But how? - ifoam

ecology
farming
IFOAM
nr 1 // February 2011
SEEDS
FROM
INDIA
AND
Yes, Organic
can feed the world!
But how?
BUY
DIFFERENT
BUY 7IN1
ECOLOGY & FARMING | 1-2011
1

FEBRUARY 2011 // NR 1
mArket & economy
12 Green banking
Triodos bank’s trade finance for organic
and fair trade export projects
23 Coffee economics
Some figures from the market and
the chain
educAtIon
14 Schoolgardens
Organic schoolgardens in Ghana
are used as farmer field schools,
and to feed the children
28 Trainees on organic farms
LOGO invites young people from
Eastern Europe to do scholarships
in organic farming
IfoAm Issues
16 The organic movement meets in
South Korea
The 17th IFOAM Organic World
Congress will be held in Korea in
September.
country-reports
8 The first Russian organic
products chain
Marina Goldinberg reports on chain
development in Moscow Oblast
food securIty
18 How can organic feed the world?
The theme of the BioFach Congress.
IFOAM director Markus Arbenz
explains how organic agriculture
can feed the world’s growing
population
Agro-bIodIversIty
30 Breeding for resilience
How to breed robust, more stress
tolerant cultivars in organic
agriculture
stAndArds &
certIfIcAtIon
34 Ecosocial
A certification system In Latin
America integrates organic
standards with environmental,
social and economic goals
44 The IFOAM OGS
Draws the line between what is
organic and what not
InnovAtIon In AgrIculture
24 Organic greenhouses
Mike Nichols from New Zealand travelled to
Europe for a workshop and opens a debate
about which system to choose: aquaponic or
growing in the soil?
Table
of Con
tents
country reports
37 Russia
Short report about biodynamics
in Russia
42 Iran
Rapid development of organic
production after a difficult start
orgAnIc & heAlth
39 Buy ‘Seven in One’
Food choice is one of the tools for
supporting sustainability
46 Seed, the life line
Vanja Ramprasad report from India
about the real green revolution
And more....
Editorial 5
News 6
Calendar 49
Preview next issue 50
2 1-2011 | ECOLOGY & FARMING ECOLOGY & FARMING | 1-2011 3

World leader in seed for
organic outdoor vegetables
• Breeding
• Seed production
• Processing
• Sales
For the organic market
Bejo Zaden B.V. • (+31) (0) 226 396 162 • www.bejo.com
Working
Working
with
with
Nature
Nature Nature Nature Nature Nature
At different times
In different places
Bejo, a name that stands for quality
Nuremberg, Germany
16-19 February 2011
hall 5, stand 114
More information
about our organic seed
programme?
www.bejo.com
Denise Godinho Peter Brul
Innovation & inspiration
It is not a coincidence that the re-launch of Ecology &
Farming is timed to coincide with BioFach 2011; the
theme of this fair is also the title of our feature article in
which we ask, “Yes, Organic can feed the world!
But how?”
The high level of attendance at BioFach in 2010, a
year of economic crisis, with 43,669 organic trade visitors
from 121 countries and 2,557 exhibitors from 87
countries – indicates that there is enough passion in
the organic world to feed the world. In this edition, the
article by Markus Arbenz, IFOAM’s Executive Director,
explores the ways in which organic produce can nourish
the world and the challenges that we face on the
way to achieving food security.
Taking place every February, BioFach is certainly the
place to do business, but it is also a celebration, an
organic party, where people get inspired by what the
organic industry shows and shares together. At this
BioFach we will also be celebrating the re-launch of
Ecology & Farming: Over the last months a number of
organic allies have dedicated their personal time and
made in-kind and financial investments in order to
breathe life back into IFOAM’s flagship publication. We
firmly believe that it is a project worth fighting for and
are happy to be now able to offer readers this first, now
bi-monthly, 2011 edition of Ecology & Farming.
As you look through this magazine, you will find contrasting
stories from around the globe that cover the
organic food chain from field to fork. The innovative
School Garden Project (OSGP) in Ghana sets up organic
school gardens that produce fruits and vegetables
for the daily meals of schoolchildren. Creating synergies,
these school gardens also serve as demonstration
plots for Farmer Field Schools, where local farmers
learn how to make compost and to farm organically.
In India, the Foundation for Genetic Resource Energy,
Ecology and Nutrition (GREEN) works with small and
marginal farmers to preserve endangered species,
varieties and breeds, through community seed banks
and organic agriculture. Instead of prioritising productivity
(to the detriment of genetic diversity) organic
farmers use (and build) biodiversity by breeding crop
varieties for quality, nutrition, resistance and yield.
These are but two examples of the many stories that
actors from all over the globe have to tell. They echo
the full diversity of the organic movement which IFOAM
represents. The organic industry is a very innovative
movement. Around the world farmers, market gardeners,
agronomists, traders, food processors and others
face challenges and problems for which they find their
own solutions. Ecology & Farming aims to continue
to document these innovations in organic agriculture,
developments in markets, and ways of cooperating
so as to strengthen the organic movement in different
places. It hopes to inspire professionals all over the
world to pick up on new ideas and to develop their own
solutions. We invite you to join us on our journey across
the organic world!
We hope you enjoy reading this first new issue and that
you will be inspired to become a regular subscriber. If
you have a story that you would like to share with us,
we would be happy to hear from you.
ECOLOGY & FARMING | 1-2011
introduction
5

DENMARK
Denmark is a small country, but it
is a big player in the organic world.
It has the highest per capita sales
of organic products of any country
in the world, at €138 per person per
year. Sales of organic products in
Denmark continued to rise again
in 2010, despite the recession. One
major reason for this success is the
cooperation that exists between the
organic sector and the main retailers.
According to Henrik Hindborg, Marketing
Manager at Organic Denmark,
this is because consumers continue
to search for quality products that
are healthy and take animal and
environmental protection aspects into
// ORGANIC TEXTILES
Bolstered by continued strong
manufacturer demand even during recessionary
times, organic cotton continued
its steady growth in 2009-2010,
according to the fifth annual Organic
Farm and Fibre report by the Textile
Exchange, the leading global organic
cotton and sustainable textiles nonprofit
organisation (formerly known
as Organic Exchange). According to
the report, production of organic cotton
rose by 15%, from 209,950 metric
tonnes (MT) in 2008-09 to 241,276
MT (just over 1.1 million bales).
Organic cotton now represents 1.1
% of global cotton production and
organic cotton was being grown on
461,000 hectares in 2009-2010. There
has been a veritable explosion in the
production of global organic cotton
in the last four years (a 539 % increase)
since 2005-06, when only 37,000
MT were produced. The organisation
anticipates similar strong growth this
year.
With Tajikistan recently entering
the market, organic cotton is now
grown by approximately =274,000
farmers in 23 countries in 2009-2010
(up from 22 countries in 2008-09).
India remained the top producing
nation for 2009-10 for the third year
account and the retailers recognise
this. Highly educated people spend
more than 20% of their food budget
on organic produce, compared to the
national average of 7.6 %. Organic
products sell best in large cities like
Copenhagen.
This strong position is partly related
to Denmark’s strong position track
record in research into organic agriculture.
In September 2010, the Danish
Food Industry Agency received
50 applications for its organic research
and development programme:
the applications exceeded the available
funding (€12 million) by a factor
of four. The final programme is a
in succession, growing over 80 % of
the organic cotton produced globally
and increasing its production by 37
% in the past year. Syria moves from
third into second place, swapping
places with Turkey. The other remaining
countries (in descending order)
are: China, United States, Tanzania,
Uganda, Peru, Egypt, Mali, Pakistan,
Burkina Faso, Israel, Benin,
Paraguay, Greece, Tajikistan, Senegal,
Nicaragua, South Africa, Brazil,
and Zambia.
According to LaRhea Pepper, Textile
Exchange senior director, “Manufacturers,
retailers and consumers, and
most importantly, farmers, have all
signalled their continued interest in
supporting organic cotton production
and the risks that came with it despite
the recession.” She continued: “In
addition, the strong growth is an indication
of the work Textile Exchange
is doing with brands and retailers
that have strong strategic plans and
engagement all the way to the farm.”
Liesl Truscott, Textile Exchange farm
engagement director and the lead
author of the report, notes that the
organic cotton sector cannot rest on
its laurels despite the rapid growth.
“As organic cotton grows in volume,
combination of projects with a short
term focus on integrating product
development and longer term goals
of knowledge building and dissemination
about primary production,
processing and marketing. A number
of the projects contain elements for
commercializing products and have
market-oriented initiatives. Others
are directed more towards primary
production. All the selected projects
have a strong focus on practical application
through linking research,
development and demonstration, and
direct involvement of the stakeholders
as partners in projects. More
about the programme can be found at
www.icrofs.org.
we must continue to strengthen integrity
in production, certification, and
processing”.
All 2008-2009 all the stocks of organic
cotton were purchased as has
most of the current year’s crop. As
such, “brands interested in nailing
down their supply need to build organic
cotton supply security into their
planning strategies now, preferably
by implementing forward contracts,”
stressed Truscott. According to the
organisation’s Organic Cotton Market
Report 2010, global retail sales
of organic cotton and home textile
products topped 4.3 billion US$ in
2009. Data from the 2010 market will
be available this spring and reported
in Ecology and Farming.
// SOLUTIONS FOR
SALINIZATION?
There is as much brackish water in
the world as fresh water, both account
for just around 1 % of the total
volume of water on earth. There are
1.5 billion ha of saline land which
cannot be used for agricultural purposes.
And 20% of the 230 million ha
of irrigated land in arid and semi-arid
areas is affected by increased salt
content of the soil and /or water. This
salinization is often irreversible. There
is increasing competition for fresh
water and with a growing world population
this is only likely to increase.
The challenge is to find ways of using
more brackish water in agriculture
// GLOBAL SALES OF
ORGANIC FOOD AND
DRINK RECOVERING
The global market for organic food
and drink is recovering from the
financial crisis. After several years
of double-digit growth, the market
expanded by just 5 percent in 2009.
Healthy growth rates are resuming
as the ‘mainstreaming’ of organic
products continues. A major driver
of market growth in all geographic
regions is increasing distribution by
mainstream retailers.
The European market for organic
food and drink was the most affected
by the financial crisis. Declining consumer
spending power and the rationalisation
of organic product ranges
by food retailers caused the UK
market to contract in 2009. The German
market, the largest in Europe,
showed no growth. However in some
countries - including France, the Netherlands
and Sweden - the organic
market showed resilience, expanding
and to find solutions for salizination.
Salt tolerant crops might have a
potential for the production of food,
oils and energy. For many years Marc
van Rijsselberghe has been working
on organically producing salt tolerant
crops on the Dutch island of Texel.
He produces a range of food crops
and wellness products. As an expert
in producing and marketing these
typical crops, he has just received a
grant of € 2.5 million for research
on the salt tolerance of crops. The
research will be undertaken with
experts from several universities. The
next issue of Ecology and Farming
will carry more about salt tolerant
crops.
by over 15 percent.
Healthy growth is continuing in the
North American market, which this
year has overtaken the European
market to become the world’s largest.
Supply continues to fall short
in many organic product categories,
leading to imports from various
countries. Latin America has become
a major source of organic fruits,
vegetables, meats, seeds, nuts and
ingredients.
The fresh produce category comprises
most organic food and drink
sales. Fruit and vegetables such as
apples, oranges, carrots and potatoes
are typical entry points for consumers’
first organic purchases. Their
fresh nature appeals to consumers
seeking healthy and nutritious foods.
Dairy products and beverages are the
next most important organic product
categories.
The 3rd edition of the Global Organic
Food and Drink Market Report
gives a detailed analysis of the
Exci
ting
News
market for organic products in each
geographic region. Regional reports
contain information on market size,
revenue forecasts, market drivers and
restraints, regulations and standards,
category analysis, sales channels
breakdown, consumer behaviour,
competitive analysis, retailer profiles
and business opportunities.
The report is a result of almost ten
years of continuous research into the
global organic food industry. Expert
analysis and insights are provided
to inform key business decisions
and marketing plans. Future growth
projections are given in terms of
organic food production, market
growth rates, and industry developments.
Business opportunities in each
geographic region are highlighted
for the benefit of new entrants and
exporters.
Source: Organic Monitor: The global
market for organic food and drink
(December 2010)
6 1-2011 | ECOLOGY & FARMING ECOLOGY & FARMING | 1-2011 7

