Over the last decades, the rapid pace of globalisation has had a huge impact on agriculture, and on the livelihoods and lives of farmers, in many countries that had been self-reliant in food production. Globalisation has resulted in the industrialisation of agriculture, the vanishing of traditional farming culture and human-centred values, the destruction of nature, and environmental problems due to all kinds of pollution. The urban population has come to outnumber that of rural farming areas, and farming has slipped from many people’s awareness. Yet, rural and urban areas are interdependent. In recent years, because of their concern for food quality and health issues, and for sustaining food security beyond the availability of cheap fossil-fuels, urban dwellers have begun to understand the importance of and the value in preserving local traditional farming. They have realised that local traditional farming is the foundation for sustainable urban life.
The concept of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) emerged in the West as early as the 1960s. Many successful cases have since proven its viability – so long as concrete local conditions are taken into consideration and appropriate adjustments are made. CSA can not only help to reduce the many problems arising from globalisation such as food miles (carbon footprint), pollution due to the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides, and food security; it can also tackle the problem of vanishing biodiversity, partly a result of chemical-and industrial-based agriculture, and social problems arising from the migration of rural dwellers to urban centres.