Local food partnership scheme

If you are using this scheme to provide awards of subsidy, you must inform the Subsidy Control Unit – email: scu@gov.wales.

Wales

Local Food Partnership Scheme

Section 60(1) of the Government of Wales Act 2006

This scheme directly supports the objectives of the Wales Community Food Strategy towards the overall objective to encourage the production and supply of locally-sourced food in Wales.

In particular, the funding objectives for LFPs target the main societal food related pressures associated with cost of living and food poverty. The post-Covid cost of living crisis resulted in a spike in UK food prices, peaking at 19.2% in March 2023 – the highest annual rate since 1977. A report from the Trussell Trust highlights that in the 12 months to mid-2022, 20% of all adults in Wales experienced food insecurity. Food poverty is a persistent and long-term issue.

Funding objectives for LFPs also target the Sustainable Land Management (SLM) objectives within the Agriculture (Wales) Act 2023. This focusses on creating new local food supply chains and restoring relationships between Welsh communities and primary production.

This scheme will focus on delivering the following outcomes:

• To establish broad and dynamic local food partnership networks across Wales, which is representative of the communities they are supporting.
• To provide leadership and coordination for local food activity towards embedding a new resilience in local food systems.
• To address the fundamental societal need for tackling food poverty and for supporting household food security across all citizens within local communities, including for those with protected characteristics.
• To raise the capacity and diversity of local food supply to satisfy local food demand.

The purpose of this grant scheme is to further develop the role and capability of Local Food Partnerships (LFPs), and to improve the impact of Welsh Government food related delivery at a local level, by enabling LFPs to design and implement food projects that address the specific challenges and priorities within their regions.

LFPs have been established in every local authority area across Wales, with a core function to build resilience in local food networks by providing the much-needed leadership and coordination for the diverse food initiatives across Wales. Community food initiatives face a range of critical challenges; across funding and resourcing, reaching potential beneficiaries, and capacity to deal with various public bodies.

LFPs will deliver join-up of activity, better direction of resources and connection of community level projects with public body planning and service delivery. Support and guidance through LFPs helps improve long term viability by building capacity and stronger networking.

Actual activity will vary depending on how LFPs design projects within the over-arching framework of objectives (outlined in the policy objective) and the needs of the local community, but this activity will help drive the additionality of strengthened relationships between Welsh wholesalers and local growers, manufacturers and the public sector. This will add an additional value chain to the Welsh food system by supporting the availability of local, sustainable food, adapting to the challenges of climate change through improved community food resilience, and by engaging Welsh communities with a positive food culture.

The total budget outlined below is an estimate only.

Welsh Government

Local Food Partnerships in Wales.

• Agriculture, forestry and fishing
• Human health and social work activities

1 April 2025 to 31 March 2028.

£3,500,000

Grant

Funding is only available to Local Food Partnerships in Wales with eligibility determined through a competitive application and appraisal process.

Calculation of subsidies is based on an estimate of costs associated with specific project proposals.

£300,000