Agri-food Socioeconomic Circuits and Institutional Markets: Insights and Conditions for Their Sustainability from a Participatory Perspective

Abstract

This article analyzes the conditions that affect the integral sustainability of Socioeconomic Food Circuits (CSA) linked to institutional markets, based on a Participatory Action Research (PAR) experience carried out between 2017 and 2023 in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area. From a perspective that articulates the Territorial Development (TD) approach with the field of Popular, Social and Solidarity Economy (PSSE), the article examines four experiences led by the Despiertavoces Cooperative, in coordination with the University Incubator for Economy, Markets and Finance (IU-EMF/UNQ) and various public and community actors.

Using a methodological matrix that integrates political-institutional, economic-financial, logistical and inter-actoral dimensions, the study identifies organizational learnings, enabling conditions and structural obstacles that impact the sustainability of these circuits. The findings show that, although CSAs help channel public demand toward popular productive units—generating positive effects in terms of inclusion, planning, and territorial rootedness—their consolidation faces significant normative, financial and operational challenges.

The analysis highlights the strategic role of multi-actor alliances, the involvement of public universities in the co-production of knowledge, and the need for comprehensive public policies that recognize the specificities of the PSSE. In this context, CSAs are presented not only as logistical arrangements but also as emerging forms of institutional and territorial innovation, capable of challenging dominant food policy paradigms and contributing to the democratization of the agri-food system.