“A Different World is Plantable”. A Case Study of How Alternative Food Initiatives Build Resilience and Promote Food Sovereignty in Franconia, Germany

Abstract: It is increasingly recognised that the urgent need for more climate-adapted, context-appropriate and sustainable agro-food systems requires fundamental and crosscutting transformations. Alternative Food Initiatives (AFIs) have been proposed as one actor advancing transformation from the bottom up. This thesis contributes to existing research on AFIs relating to if and how they propose viable alternatives in the agro-food system. To this end, the food production and distribution practices of AFIs were studied through the theoretical lense of resilience and food sovereignty to provide a concrete guideline against which to analyse their practices and thus a comprehensive, nuanced and context-aware understanding, by examining the following research question: How and why do AFIs in Franconia, Germany, build resilience and promote food sovereignty? Through a qualitative multiple case study of ten AFIs using semi-structured interviews and participant observation, and cross-case thematic analysis, common strategies towards resilience and food sovereignty as well as their underlying motivations are identified. The findings show that based on their critique of the conventional agro-food system and primarily through ecological integration, capital development, diversification and social connectivity/networking, the AFIs build resilience to increase their capacity to adapt to change and to self-sustain. Simultaneously and grounded in their building of resilience, they realise their own version of food sovereignty to promote socio-ecological transformation.