The Organic Corporation is the only player in
Russia involved in the whole organic cycle:
from production to retailing.
The first Russian
organic products chain
by Marina GoldinberG
Russian lifestyles are becoming less different from European ones. A healthy
lifestyle, proper nutrition and environmental concerns are changing from
being “fashion trends” into a way of life, at least in the bigger cities. The
history of organic production in Russia is being written before our eyes.
However, at present, one can hardly call it a triumphal story. The organic
entrepreneurs, who have bet on increasing demand for healthy food, have
gone through many disappointments.
One of the challenges was low awareness among
Russians about what organic produce is. According
to experts, strong government support in agriculture,
public education and training will be required
in Russia to foster the development of organic sector.
Also a uniform Russian organic standard needs to be
established.
Currently there is only one project in Russia that is
involved in the full cycle of organic production - the
Organic Corporation. It was founded in 2006 with the
aim of developing the organic market in Russia. The
corporation aims at promoting a careful and conscious
attitude towards the health of the Earth and its people,
to improve people’s physical and spiritual health and
the ecological balance. Promoting organics is one of
achieving this and encouraging people to share responsibility
for the present and future. At present, the Organic
Corporation has three main business areas: a distribution
company, agricultural production and processing
and a network of specialized stores.
The Bio-Market stores are currently the only chain in
Moscow with a complete range of organic products
(more than 3,500 items). Some of the national chain
supermarkets do have shelves with organic products,
but their range is very limited; often just juices and groceries.
This limited selection does not meet demand
and cannot provide a proper balanced diet. People
also need dairy products, fruits and vegetables. From
the very beginning Bio-Market stores have carried a
full range of organic products - including food, cosmetics,
domestic items and products for children and the
family. One of the objectives was to create a special
atmosphere, emphasizing that “organic” is not just a
label but a lifestyle. To support this idea, the interiors
of the shops are made out of natural materials and
decorated in sunny orange colours. Environmental
friendliness is on display everywhere: for example, the
shoppers are offered wicker baskets and cloth-bags.
Bio-Market sales consultants are conversant with all the
nuances of organics and eagerly share the secrets of
a healthy lifestyle with the shoppers. One of the main
attractions is a chocolate machine, in the centre of
the floor space, where chocolatiers make chocolates
from Belgian organic chocolate with a choice of fillings
including praline, marzipan and marmalade. There is a
The interiors of the shops are made out of
natural materials and decorated in sunny
orange colours.
bakery with wooden mills, where grain is ground into
flour on demand. In addition, the store on the Rublevsky
Highway has a pleasant bio-cafeteria, where chefs
cook both traditional Russian dishes (including the
famous beetroot soup, Kiev cutlets, salad, coated herring,
etc.) and European meals using organic products.
The stores are taking on the feel of family clubs, where
people come with their children and friends, to spend
half a day in master classes or tasting sessions.
In order to give people the opportunity to not only
understand, but also feel, what organic products are
Bio-Market regularly holds tasting sessions and culinary
master-classes with chefs, confectioners and chocolatiers.
Those who wish to try organic make-up can get a
makeover at a beauty shop at the same store.
Bio-Market stores also stage a variety of thematic
events: “Perfect Health Days”, “Children’s events” (with
entertainers), tea ceremonies, and a “Christmas Fair”.
country-reports
8 1-2011 | ECOLOGY & FARMING ECOLOGY & FARMING | 1-2011 9

Bio-Market also has a number of nutritionists, ayurvedic
doctors, paediatricians and other alternative health
experts who are available for consultations. Bio-Market
pays special attention to children: in the cafeteria there
is a special menu for children and the store regularly
has puppet shows and parties during which Bio-Market
staff involve children in making pastries, drawing pictures,
doing origami, colouring chocolate bars with edible
paint and making candies. Some buyers trust the store
staff so much that they leave their children under the
supervision of the animators for hours! In 2011, the
company plans to launch an eponymous internet shop.
However, retailing is not the only activity of the Organic
Corporation but is the tip of the larger iceberg of the
“full cycle of organic produce”. The Corporation aims
to establish the first unique production chain in Russia,
running from the seed to the counter. To this end the
Organic Corporation has its own organic farm (Spartak,
located near Moscow) with its own production and
processing facilities and a distribution branch (the Ecoproduct
Trading House).
The Organic Corporation’s farm began conversion in
2006, more or less from scratch. In 2010 the farm was
certified by the Swiss certifier Bio Inspecta. Pest control
is done solely by biological and physical methods.
Much of the work is done manually, so as to not cause
harm to the plants and soil. The farm has a number of
cattle, which are allowed to graze freely in the summer,
although because of the weather, the livestock is kept
indoors during the winter. The organic standards, in
terms of the area per head of cattle, are fully observed.
The cattle are fed with organic roughage and concentrates,
produced on the farm.
The use of any hormones is strictly prohibited on the
farm. Any livestock with a disease is kept apart from
healthy animals, and treated with homeopathic and
other natural remedies whenever possible. To preserve
nutritional quality, the raw materials are processed as
gently as possible. Chemical refining and deodorization,
hydrogenation, irradiation, genetically modified
ingredients and chemical and synthetic substances are
completely banned.
Swiss colleagues provided a good deal of assistance in
helping develop the Spartak organic farm. At the beginning
of the transition period to organic farming, a few
organic farming specialists from Switzerland were invited
to bring their expertise and to work in the company.
Despite the vast differences with the Western European
farms with which they were familiar, these new colleagues
had no doubts about the potential of Spartak.
And, despite the language barrier, mutual understanding
and fruitful cooperation with the farm’s employees
was surprisingly quickly reached.
One of the key issues that had to be addressed was
that of organic certification. In February 2008 in Nuremberg
(Germany) during BioFach, the world’s largest
international fair of organic products, the Organic Corporation
reached an agreement on organic certification
with the renowned Swiss company Bio Inspecta. Based
on the agreement, the representatives of Bio Inspecta
have regularly supervised all the activities taking place
on Spartak’s premises; inspecting every stage of production
- seeds, agricultural land and farming techniques,
storage, processing and packaging. The inspectors
carefully examine not only fodders and fertilizers,
but any bag or other container that they may find on
the farm. At the end of July 2009 an end of conversion
inspection was carried out and resulted in the issuing of
an international certificate of conversion, approving the
organic status of Spartak farm and its dairy and vegetable
products.
In the summer of 2010, the first line of Russian organic
dairy products, sold under the brand name EtoLeto
– milk, yogurt, sour cream and cottage cheese - first
appeared on the shelves of Moscow stores. The entire
line of EtoLeto products is packaged in glass bottles,
which better preserve the high quality of the product,
are easy to use and are recyclable.
The distribution business of the Organic Corporation,
the Eco-product Trading House, plays an important role
in developing the organic market in Russia. Its main
objective is to increase the range of organic produce
available in Russia and to make organic products available
for people with an average income. Currently,
the product range of the Eco-product Trading House
includes more than 1,500 items, covering all commodity
groups - imported foods, cosmetics, household items
and the Corporation’s own produce. Since European
producers are major suppliers of organic products to
the Russian market, the warehouse of the company is
located in Germany, which allows a fast response to
changes in demand, and allows the import of goods in
the required quantities in the shortest possible time. All
the imports of products are carried out in strict compliance
with Russian laws.
One of the most important issues for the Organic Cor-
poration is the question of the involvement of staff at
all levels in the common cause and their adherence to
basic principles of the Corporation: Health, Environment,
Care and Fairness. Before starting work, every
employee must learn about organic standards, the
characteristics of organic production, the product range
and become familiar with the company’s philosophy.
The manufacturers of organic products often organize
workshops and master-classes. Regular company
visits are organised to the Spartak farm, allowing every
employee of the Corporation the opportunity to have
personal contact with organic farming and the livestock
whose milk they sell. The Organic Corporation has
seconded its employees to the organic enterprises in
Europe and Canada in order to increase their knowledge
and experience.
The state of the world’s natural environment and peop-
le’s increasing awareness about their health, means that
interest in organic products will keep growing. Organic
produce is not only relevant to our health, but also
to that of our children. The question at stake is how
quickly and extensively this will occur. Even today we
can already proudly say that the Organic Corporation
has made a great contribution to the development of
organic market in Russia.
country-reports
10 1-2011 | ECOLOGY & FARMING ECOLOGY & FARMING | 1-2011 11

