Financing sustainable food transitions

Mapping the investment ecosystem in Nova Scotia

Abstract

This paper examines how finance shapes sustainability transitions in food and agriculture, using Nova Scotia as a case study. While the role of finance is increasingly recognized in sustainability transitions scholarship, there is relatively little empirical work exploring how financial actors and instruments influence the directionality of agrifood system change. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with funders, investors, government officials, and food and agriculture entrepreneurs, as well as document analysis, the study maps the province’s financing ecosystem and assesses how different types of capital support or constrain sustainability pathways. The findings reveal significant gaps in the availability, scale, and type of finance, particularly the need for patient, long-term capital. The paper argues that mission-oriented innovation approaches, including emerging work on mission-oriented agricultural innovation systems (MAIS), offer a useful framework for bringing greater coherence to sustainability efforts.