the world of organic agriculture - Organic Eprints

3 Contacts and Data Sources
3.2.12 Grolink and The Organic Standard
In 2000 “The Organic Standard”, a magazine concerned with international certification was
launched. “The Organic Standard” 23 , published by Grolink 24 , provides regular and up-to date
information on issues regarding organic farming worldwide, and a trial issue can be ordered via
the internet site of the magazine.
3.2.13 The Directory of Development Organizations
The Directory of Development Organizations25 lists 43’500 development organizations. It
facilitates international cooperation and knowledge sharing in development work, both among
civil society organizations, research institutions, governments and the private sector. This
directory has been a useful reference source, especially for countries with little official interest
in organic farming.
3.3 Internet Search
For those countries without contacts, the procedure for obtaining figures was as follows:
• Official Government pages were visited. Mails, if available, were addressed to the
Ministries of Agriculture and/or to the Statistical Division.
• If known, the certificating body/ies operating in the country were contacted and
asked for information.
• Countries where either no government homepage was available or where no mails or
fax were available, a search with “Google” was conducted using the key words:
ORGANIC AGRICULTURE + NAME of the COUNTRY.
AGRICULTURA ORGANICA (and ECOLOGICA) + NAME of the COUNTRY
The use of an internet searcher led to many producers’ organizations, institutes, certifying bodies
and non-governmental organizations (NGO) that were asked to provide the data.
23 The Organic Standard http://www.organicstandard.com/
24 Grolink http://www.grolink.se
25 Directory of Development Organizations : www.devdir.org
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