Organic and fair-trade:
a growing market
Trade finance:
a crucial link
in the sustainable
value chain
by nelleKe VeenSTra
Recent and expected future growth rates for the organic and fair trade markets
reflect a growing consumer awareness of global trade issues and a wish to
consume sustainably, along ethical and environmental lines. In both Europe
and the United States market demand for many product categories (e.g.
soybeans, sugar and cocoa) is greater than local supply. This leads to ever
increasing demand for imports from Latin America, Asia and also Africa.
However, not all suppliers and farmers in these regions are able to fully grasp
this market opportunity, particular due to a lack of access to (trade) finance.
Long-term sustainable trading partnerships
To tackle these challenges farmers need
the support of committed buyers. For
such buyers the quality of the product is
just as important as the fairness to producers,
business partners or to the environment.
Buyers in the organic and fair trade
market are committed to entering into
long-term and sustainable trading partnerships
with local sourcing companies
that can meet their quality criteria.
The single most important precondition
for building a partnership is timely
payment to farmers, at the time of the
harvest. However, farmers’ cooperatives
generally lack the necessary cash to
bridge the period between harvesting
and being paid by their buyers, and thus
do not have the resources to guarantee
timely payment to farmers. This is where
the need for pre-finance arises. Seen from
this perspective, trade finance is a key
instrument for building sustainable trading
partnerships.
In most developing countries, agricultural
lending is seen as high risk and is therefore
avoided by the banking system. Where
agricultural lending does exist, it is based
on an over-reliance on hard collateral:
land and buildings. Farmer cooperatives
often do not have enough assets to cover
their financing needs, especially during
the cash-intensive harvest season. Value
Chain Finance provides an alternative
approach to traditional agricultural lending.
Instead of relying on hard collateral,
it relies on strong and committed value
chains. Over the past ten years, this type
of lending has been successfully pioneered
by a few national and international
financial institutions. Triodos Bank has
been among the pioneers in this field for
many years. In 2008 the bank launched a
special earmarked fund to support value
chain finance: the Triodos Sustainable
Trade Fund.
Access to finance
The demand for this fund and this type
of finance has been significant from the
start. By the end of 2010, the fund was
financing more than 30 producers’ organizations
and sourcing companies from
Africa, Latin America and Asia. These
companies are involved in the export of
various commodities and perishables,
including coffee, cocoa, sugar, olive oil,
cotton, nuts and herbs.
One of the clients in the Triodos Sustainable
Trade Fund’s portfolio is LATCO Inter-
national from Bolivia. LATCO was founded
in 2003 by Ray and Yoshiko Clavel. The
company sources, processes and exports
sesame seeds from some 1,000 smallholder
farmers in the Santa Cruz area.
Since sesame is not an indigenous crop,
the founders spent a considerable amount
of time and money on providing technical
support to farmers to grow the crop and
to convert to organic production.
Harvest time for sesame runs from March
until June. LATCO has to pay the farmers
upon delivery of the sesame at the collection
points, after which it is transported
to LATCO’s processing plant. Here the
sesame is sorted, cleaned, hulled and
packed. Throughout the rest of the year
LATCO ships the processed sesame to its
customers in Japan, Europe and the USA.
LATCO does not receive payment for its
exported goods until final delivery has
been made.
However, the success of this value chain
depends on the farmers, for whom
sesame is their cash crop, receiving their
About Triodos Bank
Triodos Sustainable Trade Fund is one
of the special purpose funds of Triodos
Bank, which is one of the world’s leading
sustainable banks with a network of offices
in the Netherlands, Belgium, the UK,
Spain and Germany. The bank has been
active in the organic and fair trade sectors
for many years, providing effective
financial solutions for producers, export
organizations, wholesalers and retail
companies. Since its founding, in 1980,
Triodos Bank has mobilized millions of
Euros to support the fair trade and organic
industries from ‘crop to shop’. For
more information see: www.triodos.com
and go to sustainable trade.
money at the moment that they bring in
the harvest. They cannot afford to wait
for months while it is processed, stored
and shipped. If they had to do this they
would sell the sesame to local middlemen
for a lower price in order to obtain much
needed cash.
This is where the value chain finance facility
from Triodos Sustainable Trade Fund
Market & econoMy
comes in. LATCO receives a loan from
the fund with which the farmers can be
paid upon delivery. This bridges the gap
until payments from overseas customers
are received. These payments are then
used to repay the loan from the Triodos
Sustainable Trade Fund. In this way the
loan follows the payment flow of the value
chain, and has become a crucial link in
establishing a sustainable partnership
between LATCO’s customers, who are
reputable long term buyers that provide
the company, and its farmers, with a
long term outlook on income generation.
Another important effect of this sustainable
value chain is that it enables LATCO
to improve overall quality standards,which
further strengthens the relationship with
the overseas customers, and results in a
higher price for the product. Together with
the organic premium this contributes to
an overall higher income for the farmer.
http://www.triodos.com/en/about-triodosbank/what-we-do/our-expertise-overview/
sustainable-trade/
12 1-2011 | ECOLOGY & FARMING ECOLOGY & FARMING | 1-2011 13

y inGe VoS
Organic school
gardens in Ghana
The Ghana Organic Agriculture Network (GOAN)
is implementing the Organic School Garden Project
(OSGP) in Ghana, together with Agro Eco - Louis
Bolk Institute. The project is funded by Oxfam Novib.
The OSGP has developed organic gardens in 24
schools in Ghana over the past three years. The
gardens produce vegetables and fruits that are used in
the pupils’ meals. The organic gardens are also being
used as demonstration fields for Farmers Field Schools
(FFS), to train local farmers in organic farming practices.
The Organic School Garden Project started in 2008
with 10 schools in 7 different districts. Each school has
a 1-acre organic garden. The gardens produce organic
vegetables and fruits for the pupils’ meals, providing
them with healthy, safe and nutritious food (no pesticides
or residues)
which is also environmentally
friendly.
Crops grown in the
gardens include leafy
vegetables, cabbage,
tomato, pepper,
onion, aubergines,
okra, carrots, water
melon, citrus and
pineapple.
The Government of Ghana established the national
Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP) a ten year
programme established in 2006. Its aim is to provide
balanced meals to school pupils at primary schools,
but it has done little to stimulate the local production of
ingredients required to prepare the meals. The OSGP
complements the GFSP by stimulating the production
side. It was set up after extensive consultation with the
Director of Finance and Administration of the GFSP,
who provided input into the design of the project.
Each one acre organic school garden also serves as
a demonstration farm for training adult farmers using
the Farmer Field School (FFS) approach. Each FFS has
trained around forty farmers, with another forty farmers
attending open days and going on exchange visits). In
total, the OSGP has trained 1920 farmers in 24 different
communities within 3 years.
The OSGP financially supports the schools in deve-
loping their organic gardens, especially during the
first year of operation, when garden tools need to be
acquired. When the school garden is well established it
can operate independently, providing organic vegetables
and fruits to the school pupils.
14 1-2011 | ECOLOGY & FARMING ECOLOGY & FARMING | 1-2011
15
education

