ABSTRACT
Partnership brokering has been important to the development of the Local Products from Malopolska (LPM) system and lies at the heart of efforts to scale up and achieve greater impact. The LPM project was initiated as a response to the challenges outlined above by aiming to turn the many small farms and landholders, who were seen as a problem by many politicians, into a resource for creating a new type of food system that put a premium on healthy eating and locally produced chemical-free food. In Poland, the challenge was to work out how a local food system might be established in a country in which hygiene and tax rules discouraged small farmers from processing and selling products. This focus has necessitated awareness-raising, support and reinforcement in four key areas: partnership brokering for partnership impact, reinforcement of partnering as a journey, partnership brokering as learning and partnership brokering for transformation.
