Nuremberg, Germany
February 18, 2009
The
International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements
(IFOAM) and the Research Institute
of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) will present the latest
statistics about organic agriculture worldwide at BioFach 2009.
The results of the study titled ‘The World of Organic
Agriculture: Statistics and Emerging Trends 2009’ will be
presented at the world’s largest trade fair for organic products
on Friday, February 20th 2009, at 10 a.m. in Room Shanghai of
the Messezentrum Nürnberg.
32.2 million hectares are certified according to organic
standards (data as at the end of 2007). “Compared to the data of
the previous survey, 1.5 million hectares more were reported”,
says Helga Willer of FiBL. “At the level of the geographical
regions, growth was strongest in Latin America and Africa.”
“The growth in developing countries shows that organic
agriculture can contribute to meaningful socio-economic and
ecologically sustainable development, especially in poorer
countries,“ notes Diane Bowen, IFOAM’s Interim Executive
Director.
With its vast grazing lands, Australia continues to account for
the largest certified organic surface area, 12 million hectares,
followed by Argentina (2.8 million hectares), and Brazil (1.8
million hectares). The greatest share of the global organic
surface area is in Oceania (37.6 percent), followed by Europe
(24.1 percent) and Latin America (19.9 percent). In terms of
certified land under organic management as a proportion of
national agricultural area, the Alpine countries, such as
Austria (13.4 percent) and Switzerland (11 percent), top the
statistics. The global market for organic products reached a
value of over 46 billion US Dollars in 2007, with the vast
majority of products being consumed in North America and Europe,
according to Organic Monitor.
"Policy makers in developing countries need to know the number
of farmers involved in organic agriculture as well as its
challenges and development potential globally. This type of
information is difficult to find but is crucially important to
help support the sector's development. ‚The World of Organic
Agriculture’ provides a unique and important global service in
this regard," says Alexander Kasterine, Senior Market
Development Officer at the International Trade Centre.
The results of the study ‘The World of Organic Agriculture’ are
presented for the tenth consecutive year at BioFach. In addition
to the chapter on organic agriculture worldwide, the book
contains completely revised reports about the emerging trends in
the geographical regions as well as background information on
issues like standards and legislation, food security or the
activities of UN organizations. The study includes comprehensive
data sets and numerous illustrations and graphs. Further data
are available at the newly launched www.organic-world.net
homepage.
Since 2008, support has been provided by the Swiss State
Secretariat of Economic Affairs (SECO), within the framework of
its support activities for organic production in developing
countries and by the International Trade Centre (ITC).
NürnbergMesse has supported the performance of the global survey
and production of the yearbook, carried out by IFOAM, FiBL and
the German Foundation Ecology & Agriculture SÖL, since 2000.
Book info
Helga Willer and Lukas
Kilcher (Editors) (2009):
The World of Organic Agriculture - Statistics and Emerging
Trends 2009. IFOAM FiBL Report. IFOAM, Bonn, FiBL, Frick and
ITC, Geneva. 304 pages
Printed copies (25 Euros + postage) of ‘The World of Organic
Agriculture’ can be ordered from FiBL, IFOAM and ITC at
shop.fibl.org, www.ifoam.org and
www.intracen.org/eshop/welcome.asp. Electronic copies (20
Euros) are also available there.
ISBN IFOAM 978-3-940946-12-6; ISBN ITC 92-9137-364-8; ISBN
FiBL 978-3-03736-036-4
Data sets and graphs
Graphs and data sets
(Excel) are available at
www.organic-world.net.
The book contains the user name and password for the
internal area of the website www.organic-world.net, where
additional extensive data sets are provided.
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