The 17th IFOAM Organic World Congress,
the place to be in September!
The organic
movement
meets in
South Korea
The 17th IFOAM Organic World Congress, the first in Asia, will be held in
the Paldang Region, Gyeonggi Province of the Republic of Korea, from the
28th of September to the 1st of October 2011. The Organic World Congress
(OWC) is the space where the organic movement comes to meet, exchange
experiences and develop ideas and strategies for the development of organic
agriculture worldwide.
deniSe Godinho
The theme of the conference, “Organic
is Life”, reiterates the philosophy
of organic farmers that emphasizes
respect for all living things. The Organic
World Congress (OWC) consists of a main
conference with a systems values track
and a research track, covering a wide
range of topics. The programme is organized
in partnership with the International
Society of Organic Agriculture Research
(ISOFAR). Besides the system values and
research tracks, the congress will also
feature artistic presentations and joint
sessions incorporating presentations from
practitioners and researchers on topics of
common interest as well as well as open
spaces to facilitate creative dialogue,
inspire and initiate concrete action. The
final programme for IFOAM’s Organic
World Congress 2011 will be announced
in June 2011.
Just prior to the main conference, from
the 26th to the 28th of September 2011,
there will be various thematic pre-conferences
in different locations around South
Korea. These conferences will focus on
aquaculture, cosmetics, ginseng, tea, textiles,
urban agriculture and wine.
Special funds have been set aside to facilitate
participation from developing countries
to the Organic World Congress. The
level of sponsorship offered can in clude
conference registration, accommodation
and/or travel, will depend on the candidate’s
in-kind contribution to the conference.
Following the OWC, the 2011 IFOAM
General Assemply (G.A.) will take place
the Namyangju film studios, located in
a beautiful green area in Namyangju
City, from the 3rd to the 5th of October
2011. The General Assembly convenes
once every three years and takes place
in conjunction with the IFOAM Organic
World Congress (OWC). The IFOAM G.A.
is the democratic decision-making forum
of the international organic movement,
where IFOAM’s World Board is elected
for a three-year term. The G.A. provides
strategic guidance to the World Board,
which appoints official committees,
working groups and task forces based
on the motions and recommendations
of IFOAM’s membership. IFOAM G.A.s
are very dynamic and lively gatherings,
inspiring the members, board and staff to
work towards achieving IFOAM’s mission
of leading, uniting and assisting the organic
movement in its full diversity. IFOAM
members are invited to participate in the
G.A. by:
submitting motions about strategic
matters in writing before the G.A.;
proposing and convincing candidates
to run for the World Board;
preparing and submitting a bid for
hosting the 2014 OWC and G.A.;
contributing to the participative
processes at the G.A., i.e. motion
bazaar, strategic consultations;
voting at the G.A. (motions, World
Board, bids).
IFOAM Associates and Supporters are
welcome to participate in the G.A.. Associates
may ask for the floor and speak to the
G.A., although they do not have the right
to vote.
Still at the G.A., a new IFOAM World Board
will be elected; 10 positions are open to be
filled. Election to the World Board means a
challenging opportunity to work to further
develop the worldwide organic movement.
The World Board decides on all issues
not yet determined by, and reports to, the
General Assembly. World Board members
raise funds for IFOAM; they contibute to
the World Board’s decision-making; they
provide strategic input to the development
of IFOAM; they use personal and professional
skills, relationships, and knowledge
for the advancement of IFOAM; and they
represent IFOAM at global events.
All activities for the IFOAM World Board
are voluntary, with no reimbursement for
contribution of time, unless otherwise
specified by World Board decisions. When
necessary, travel and accommodation
costs will be borne by IFOAM. Women,
farmer representatives and people from the
global South are especially encouraged
to consider presenting their candidacies.
Candidates will be presented in IFOAM’s
Newsletter ‘In Action’ 60 days before the
G.A. and to the General Assembly in South
Korea.
For information on OWC sponsorship of
participants from developing countries,
please contact sponsor@kowc2011.org.
For more information on how to submit
a motion to the G.A. (IFOAM members),
apply for a World Board position (members
and non-members), or submit a bid to host
and organize the IFOAM Organic World
Congress and General Assembly in 2014
(IFOAM members), please contact Thomas
Cierpka: t.cierpka@ifoam.org
For additional information and deadlines
go to: www.ifoam.org/kowc2011
16 1-2011 | ECOLOGY & FARMING ECOLOGY & FARMING | 1-2011 17
ifoaM issues

y MarKuS arbenz
BioFach special theme: Food security
Yes, organic can
feed the world!
But how?
So far, the world has managed to meet the challenge of food
productivity. Today, there is a 25% global oversupply of food
- measured in terms of the calorific production (after post harvest losses)
needed to feed the world’s population. The challenge is ensuring that
hungry people have access to this food. The strategy of ecologicalintensification,
using organic principles and practices is a new paradigm
for feeding the world while at the same time empowering the poor and
mitigating against climate change and biodiversity loss.
Why is it that we have enough food
to feed the world’s current population
(and an extra 1.5 billion people) but
that world poverty and hunger is increasing
and is predicted to continue to do
so? Despite sufficient global food production,
there are one billion hungry or starving
people in the world, most of them
living in rural areas. It is expected that
the world will produce 70% more food by
2050. The Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO) of the United Nations estimates
that 80% of this will need to come from
productivity increases and only 20% from
bringing new land into production. Both
strategies will have effects in terms of
loss of biodiversity, degeneration of soils,
water demand and, of course, climate
change.
The main causes of hunger are poverty
and a lack of livelihood opportunities.
Conventional, green revolution-based
or industrial agriculture currently fails to
feed 15% of the world’s population - so
it’s clear that focusing solely on production
does not solve global hunger. Often,
smallholder farmers are pushed off their
Talking about
organic food and
food production at
BioFach...
land by international investments, landgrabbing
and bad governance. While
globalization has opened up opportunities
for many, it has also amplified the challenges
facing humanity. More than ever,
our planet and its poorest inhabitants
are suffering the consequences of poorly
thought through strategies. Poverty and
hunger, climate change, the loss of genetic
diversity, ecocide and land grabbing
are some of the consequences of this - to
which the world has to find effective answers.
The IAASTD report clearly stated
that ‘Business as usual is not option any
more’. Addressing the global food security
challenge is not a question of doing the
same things more effectively, but about
developing an appropriate and equitable
strategy.
“We need a paradigm shift
- a new strategy based on
ecosystem intensification
for increasing the resilience
of farms and using
biodiversity wisely.”
People before commodities:
The IFOAM Food Security
Campaign
Agriculture is back on the agenda of international decision makers.
Through targeted activities during the World Food Day and related
summits and conferences, IFOAM has been bringing the message
of ‘Sustainability through Organic Agriculture’ to the heart of the
debate. IFOAM’s message is that Organic Agriculture is not merely
a certification standard but a strategic option that can greatly contribute
to improving security. IFOAM continues to carry this message
to decision makers in the public or private sectors, at local, national
or international levels.
Sadly, the recently revived debate on
agriculture and food security has been
largely characterized by a renaissance of
productivity-oriented strategies. Some of
these rely on techno-scientific and largescale
agribusiness options which involve
substantial economies of scale, but which
are neither ecologically and socially
sustainable, nor efficient in land use. The
proposed ‘second green revolution’ does
not provide any convincing answers as to
how deprived people will get access to
healthy food and it neglects the key challenges
of equipping the poor with access
to resources, appropriate farming systems
and personal skills. This is a extension of
the type of thinking that created the problem
in the first place and is incapable of
ensuring that all people, at all times, have
physical, social and economic access to
enough safe and nutritious food to meet
their dietary needs and food preferences
enabling them to live active and healthy
lives.
Is ‘Organic’ just a certification standard
for rich people?
It is widely acknowledged that organic
agriculture has brought tremendous
benefits many of those involved in it. It
currently achieves sales of over 50 billion
US$ annually, which benefit millions of
18 1-2011 | ECOLOGY & FARMING ECOLOGY & FARMING | 1-2011 19
food security

BioFach
2011
Spearheading the
New Green Economy
people along the value chain (not least
small scale producers and consumers).
Yet there is still a widespread misconception
that organic agriculture cannot feed
the world. In 2009, at a high-level expert
forum on how to feed the world in 2050,
Jacques Diouf, FAO Director General stated
: While organic agriculture contributes
to hunger and poverty reduction and
should be promoted, it cannot by itself
feed the rapidly growing population. He
Organic operators are potential key players in the New Green Economy
that has been envisaged by UNEP. A fast-growing community
of organic consumers (the annual value of organic retail sales worldwide
is US$ 50 Billion) are looking for agriculture products that
are not just healthy and tasty, but also contribute to environmental
sustainability and the food security of the families and communities
that grow the produce. Organic standards and verification systems
assure fair prices and support the resilience of organic producers
to both climatic and economic shocks. Through ethical investment
and consumption choices the entire value chain is contributing to
enhanced food security and promoting products that have a smaller
ecological footprint and improve the livelihoods of the producers.
expressed the thoughts of many experts:
that organic production is good for creating
added value for those who can tap
into the right market niches. But its broader
applicability has not been appreciated
and as a consequence, organic agriculture
has rarely managed to be part of a broadbased
vision for international organizations,
governments or donor agencies. This
is despite the impressive impacts that
organic agriculture has had in recent years
on the livelihoods of rural people, often
in highly marginalized and fragile environments.
The organic movement needs to
make policy makers more aware of the
potential of organic farming as a viable
and proven strategy for developing and
improving livelihoods.
The need for a paradigm shift - a new
strategy based on affordable production
systems for the poor - is obvious. The
answer to the question, how can organic
agriculture meet the growing global
demand for food can be summarized in
one word: eco-intensification.
Eco-intensification has several aspects. It
involves intensifying the natural process
of nutrient cycling, stimulating soil biology
through composting, crop rotation, mixed
cropping or agro-forestry. These practices
enhance the health, vitality and productivity
of farm ecosystems. Higher levels of
organic matter in the soil enhance water
retention and build robust soils that are
resilient to erosion. Avoidance of toxic
pesticides and the utilization of diverse
species enhance (rather than inhibit)
nature’s constant drive for balance, thereby
enabling the ecosystem to regulate
pests and diseases naturally. The farming
system is managed through applying
ecological knowledge and practices that
stimulate and beneficially intensify the
systems’ ecological functions.
Eco-intensification often draws on the
knowledge and practices of the world’s
traditional farming systems that have nourished
communities for hundreds, or even
thousands, of years. The key to success
“The reality is that conventional,
green revolution-based
or industrial agriculture fails
to feed 15% of the world’s
population - so it’s clear that
focusing solely on production
does not solve global hunger.”
is to consciously work with, rather than
against, nature and to support ecosystem
services. In places where intensive
agriculture is practised most farmers who
convert to organic production achieve
yields that are close to those of conventional
farms, within a few years of conversion.
In marginal areas with depleted
soils or limited water resources the yields
from organic production are often much
greater. Thus organic production helps
improve productivity in the areas where it
is most needed.
There is huge potential to significantly
increase agricultural productivity and
biodiversity by harnessing, developing
and intensifying biological soil activities.
Eco-intensification generally also involves
more labour and better knowledge, thus
contributing to more opportunities for
landless poor people and improving the
‘quality of work’.
If the world is to nourish its people on
the principles of eco-intensification, we
need to learn much more about natural
processes in order optimize diversified,
locally adapted food production systems.
This could not be achieved overnight but
would involve a slow transition of learning
and undoing the negative impacts
of unsustainable
farming of past
decades. However,
if humanity
invests resources
and effort in learning
to better use
the potential provided
by nature,
the existing land
and water and
human resources
will be able to
provide more than
enough food to
meet the requirements of an expanding
human population. We are confident that
organic agriculture can provide abundant
food to feed a growing world population.
The main bottleneck to such a vision
becoming a reality is not the limitations
of natural resources but a lack of political
willingness and imagination.
Eco-intensfication as a reality.
Ethiopia and Egypt are two countries that
are already adopting strategic elements
advocated by the organic movement. In
both countries, land has been regenerated
with organic agriculture and peoplecentred
approaches. This has resulted in
thousands of people finding confidence
in their farming abilities and being better
able to feed their families. The Ethiopian
government has recently put organic
practices at the heart of its national agriculture
development policies and Egypt
has been dramatically reduced pesticide
use after consultation with local organic
farmers.
Supporting small-scale farmers across the
world strengthens the livelihoods of the
poor and increases their access to food.
To make this a reality, the right policies
are needed at international, national and
local levels, policies that require corporate
social responsibility and support the
capacity of the poor, through relevant
research and advisory services in ecological
intensification.
20 1-2011 | ECOLOGY & FARMING ECOLOGY & FARMING | 1-2011 21
food security

