the world of organic agriculture - Organic Eprints

3 Contacts and Data Sources
3.2.5 International Certification Bodies and International Institutions
Some international certification bodies such as the Institute for Market Ecology (IMO) 10 , Ecocert 11
and other organizations such as Swiss Import Promotion Program (SIPPO) 12 and Export Promotion
of Organic Products from Africa (EPOPA) 13 were asked to provide information, particularly for
countries without an official organic regulation and no or little governmental interest in organic
agriculture.
3.2.6 The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is a specialized agency of the
United Nations dedicated to eradicating rural poverty in developing countries14 . Its homepage is
a useful tool to learn more about the agricultural situation in many developing countries. IFAD
conducted two thematic evaluations of organic agriculture and poverty reduction: one covering
Latin America and the Caribbean (IFAD 2002), and one covering Asia, primarily China and India
(IFAD 2005). The evaluations looked at the practice of organic methods and their relation to
poverty reduction, food security and trade. They also analyzed small-farmer groups that have
been successful in adopting organic technologies and in marketing their organic products15 .
3.2.7 Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the United States
Department of Agriculture (USDA): Reports
The attaché reports of the staff of the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the United States
Department of Agriculture (USDA) provided both figures and contacts for some countries. These
reports, which offer extensive of background information, are available at the FAS Homepage16 .
The attaché reports database offers search options by products, countries and by date 17 .
3.2.8 Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL
Staff working in the International Team at FiBL provided contacts and data about the countries
FiBL is working with, especially in Eastern Europe, Asia and Latin America. Information on their
work is available at the FiBL Homepage18 .
The internet page www.organic-europe.net maintained by FiBL includes an address database and
reports on many European countries.
10 Homepage of the Institute of Market Ecology IMO http://www.imo.ch
11 Hompeage of Ecocert http://www.ecocert.com/
12 Swiss Import Promotion Program (Sippo) http://www.sippo.ch/
13 Export Promotion of Organic Products from Africa (EPOPA): http://www.grolink.se/epopa/
14 International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) http://www.ifad.org
15 For more information about IFAD’s work related to organic farming see www.ifad.org/evaluation/public_html/eksyst/
doc/thematic/organic/organic.htm
16 FAS online. Attaché Reports dealing with organic farming and related topics. http://www.fas.usda.gov/agx/organics/
attache.htm and http://www.fas.usda.gov/agx/organics/international.htm
17 FAS search by date , commodities and countries http://www.fas.usda.gov/scriptsw/attacherep/default.asp
18 International Cooperation at FiBL http://www.fibl.org/english/cooperation/index.php
11