Netzwerk Solidarische Landwirtschaft (SoLaWi) is a non-profit organization and network in the field of agricultural direct marketing. SoLaWi promotes and maintains a rural and diverse agriculture, preserves regional food and allows people new spaces of experience and education. Solidary agriculture is an innovative strategy for vibrant, responsible agriculture, making an essential contribution to sustainable development, while ensuring the existence of the people who are running the farms. The network is made up primarily of dedicated, self-employed consultants who provide support to already established and emerging SoLaWi groups, plus work groups who are tackling specific topics like seeds, education, research and digital transformation.

Concept & Philosophy:

"The food loses its price and gets its value back."

Solidary agriculture supports and preserves artisanal and diverse agricultural practices, ensures access to regional food products and provides spaces of experience and education. Solidary agriculture is an innovative strategy for a living, responsible agriculture, focused on securing well-being of the people working, and provides essential contributions to a sustainable development. Its employees are mostly self-employed consultants assisting in the formation of community agricultural groups.

 SoLaWi-groups usually consist of different collaborators: Farmers, gardeners and prosumers (producers, which are consumers at the same time). Through teamwork and mutual support fairs, SoLaWi creates fair conditions for farmers and complete transparency for consumers (i.e. prosumers). Different tasks, from planning to harvesting, are equally distributed among SoLaWi-members and autonomously organized. Prosumers contribute to the farmer’s income by paying an annual membership fee and support him with different tasks on the field. In return they are provided with fresh and healthy produce and other agricultural products (milk, meat, etc.) on a regular basis. Advantages of such system are manifold:

• Increased planning security for the farmer and preservation of business
• Risk distribution between farmers and prosumers
• Direct contact and exchange between farmer and prosumers
• Prosumers gain access to spaces of experience and education (knowledge about cultivation, maintenance and production of food)
• Transparency along the value chain (cultivation, harvesting and processing)
• Support of regional SMEs and reinforcement of local eco-cycles