Your Partner
In Organic Potatoes,
Vegetables and Fruits
Im- & export of fresh and industrial organic potatoes,
vegetables and fruits. Custom designed and reliable services
for sourcing and marketing your organic products.
The Netherlands
Hall 7/7-625
Project scale has a large
influence on the cost price
The economics
of coffee
by PeTer brul
In 2010 more than 7 million tonnes of coffee were produced,
by millions of farmers. Small scale farmers (with less than 10
hectares) cultivate approximately 9 million hectares of coffee,
while large scale farmers cultivate approximately 3 million hectares.
Despite this 75% of the world’s coffee is produced by
large scale farmers on plantations.
Organic coffee accounts for around 0.5 % of the world market,
and a large part of this produced by smallholders, rather than
large scale farmers. The world’s supply of organic coffee in
2010 was estimated at more than 200,00 tons of green coffee
(up from 100,000 in 2007). More than 50% of this comes from
Latin America. There are more than 300,000 organic coffee
producers in more than 20 countries. Global demand has been
estimated at 70,000 tons of green coffee in 2007 and more than
150,000 in 2010, the lion’s share being in the USA and Europe.
Organic (and fair trade) coffee production started in Chiapas,
Mexico in the early 1980s. Most of the producers in Mexico
and the other 25 organic coffee producing countries are smallholders,
often working in cooperative structures. The niche
markets of organic, fair trade and other sustainable labels, such
as ‘Rainforest Alliance’ provide a way for them to survive. The
cooperatives get a premium price, but there are also additional
Costs per ton in small and large scale organic coffee projects (in US$)
Annual coffee production: 50 tons/year 200 tons/year
Certification 160 40
Management 240 60
Total 520 130
costs related to the system. One can distinguish between fixed
costs, that do not depend on the yield per hectare or per farm
and variable costs, that are more related to the yield.
The fixed costs of an organic coffee project involve those for
field officers, certification, extra management, and extra processing
costs, the variable costs relate to buying and storage. In
smaller projects a large part of the organic premium need to go
to cover the extra costs of certification scheme only a smaller
amount goes to provide extra income to the farmers.
Producer Countries
The America’s Asia and Oceania Africa
• Brazil • East Timor • Ethiopia:
• Colombia
washed and natural arabica
• Peru
• India
• Kenya:
• Costa Rica • Indonesia
washed arabica
• Mexico
• Madagascar:
• USA
• Papua New Guinea robusta
• Sri Lanka
• Tanzania:
robusta,
• Thailand
natural and washed arabica
• Vietnam
• Uganda:
• China
robusta,
• Australia
natural and washed arabica
A 20% premium for organic coffee is considered normal, but
this can increase or decrease in relation to supply and demand.
The premium often increases as a percentage when coffee prices
are low (30 to 40%) and decreases with high prices. The
current organic premium for Arabica is about US$ 330 per ton
and for Robusta it is about US$ 250 per ton.
ECOLOGY & FARMING | 1-2011
Market & econoMy
23

In early October Mike Nicholls visited the Netherlands to
attend the first ISHS Symposium on Organic Greenhouse
Horticulture at the University of Wageningen Greenhouse
Research Centre at Bleiswijk. At this symposium it became
clear that there is a huge difference in the definition of organic,
which varies greatly from country to country. In fact the only
common factor appeared to be that the inputs used in climate
controllable greenhouses or tunnels must be derived solely
from natural, non-chemical, sources.
The first ISHS Symposium on Organic
Greenhouse Horticulture
Organic
greenhouse
horticulture
symposium
by MiKe niCholS
Retail pack
of ‘Wild
Wonder’
tomatoes.
Harvesting
at BiJo.
Nico Vergote at Kruishouten with organic
greenhouse tomatoes.
For example, in Scandinavia, it is
accepted that, provided the roots
are still attached, plants can be grown in
an organically derived nutrient solution
and sold as organic. In the USA there are
now two aquaponic operations certified
as organic by the USDA. In the rest of
Europe it is a requirement that all organic
crops are grown in the soil. The situation
becomes even more complex when one
examines the way in which these crops
are grown. In the Netherlands many
greenhouse organic crops are produced
in a very similar manner to conventional
greenhouse crops in terms of heating and
carbon dioxide inputs, whereas in Austria
and Italy supplementary heating can only
used to avoid crop damage from frost.
Finally in some situations it is permissible
to sterilise the soil with steam in order
to control weeds, nematodes or fungi.
This appears to be in direct opposition
to the concept of developing a healthy
soil, as steam leaves a virtual biological
vacuum which can be invaded by any
organism. This is not to suggest that the
general standard of organically grown
crops is poor—nothing is further from
the case, but to emphasise the lack of
a clear-cut policy on how organic crops
can or can not be grown. It also raises
the question of who should have the
authority to make the decisions on what
constitutes an organically grown crop. To
date this has been the organic movement,
often (later) backed up by minimum legal
standards but it is debatable whether
they (with their vested interests) are the
appropriate group to determine the future
direction of greenhouse organics. The
Dutch experiences show the difficulties
of using a soil based system is very clear,
but the current regulations there prevent
exploring the obvious possible advantages
of using a recirculating hydroponic
system. The regulatory framework for
The conference delegates visited the
University of Wageningen Research
greenhouses at Bleiswijk.
organic greenhouses within Europe does
not clarify matters, apart from a ban on
hydroponics, the EC regulation contains
no specific rules for greenhouses. There
are also considerable differences between
EU countries on the use of energy and
also on the use of substrates. The lack of
a level playing field is felt by many producers
to lead to unfair competition.
Highlights of current research
The meeting commenced with an overview
from Rob Meijer of the issues
facing and current research into, organic
greenhouse horticulture world-wide. This
proved to be a near impossible task,
but it provided a start in filling in some
previously blank boxes. It showed that
in Switzerland and Austria up to 14% of
greenhouse production area was organic,
but in most countries with significant
greenhouse industries (e.g. the Nether-
lands) only 2-3% was organic.
Fabio Tittarelli (Italy) provided an insight
into the outlook for vegetable nursery
innovation in agriculture
production for organic production. This
sector faces the major constraint that
peat—a major constituent of substrates
is a non-renewable resource, and that
peat bog exploitation is not sustainable
in the long term. Valérie Gravel (Canada)
explored the complex nutrient management
of organic systems, presenting a
case study of six organic soils that use a
re-circulating system, with certified organic
nutrients. Wim Voogt (Netherlands)
demonstrated the difficulties of providing
greenhouse crops with sufficient nutrients
within a soil based non-recirculating
system while also complying with the
European Directives relating to annual
N and P application levels. I presented
my paper on organic hydroponics, which
essentially flies directly in the face of conventional
organic growing.
Soil health is a key factor in ensuring crop
productivity, and greenhouse production
has its own distinct problems. Unlike field
production, the opportunities for crop rotation
are minimal, so alternative methods
of controlling pathogens are needed. Soil
suppressiveness is one possible means of
reducing the activity of pathogens. André
van der Wurff (Netherlands) demonstrated
that suppressiveness was pathogendependant,
at least for the fungi Verticillium
and Pythium and for the nematode
‘There are large differences between
EU countries over what is permitted in
organic glasshouses’
Meloidogyne. Another possible solution
for greenhouse crops is to use the “Köver”
system. This was described by Willemijn
24 1-2011 | ECOLOGY & FARMING ECOLOGY & FARMING | 1-2011 25

