Rome, Italy
May 3, 2007
“Organic agriculture is no longer
a phenomenon in developed countries only, as it is commercially
practiced in 120 countries, representing 31 million hectares and
a market of US$ 40 billion in 2006,”
FAO underlines in a paper
Organic Agriculture and Food Security
presented here at an
International Conference on Organic Agriculture and Food
Security (3-5 May 2007).
The paper identifies the strengths and weaknesses of organic
agriculture with regards to its contribution to food security,
analyzes attributes of organic supply chains against the Right
to Food framework and proposes policy and research actions for
improving the performance of organic agriculture at the
national, international and institutional levels.
“The strongest feature of organic agriculture is its reliance on
fossil-fuel independent and locally-available production assets;
working with natural processes increases cost-effectiveness and
resilience of agro-ecosystems to climatic stress,” the paper
says.
“By managing biodiversity in time (rotations) and space (mixed
cropping), organic farmers use their labour and environmental
services to intensify production in a sustainable way. Organic
agriculture also breaks the vicious circle of indebtedness for
agricultural inputs which causes an alarming rate of farmers’
suicides.”
The paper recognizes that “most certified organic food
production in developing countries goes to export” and adds that
“when certified cash crops are linked with agro-ecological
improvements and accrued income for poor farmers, this leads to
improved food self-reliance and revitalization of small holder
agriculture.”
Knowledge and labour intensive
The paper underlines that some requirements should be met when
converting to organic agriculture, mainly agro-ecological
knowledge and labour availability. “Organic management is a
knowledge-based approach requiring understanding of
agro-ecological processes and it remains a constraint where
labour is scarce, such as in populations decimated by HIV/AIDS.”
However, labour requirements on organic farms, and the better
return on labour, provides employment opportunities where this
resource is most abundant, thus safeguarding rural livelihoods,
according to FAO expert Nadia Scialabba.
The paper also quotes recent models of a global food supply
grown organically which indicate that organic agriculture could
produce enough food on a global per capita basis for the current
world population.
“These models suggest that organic agriculture has the potential
to secure a global food supply, just as conventional agriculture
is today, but with reduced environmental impact,” according to
FAO.
The paper calls on governments to “allocate resources for
organic agriculture and to integrate its objectives and actions
within their national agricultural development and poverty
reduction strategies, with particular emphasis on the needs of
vulnerable groups.”
It also insists on investment in human resource development and
skill training in organic agriculture as part of sustainable
development strategies.
Definition of organic agriculture
According to the Codex Alimentarius Commission, and all existing
national regulations “organic agriculture is a holistic
production management system that avoids use of synthetic
fertilizers, pesticides and genetically modified organisms,
minimizes pollution of air, soil and water, and optimizes the
health and productivity of interdependent communities of plants,
animals and people.”
The International Conference on Organic Agriculture and Food
Security is organized by FAO in partnership with Associazione
Italiana per l’Agricoltura Biologica, le Centre international de
hautes études agronomiques méditerranéennes, the International
Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements, the Rural
Advancement Foundation International, the World Wildlife Fund,
the Third World Network, the Research Institute for Organic
Agriculture and the Worldwatch Institute.
Organic Agriculture website:
http://www.fao.org/organicag/ |
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