Brokering Food Security: connecting smallholder farmers to markets in Poland and Zambia

Partnership brokering is needed to work out new ways of organising food systems that treat agricultural smallholders as a resource and opportunity rather than a problem or distraction. This is because food systems are demanding innovation in the way they are organised. This is a matter of transforming stakeholders into partners in order to reconfigure food systems to operate differently, rather than just operate more efficiently. Fundamental systemic changes are needed as our contemporary food system is failing to deliver the food we increasingly demand. From a partnership brokering point of view, reconfiguration of stakeholders and partners is the challenge. The key driver lies with urban consumers, especially in Europe and North America who are demanding food that is tasty, fresh, additive-free and most importantly of known (traceable) origin. Brokering new types of food systems as partnerships of individuals and organisations means disrupting the status quo or business-as-usual to connect producers and consumers as directly as possible in new ways. This article presents the insights and experiences of two partnership brokers using partnership brokering to engage smallholders in reconfiguring local food systems in their respective countries of Poland and Zambia.