Fresh lettuce ready to be cut at BiJo. A “Wild Wonder” tomato variety.
Cuijpers from the Louis Bolk Institute (Netherlands).
The “Köver” system involves
dividing each bed in the greenhouse into
half with a physical barrier, and leaving
half the bed fallow (or planted with an
antagonistic crop), and then annually
alternating the part of the bed planted with
the main crop. In general the system was
found to be impracticable, because yields
of the crop plants fell, due to competition
with the antagonistic plants. There is also
considerable interest in the biological
disinfection of the soil with grass and
other fresh organic materials that can suppress
persistent diseases and pests. This
approach involves covering the soil with
fresh organic matter and then with airtight
plastic. The resulting anaerobic conditions
offer an alternative to steam sterilisation,
but the time lag between treatment and
the next time the bed can be used is a
major barrier. Steaming remains the most
effective, and preferred treatment, but is
expensive both in labour and in energy.
The next session involved comparing
different growing systems for organic
glasshouse production. Wolfgang Palme
(Austria) examined an initiative (near
Vienna) for producing a range of Brassicas
(Pak Choi, Mustard, and Tatsoi) in
plastic houses without any heating. This
approach seemed to offer some potential
for the production of low energy organic
crops. However when growth was poor
26 1-2011 | ECOLOGY & FARMING
(in mid-winter) high nitrate levels in the
soil became a problem. Valérie Gravel
(Canada) presented a paper on organic
greenhouse tomato production using raised
bed containers filled with either peat
or coir (coco peat). This presentation was
followed by one from her colleague, Martine
Dorais, who demonstrated increased
yields by using oxygen enriched irrigation
water to increase the soil oxygen content.
A key factor for the future successful production
of organic greenhouse tomatoes
will be the grafting of the scion (variety)
onto the appropriate rootstock. To date
the development of tomato rootstocks
has been a fairly ad hoc procedure, but
Jan Venema (University of Groningen,
Netherlands) described a Dutch programme
aimed at delivering a reliable screening
method to identify biomarkers that
can be used as generic tools to identify
the best rootstocks. It must be remembered
that the grafting of vegetables onto
rootstocks is a fairly recent development,
and there could well be interesting interactions
between specific rootstocks and
scions, similar to those that exist in fruit
trees. Grafting is being developed to
overcome a range of problems, including
improving nutrient use efficiency, suboptimal
temperatures and salinity, but one
of the major problems with organic greenhouse
production of fruiting vegetables
is nematodes—particularly the Root Knot
Nematode (RKN) or Meloidogne spp.
Above-ground pathogens can also be a
problem in organic systems, and Michael
Raviv (Israel) demonstrated how the risk
of bacterial canker on tomatoes (a major
problem in some countries) can be greatly
reduced by the correct composting of
contaminated plant debris from infected
plants. Martin Koller (Switzerland) then
explained that although sulphur was an
excellent fungicide for controlling powdery
mildew, it has harmful effects on
beneficial organisms, and that potassium
bicarbonate is a potential substitute. He
also posed the question of how best to
control sciarids (fungus gnats) in potted
herbs. He concluded that neem oil
and BT were unsatisfactory, and that the
nematode (Steinernema feltiae) was the
best solution.
Meeting the challenge of climate change.
There is considerable interest in the
efficient use of energy in order to make
greenhouse cropping more sustainable.
The carbon dioxide footprint is a major
consideration in greenhouse horticulture
and global organic standards do
not address such sector-specific issues.
Many large greenhouse operations now
use Combined Heat and Power (CHP),
and sell superfluous electricity into the
grid. Another possible solution is to use
organic matter to produce biogas for
cogeneration, before applying it to the
‘Maintaining nutrient levels, deterring pests
and diseases and minimising energy use
are three of the challenges facing organic
glasshouse production’.
soil. While it is relatively easy to reach
self sufficiency in terms of soil fertility, the
energy required for greenhouse heating
requires a much larger quantity of biomass.
Reductions in energy use for both
heating and cooling can be achieved by
using heat pumps and a deep aquifer.
Nico Vergote (Belgium) described the
heat pump system used at Kruishoutem,
Belgium, which relies on very deep (100m)
drill holes for heat storage.
The symposium involved visits to organic
greenhouse crop producers, including
Frank de Koning’s property which totals
7ha of greenhouses, were converted into
organic production in 1999. His main
focus is on peppers and tomatoes, with
a specific specialisation in “heirloom”
tomatoes, which he markets as “Wild
Wonders” in very neat retail packs. His
latest innovation is a greenhouse clad in
haze glass to provide diffuse light. This
system, based on work from the University
of Wageningen, should produce a 10%
increase in yield.
BiJo Greenhouses is a most impressive
10.5 ha of hi-tech greenhouses that organically
produce a wide range of cut fresh
salads (8ha), along with tomatoes and
cucumbers in an environmentally friendly
and energy efficient manner. All of the
cut fresh salad crops are grown at “low”
temperatures, and surplus heat is trans-
Conference delegates visiting the organic
tomatoes at BiJo. Note glasshouse heating/
cooling system.
ferred via heat pumps into a deep aquifer.
Similarly, surplus heat from the fruit
vegetable greenhouses is transferred into
the aquifer. During the winter months this
energy is used to provide the heat needed
to grow the fruit vegetables and, if necessary,
to prevent frost damage to the cut
fresh crops. It is a very efficient set up.
Large pipes can be raised to the top of
the crop to absorb the heat from solar
radiation, and can be lowered to close to
ground level when the crop requires heating.
Otherwise the crops were grown in
exactly the same way as any other normal
organic greenhouse crop.
An over-strict regulatory regime?
I am cynical about the realities of producing
organic crops in greenhouses as
effectively and efficiently as conventional
crops. This is not to suggest that the
growers (and scientists) involved in such
innovation in agriculture
developments have got it wrong, but simply
because the philosophy that states
that the crops MUST be grown in the soil
raises too many problems.
Many of the recent developments in
greenhouse productivity have come from
improving the plant environment and
the root zone environment. Improving
aeration has been a major factor. It is
extremely difficult (if not impossible) to
grow a heavy crop of greenhouse tomatoes
(or other fruit vegetables) in the soil
without nutrients leaching through the soil
profile into the water table. There is still
one major pest which has proved difficult
to control even by grafting onto resistant
root stock, and that is nematodes. Using
steam to sterilize the soil against pathogens
(or weeds) appears to go against
all the tenets of organic production of a
healthy soil filled with a range of microorganisms.
Similarly the use of biological
fumigants under plastic covers does not
appear appropriate.
Having said that, there is no doubt that
the organic movement has had a major
impact on conventional growing, by reducing
(or even eliminating) the use of agricultural
chemicals and shifting thinking
towards biological control.
The Proceedings of the symposium will
be published as an Acta Horticulturae by
ISHS (www.ishs.org) in the near future.
ECOLOGY & FARMING | 1-2011
27

Eastern Europe, Central Asia
and the Caucasus Republics
The majority of the population in the
states of the former USSR struggle with
difficult living conditions. Low salaries
and high unemployment rates are some
of the reasons that many people don´t
pay attention to environmental issues.
However, environmental problems do
exist; in the form of radioactive contaminated
regions, degraded soils, air pollution
or inefficient waste water management.
Education
in organic
agriculture
by harTWiG Mennen
Nowadays some positive changes are
becoming visible. The first organic
associations in the former USSR cooperate
closely with partners in the Western
world. They are seeking to acquire theoretical
and practical information about the
basics of organic farming, in order to establish
their own production. The German
non-profit organisation LOGO is playing a
key role in building these bridges.
LOGO was founded in 1995 by German
farmers and agricultural engineers. The
association supports organic agriculture,
through providing professional and general
education and seeks to promote better
international cooperation and understanding.
LOGO works with partners in Germany,
Eastern Europe, Central Asia and
the Caucasus Republics. The association
currently has around 210 members and its
activities are supported by organic farmers,
agrarian organisations, universities and former
interns. The main activities are setting
up internships on organic farms, translating
technical literature, arranging international
conferences and supporting organic farms
in partner countries. The work of LOGO
is mainly financed by organic farmers,
working with trainees. Some projects are
financally supported by government ministries,
companies and the German Academic
Exchange Service (DAAD).
Cooperation with international partners.
LOGO has organized internships in organic
enterprises for agricultural students
from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia,
Kazakhstan, Kirghizia, Moldavia, Russia,
Tajikistan, the Ukraine and Uzbekistan.
More than 2,700 students from approximately
60 universities have already participated.
Twice a year German farmers and
former trainees visit partner universities
to select students, who undergo written
tests and interviews to test their German
language skills and general knowledge.
They also have to show some agricultural
knowledge and be able to drive a tractor.
LOGO helps students to prepare for the
language test by providing a language
course (available at www.logoev.de). This
course also provides information about
agriculture, organic farming and living conditions
in Germany.
More than 250 students take part every
year in six to twelve month long internships
in the organic sector. LOGO respects
the interests and capabilities of
the students and the requirements of
the farms. The internships are mostly on
organic farms and can involve beekeeping,
growing wine fruit or vegetables,
grass land management, cattle farming,
dairy, milk processing, and pig husbandry.
Students with a high level of linguistic proficiency
and previous foreign experience
can get a traineeship in areas such as the
food trade, food processing or agricultural
engineering. More than 90% of the trainees
are accommodated in the houses of
the guest families and eat with the family.
This close contact with members of the
family and with German employees helps
the interns develop their German language
skills. The trainees spend much of their
leisure time with the guest families and
often develop long-standing friendships
with them.
During the interships LOGO offers a num-
ber of seminars, which are also attended
by former trainees who act as caretakers
and interpreters.
When the new trainees first arrive in Germany
they attend an introductory seminar
to orientate them. They also receive a
number of documents, including an agricultural
dictionary, report books and basic
background information about German
agriculture.
Logo also provides a seminar to introduce
trainees to organic agriculture, where the
trainees learn about the sector through
a series of lectures and excursions. The
main subjects concern organic farming,
renewable resources and renewable energy.
Some lectures are given by members
of organic associations and by farmers.
Another seminar on “professional qualification
in international cooperation” provides
information about work possibilities
with international companies and study
possibilities in Germany.
In the final seminar the trainees reflect
on their experiences, enjoy a party and
receive a certificate, detailing their results
in oral and written tests during the seminars.
Many of the students value this
experience of working outside their own
country. LOGO also encourages specialists
from Western countries to go on
internships and work on organic farms in
partner countries.
Companies in the Western European organic
sector have become active in Eastern
Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus
Republics. These companies are often
looking for local employees with foreign
experiences. LOGO has organized two
international conferences on “Education,
innovation and ecology” in partnership with
the agricultural universities in Samarkand
(Uzbekistan) and in Ufa (Russia). It has
become obvious that interest in organic
agriculture is growing in these countries. In
the future more young agrarian specialists
will find work in the organic sector.
Organic agriculture is more developed in
Georgia than in other former USSR countries.
LOGO is supporting an organic farm
in Telavi that is planning to process milk to
make yoghurt and hard cheese. Production
will start in early 2011. Seminars for
young farmers are currently being planned
with two Georgian associations (SEMA
and RCDA).
There is very little literature about organic
agriculture available in the Russian or
Uzbek languages. With the help of former
trainees LOGO has translated a number of
books such as “The Handbook of Direct
Marketing” and “Organic Vegetable Growing”
into Russian in order to help farmers
with their practical work. They are available
in Mitchurinsk / Russia and from the
headquarters of LOGO.
The internships on organic farms will
remain LOGO’s main task. But further conferences,
book translations and other activities
with organic farmers in the partner
countries will follow.
www.logoev.de
28 1-2011 | ECOLOGY & FARMING ECOLOGY & FARMING | 1-2011 29
education

