The UK community supported agriculture (CSA) movement's bid to raise an initial £6,500 to set up a hub which will enable community supported agriculture projects to communicate better is entering its final month.

The bid – which forms the first stage of a £19,000 project – was launched last month as the first act of the newly formed Community Supported Agriculture Network. The UK's Community Supported Agriculture Network came together at a national conference held at Stroud Community Agriculture in December 2013. The Network is aiming to build a website with interactive tools to help existing CSAs interact and provide resources for setting up new projects, in order to support groups revolutionising food production from the bottom-up.

With 29 days of the 60 day crowd-funding bid remaining, the Network has secured £2,343 of its £6,500 target. The campaign is being hosted by Buzzbnk – www.buzzbnk.org/CSANetwork - the Network said those donating to back the hub can support it at a number of levels and receive a range of rewards donated by CSA projects themselves.

However, unless the network reaches its target within the 60 day period, it will receive none of the funds that have been pledged.

The Community Supported Agriculture approach

CSA is an innovative approach to food production that encourages farmers and growers to build new relationships with consumers, sharing risks, responsibilities and rewards. Widely embraced in France, Japan and the USA, CSA has been growing in popularity in the UK over the past five years, in large part due to a Big Lottery funded project, led by the Soil Association, that saw the number of CSA projects increase from just a handful to over 100 trading initiatives across the country. However, since Lottery funding ran out, the point of contact for community farms has been lost.

The CSA Network has said it does not want a centralised leadership, but rather an area where decentralised projects can communicate, share ideas and news, and provide support for new CSAs. Eventually, the Network hopes that its campaign will also be able to fund CSA projects to run events in their regions that will help others get off the ground and promote their work to bring new members on board.

Community supported agriculture projects have been associated with higher wellbeing, better rural employment and higher biodiversity in research carried out as part of the Lottery funded project in 2012.

Rachel Harries, coordinator of the CSA Network UK commented on Wednesday, "There is a huge amount of knowledge held by the people who have successfully set up CSA projects across the UK, but most farmers and growers in CSA projects are really busy producing food and don't have much time to help other people set up new projects.

"Our new network aims to make it easier for people to find and join a CSA, provide tools to existing CSAs to share their expertise and give real support to farmers, growers and communities who want to create new schemes."

Soil Association chief executive Helen Browning also commented on the campaign. She said, "[CSA Network] signifies a hugely important next step in the growth of community supported agriculture – an initiative we have championed since its beginnings in the UK. CSA is such a simple solution in reconnecting people to food and farming and has far reaching benefits for farmers and growers, as well as individuals and communities."