new or intensified injustices in agri-food systems. This article develops a conceptual framework for analyzing the construction of community economies in agri-food systems and critically examines how economic alterity, performative interventions, and everyday practices can contribute to just transitions. Drawing on an in-depth case study of Mui Wo, an agricultural community in Hong Kong, this study investigates how a community economy model emerges, is constituted, and interacts with powerful actors and wider structural forces. The findings show that Mui Wo’s community economy has generated meaningful openings for a just agri-food transition, especially through recognition, community value chains, and capacity-building. However, government indifference to agriculture, structural constraints such as land ownership, insufficient support systems, and the absence of formal mechanisms for stakeholder participation in land-use decisions undermine the effectiveness of community economies in transforming agri-food systems. These findings highlight the need for transition interventions to re-examine policy frameworks and confront structural determinants, thereby empowering community economy pathways to advance just and sustainable transitions.