The national French agronomic research institute (INRA), and
the technical institute for organic agriculture (ITAB) organized a
conference in Paris in December 2010, on behalf of the Organic
and Low-input Agriculture Section of the European Association
of Plant Breeding Researchers (Eucarpia). Some 130 people
from 20 countries participated, including private, public and
farmer breeders and breeding researchers. The topic was a new
and challenging one for plant breeding: ‘Breeding for resilience:
a strategy for organic and low-input farming systems?’
30 1-2011 | ECOLOGY & FARMING
A caption of approximately
fourteen words or at least three
line is required here
Crop breeding to strengthen the
resilience of organic farming systems
Breeding
organic seed
by ediTh T. laMMerTS Van bueren,
iSabelle GoldrinGer and FrédériC rey
The organizers also invited some ecologists to discuss
the basic principles of resilience, an important
concept within the ecology of complex ecosystems.
The aims of the conference were to find ways
to translate this concept into plant breeding for organic
and low external input agriculture and to find out
what lessons plant breeders can learn from ecologists.
Ecologists define resilience as the ability of a system
or organism to continue to function under conditions
of stress. This can be measured by the capacity of
a system or organism to recover after a disturbance,
and the speed with which it can return to equilibrium.
This concept is closely related to ‘robustness’ a basic
property of a biological system, which describes the
system’s ability to maintain its functionality against
external and internal disturbances.
Organic and low external input agriculture avoid using
high levels of nitrogen or water. As such there is often
more variability in growing conditions (both within and
between fields) than in intensive systems. As a result
organic and low external input agriculture need to
adapt more sophisticated ways of managing the farming
system. These can include encouraging biodiversity
instead of suppressing it – which in turn stimulates
a higher level of self regulation and resilience.
For organic and low-input farmers, who have limited
means of controlling their environment, yield stability
is often a more important cultivar trait than maximum
potential yield. Such farmers prefer ‘robust’ or ‘reliable’
cultivars that enable them to build up a resilient far-
ming system. In light of the definitions for resilience, a
robust cultivar can be defined as one that has the ability
to continue to produce under conditions of stress.
It is able to recover from a period of stress without
losing too much yield and/or quality. Plant breeders
already have experience and familiarity with ‘robust’,
‘reliable’ or ‘flexible’ cultivars. Some cultivars that have
proven to be very stable in their yield have been on
the market for a very long time. But, in most cases,
such cultivars have been just lucky chances, since
breeders have not purposely bred for robustness.
However, with global climate change there is an increasing
demand for plant breeders to explore ways of
contributing to resilient farming systems by developing
robust cultivars.
One of the corner stones of organic agriculture is
incorporating biodiversity within management strategies.
In plant breeding too, diversity can be a tool to
improve the adaptability of cultivars to changing and
unfavourable growing conditions.
One option for breeders is to collaborate with farmers
who know their local field conditions and are capable
of selecting the most appropriate plants for their
needs. Such a decentralised approach will increase
the diversity of cultivars, as different cultivars flourish
under different conditions and populations have
different preferences. Such practices have already
been adopted in the South (e.g. in the Philippines
and China) and is now also being applied in Northern
countries, such as France (cereals, brassicas), the Netherlands
(potatoes) and USA (cereals, quinoa, hops).
ECOLOGY & FARMING | 1-2011
agro-biodiversity
31

32 1-2011 | ECOLOGY & FARMING
Some breeding researchers are convinced of the need
to move away from monocultures, not only on a crop
level but also on a cultivar level. They are exploring
ways to incorporate genetic diversity into the wheat
cultivar by developing modern landraces that contain
many different genotypes with characteristics that
can buffer against spatial and temporal variations in
growing conditions. Martin Wolfe and Thomas Döring
(UK) discussed such composite cross-populations that
have been bred from multicrosses. When replanted by
farmers these populations can evolve over time and
adapt to local conditions. Research is now showing that
genetically diverse populations also enhance the biodiversity
of beneficial soil life and insects and improve
ecosystem services. Pollination is a crucial ecosystem
service, supporting not only seed setting but also the
heterozygosity of cultivars, which can contribute to
the buffering capacity under conditions of abiotic and
biotic stress. Maria Jose Suso (Spain) drew attention
to the worldwide decline of pollinators and urged plant
breeders to enhance plant-pollinator traits in order
to reverse the losses of some specific functional floral
characteristics caused by conventional breeding
approaches.
Another historically neglected area of plant breeding
has been the below-ground traits of plants. Jerry
Glover, from the USA, stressed that a large amount of
agricultural land is marginal and at risk from degradation
from annual cropping. Such systems would be
Many farmers prefer robust or
reliable cultivars that enable them to
build up a resilient farming system
made less vulnerable by using perennial versions of
major grain crops. Such crops develop a larger root
system and can tap into deeper soil layers. Glover
reported on several breeding programmes in different
Northern and Southern countries that are exploring this
approach.
Since organic farmers are very focused on enhancing
soil fertility and soil life, there would also appear to be
a potential in approaches that improve plant-soil interactions.
Several breeding projects at Wageningen University
and Research Centre, IRD in France and FiBl in
Switzerland are seeking to develop new ways of improving
the efficiency of nutrient uptake, to compensate
for lower nitrogen availability. Several approaches are
being considered, including improving root architecture,
and interactions with beneficial soil organisms such as
mycorrhizas. F. Denninson from the University of Minnesota,
USA discussed these approaches, the trade offs
involved and how the search for a new balance among
these conflicting goals may open new opportunities.
It is encouraging to see that plant breeding research is
increasingly focussing on crop improvements suitable
for low-input and organic farming systems. The next
step will be for breeders to implement such strategies
in their future plant breeding programmes.
Reference:
Goldringer, I. 2010. Breeding for Resilience: A strategy
for organic and low-input farming systems? Proceedings
of the Eucarpia conference Organic and Lowinput
Agriculture Section, 1-3 December 2010, Paris.
INRA and ITAB, France. Downloadable (for free) from
http://www.eucarpia.org/03publications/OrgandLow-
2010Proc.pdf or from http://orgprints.org/
Organic Agriculture B.V.
We welcome you to visit us!
BIOFACH 2011
16.–19. February 2011
Hall 2, Stand 320
The worlds leading source for all your organic commodities.
Tradin has more than 30 years of experience.
All our product are certified organic.
Pulses
Dried Fruits
Grains
Rice
Nuts
Canned Fruits
Oils/Fats/Cakes
Dairy Products
Of all the products we have a very varied range
We source our products worldwide.
Tradin offers you the highest quality.
Agave/Sweeteners
(Oil) Seeds
Flours/Starches/Flakes
Cocoa Products
Tradin Organic Agriculture B.V. | Prins Hendrikkade 12 | 1012 TL Amsterdam | The Netherlands
Phone +31 (0)20 407 44 99 | Fax +31 (0)20 497 21 00 | info@tradinorganic.com | www.tradinorganic.com
KOSHER
KOSHER
KOSHER

Socio-environmental and Fair Trade certification
for organic products and processes.
The Brazilian
Ecosocial
Programme
by aleXandre harKaly
Although many organic movements have a background of concern
with social and economic issues as well as agricultural reform, organic
standards have mostly entirely focused on agricultural aspects. Since the
first attempts to combine elements of organic and fair trade certification,
several organic certifiers have started to develop systems that integrate
social and economic aspects. One interesting example is the Ecosocial
Programme of the Brazilian certifier IBD.
In 2004, the Brazilian based certifier
IBD launched the Ecosocial Programme
with the purpose of contributing to
continual socio-economic development.
The present social and environmental
situation requires the use of more specific
certification tools to audit the social
and environmental issues that occur
in certified enterprises, besides those
already used in organic certification
protocols.
In order to be certified in the Ecosocial
Programme enterprises must provide an
initial diagnosis, showing the social and
environmental requirements that they
intend to meet. It is also necessary for
them to provide an action plan that shows
in detail how the required improvements
will be made. The plan should aim to
meet all the minimum (or critical) criteria
listed in the guideline and set out at least
two progress programmes related to environmental
development and two related
to human and social development during
the certification year.
There are three sets of criteria. The first
are known as critical criteria. Failure to
meet these critical criteria will lead to the
suspension or cancellation of certification,
even if other criteria are met. These are:
breach of traceability;
evidence of unauthorized deforestation;
discharge of effluents into a water
body that does not comply with
environmental legislation;
evidence of the hunting, capture and
sale of wild animals;
improper exploitation of property
rights;
the use and manipulation of Genetically
Modified Organisms;
absence of formal procedures for
hiring and paying employees;
evidence of social, cultural, political,
religious, ethnic, racial, sexual and
age discrimination, child labour or
forced labour and;
workers being exposed to risk without
proper individual protection.
The present social and environmental
situation requires the use of
more specific certification tool.
These are the minimum criteria for environmental
management and for human
and social development. There are other
non-critical criteria:
adequacy in terms of meeting environmental
legislation and the requirements
of the relevant environmental
agency;
standards & certification
adequate programme for environmental
conservation and restoration;
adequate management of water
resources, solid residues. liquid
effluents and gaseous effluents;
the conservation of biodiversity;
a reduction in the environmental
impacts caused by productive activity
and in greenhouse gas emissions;
develop a programme of environmental
education, and;
other environmental aspects specific
to each enterprise.
There are also minimum criteria for human
and social development. These include:
a commitment to transparency,
land regulation,
compliance with labour legislation
and the requirements of labour
agencies,
recognition of unionized labour,
improved health and safety
standards,
pro­rata benefits to permanent and
temporary workers,
profit sharing,
provision of adequate training
opportunities (management and
technical),
support for basic and continued
education, for improved living, eating
and health conditions, to working,
pregnant and breast­feeding women,
the elderly, and to addicts (smokers
and abusers of alcohol and drugs)
and;
support for social and cultural organizations
and opportunities to participate
in these.
34 1-2011 | ECOLOGY & FARMING ECOLOGY & FARMING | 1-2011 35

