It’s not every day that you see a farm in an inner-city location, let alone in the hipster streets of Camperdown, Sydney. Among the backdrop of a sunny winter’s day, the Social Impact Measurement Network of Australia (SIMNA) Sydney Chapter had the privilege of being hosted by the CEO of Pocket City Farms, Rob Haggett on the morning of 23 June. The purpose of the event was to share opportunities and challenges of measuring impact as a social enterprise.

Pocket City Farms was established in 2015 with the aim of establishing a model of urban farming which operates under three main pillars – growing local fair food (their lettuce isn’t $11!), providing education and connecting community. The founders are former professionals turned farmers, and have a deep passion to bring a slice of farm life to the city. This aspiration links to the Farm’s long term vision to see urban farming as a normal part of society and urban fabric. The Farm is structured as a social enterprise with charity status and has been built on crown land. With this comes a number of requirements including reporting to council on the outputs and outcomes the organisation generates for the community and environment.

A number of key takeaways came from the event which may be useful for other social enterprises:

When it comes to measuring impact, if you are a small organisation, it’s okay to start small. Rob acknowledged that when the Farm was established, measuring social impact wasn’t front and centre of the founder’s minds. Rob had incredible skills in social impact measurement and decided to bring his team, board and volunteers on a journey of exploring what the Farm’s long term impact could be. Rob started with creating a theory of change and involving key stakeholders in the process. This process had everyone excited about what was possible when it came to environmental impact, education and sustainability. Rob says, “if you have a small headcount, getting to the point of social impact measurement is an achievement.” We agree!

Capturing outputs, gets a bad wrap. But it’s not all bad, it gives you insights towards your outcomes. Much of the measurement occurring at the Farm includes capturing outputs e.g. number of visitors, number of events, and other biodiversity indicators such as seeds planted, produce harvested etc. Rob and his team developed a QR code system which allows the farmers to easily scan a QR code to record their activities performed during the day. It was acknowledged that it would be great to have resources to also measure outcomes, it was highlighted that a number of inferences and insights about outcomes and impact can be gained from the output data it already collects. Over the next few years, the team will explore other innovative ways to capture outcomes data.

Partnership is key when it comes to creating a sustainable business model. Creating a sustainable farm in inner-city Sydney has its challenges, one of them being profitability. The Farm and its maintenance is costly, but Rob and the team realised quickly that the value it brought to the community was more than education and produce but also foot traffic to the onsite restaurant managed by Canterbury Hurlestone Park RSL, and Pocket City Farms onsite partner who together form the Camperdown Commons project. Through negotiations the Farm and RSL came to an agreement about creating a mutually beneficial financial partnership.

Every quarter SIMNA Sydney hosts a number of events to educate, support and build a community of practice around impact measurement. If you found this article useful, consider becoming a member.

Author: Kuppal Palaniappan, SIMNA Sydney