In addition to these criteria the Ecosocial
Programme incorporates innovative criteria
for economic development that are
based upon the principles of fair trade.
The certifier does not set a minimum price
or the value of the premium. Instead the
price of the product is connected to production
costs and market negotiations.
The latter must be carried out following
ethical principles that guarantee clarity,
transparency and benefits to the producers.
The value of the Ecosocial Premium is
determined by the need to invest in the
social and environmental programmes,
in accordance with the goals set by the
producers/industries (and approved by the
certifier). Ecosocial also differs from other
schemes in that it can be applied to any
organic product, not just those for which
the minimum price and premium have
already been defined.
In summary Ecosocial:
fosters fair trade relationship;
provides incentives for open,
transparent and lasting negotiations
between stakeholders;
fosters social and environmental
development in the production chain;
encourages the implementation of
best production practices aiming at
improving product quality.
The Ecosocial guidelines are based on the
Conventions of the International Labour
Organization (ILO), and several other
international protocols, including Agenda
21, the Global Compact Programme, the
is located at Botucatu, São Paulo State.
IBD Since its foundation in 1983, it has been
operating in Brazil and abroad and has inspected more
than 5,000 farmers with more than 520,000 hectares of
farm land and 2.5 million hectares of land for wild crop
harvesting. IBD has 25 certified clients, in 12 countries,
with a wide range of products. IBD is the only Brazilian
certifier with IFOAM, ISO 65 (EEC 834), DEMETER,
36 1-2011 | ECOLOGY & FARMING
Millennium Development Goals and the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
It also incorporates standards and norms
set out in SA 8000, ISO 14000 and BS
8800. The IBD is certified in accordance
with the international standards established
in ISO 65, guaranteeing the integrity
of the entire certification process.
Potential applicants for the IBD Ecosocial
certification scheme can read and download
the guidelines from IBD’s website.
Enterprises interested in this certification
can then contact IBD and discuss their
requirements and situation. This can lead
to a proposal being drawn up and a contract
being signed. The next step is a preinspection:
an IBD inspector will visit the
applicant to check whether the operation
has the required profile for certification
and to assist the client in filling out the
forms. One requirement at this point is to
form a management committee, which
shall include at least one representative
of each segment of the organization (in
order to ensure balanced participation in
USDA/NOP and COR (Canada) accreditations and has a
partnership for JAS certification. Its certificate is accepted
around the world. IBD has recently been approved
under the new Brazilian law 10.831 and cooperates with
more than 10 certifiers and 40 inspectors worldwide
who certify Brazilian imports of organic products.
www.ecosocialnet.com for fair trade issues.
www.ibd.com.br for organic issues.
the decisions about the programme).
The next step involves checking if the
enterprise already complies with the critical
minimum standards set out in the
guidelines. Should any changes need to
be made in order to do so the applicant
will have to clarify how they will achieve
these .
While working on the details relating to
the adjustment to minimum criteria, the
Commission can also collect the data
needed to make a social and environmental
assessment of the enterprise,
which should be complete by the time
that the Ecosocial Programme begins.
This assessment is based on the terms of
reference provided by the certifier.
After this assessment and checking the
minimum criteria, the organization has
a record of its social and environmental
situation, and begins to define the progress
criteria (two social and two environmental)
to be implemented during the
certification period. It is recommended
that these criteria are defined in the guideline
references.
After the pre-inspection and the assessment,
the operator will have all data
necessary to complete the questionnaire
and file an application with IBD.
When the application is complete,
the first annual inspection can be
carried out and, if the operation
meets the requirements, it
will receive its Ecosocial
certificate
by PeTer brul
Biodynamic farming
in Russia
In the discussions about world food security, the need for
higher food production and land competition between
food and energy crops, the role of the world’s largest country
is rarely mentioned. Yet in Russia and other countries
of the former Soviet Union, such as Kazakhstan and the
Ukraine, huge agricultural areas are lying fallow. I do not
have the most up to date figures (which are difficult to
obtain), but some years ago 80% of the land previously
used for agriculture in these countries was not being used
anymore! Even before the collapse of the Soviet Union,
agriculture was in a poor state: after 1992 it completely
collapsed. Most of the fields have been abandoned for
almost 20 years, with devastating effects for rural society
and food production. Most food products in the supermarkets
in Russian cities are imported. The empty countryside
starts just half an hour’s drive outside a big city like Moscow,
which has 15 million inhabitants. Last year the forests,
the pastures and the occasional piece of cultivated land
suffered a heavy drought and widespread fires. There was
nobody there to control the fires.
In Russia, agricultural work has a very low status and is
very unpopular. While it is relatively easy to acquire land to
start up in farming, it is very difficult to find capable people
to work on the farms. On the few existing farms, most work
is done by people from Uzbekistan and other, southern,
former Soviet countries. The agricultural schools, which
were once a key part of the education system, have almost
disappeared.
But Russia is also a rich country, with well-educated
people, who are concerned about the environment, the
economy of their country (which cannot be based solely
on oil and gas only, and the attendant corruption) and the
health of the population, who are generally quite poor.
Nowadays you can find organic products in specialized
shops and some supermarkets in the big cities. Almost all
of them are imported. There are some home-grown organic
agriculture initiatives, dating from the early nineties when,
in cooperation with farmers and other volunteers from Western
Europe, Russia’s first organic and biodynamic farms
were established.
The German-Canadian farmer Bernhard Hack started a 100
hectare biodynamic farm in 1992 in Bolotovo, 150 kilometres
north of Moscow. He produced cereals, vegetables
and dairy products and delivered these to the local community
and local schools. In the extremely difficult circumstances
of last year, the farm had to stop, like many other
initiatives in previous years. Mr. Hack has now moved to
another area in Russia to start a goat husbandry enterprise.
There are other biodynamic initiatives, in Siberia and near
Saint Petersburg. The Tuzhyliny family in Siberia runs the
‘Harmony’ club. They give trainings in biodynamic farming,
publish an online newspaper and produce biodynamic preparations
and seeds. The NGO Biodinamika was founded
in 1995, in Saint-Petersburg. Their mission is to stimulate
biodynamic farming in Russia, by providing agricultural
training and education. They organize a five day seminar
each year, and aim to start an agricultural school. The most
successful project is the ‘Tul’sky Zveroboy’ market garden,
which has been certified since 2007.
However, there are only 300 ha. of biodynamically farmed
land in the whole of Russia. Most of these are run by smallholders
who are members of ‘Agrosophie’, the NGO that
introduced the Demeter standards into Russia.
country-reports
ECOLOGY & FARMING | 1-2011 37

Meet the Grower, check his
ecological & social footprint
Nature & More is the award winning ‘trace & tell’ brand created by Eosta and allied
companies in response to consumer demand for healthy, organic and fairly traded food.
It communicates the engagement and commitment of each grower towards planet
and people. The Nature & More ‘trace & tell’ system empowers consumers to make an
informed purchase decision.
Enter the unique code, which you fi nd on the grower stamp, at natureandmore.com
and Meet the Grower! Check his ecological and social footprint, including his carbon
(air) and water footprint, with the help of the revolutionary ‘Sustainability Flower’.
The Sustainability Flower is based on three societal indicators: social, cultural and
economic life, as well as six environmental indicators: soil, water, air, energy, animals
and plants. All nine dimensions are linked to specifi c key performance indicators which
are in compliance with the requirements of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). The
Sustainability Flower has been developed to serve as a tool to stimulate and monitor
progress and improvement and is not a certifi cation scheme.
Hi, I’m
Rob!
Nature & More is the fi rst
to introduce carbon neutral
products based on full life
cycle CO 2 assessments,
compensated with credits
obtained on organic farming
practices by Soil & More.
More info: soilandmore.com
Organic Produce:
Buy ‘Seven
in One’
by MaChTeld huber
There is a growing awareness among consumers
about the need to consume more sustainably. Food
choice is one of the tools for supporting sustainability.
But consumers are increasingly confronted with
conflicting information.
Different production approaches
Control model
Conventional approach
• focus on a problem
• controll variation
• continuous monitoring
• direct intervention
• static equilibrium
For example, one newspaper report
suggested that conventional greenhouse
tomatoes were more sustainable
than organic ones, because in one
instance, the former had lower CO emis-
2
sions. And, cows that graze outdoors in
meadows have been reported to emit
Adaptation model
Organic approach: robustness
• focus on the system
• use of variation
• stimulation of selfregulation
• indirect intervention
• dynamic equilibrium
(Ten Napel et al., 2006; WUR/LBI)
more methane than those that remain
inside throughout the year. And it will
not be long before produce is grown in
‘parking lots’ situated below or next to
supermarkets. Such ‘climate chambers’
will produce fresh vegetables the year
round, producing vegetables hors sol,
Meeting at BioFach of participants in the
large European research programme on
organic food quality and health.
7in1
using LED-lights, in sterile environments
(that will not need pesticides) and will not
require any polluting transport. This will be
presented as the most sustainable choice.
What should consumers make of this?
It is all a matter of scope and the answer
can only be found if we take a broader
view of production systems. Once we
look beyond CO emissions, the dif-
2
ferences between the conventional
and organic systems become clearer.
This broader perspective needs to take
account of ‘ecosystem services’, a term
that describes the other services, besides
food production, that agriculture provides.
These include maintaining biodiversity
and habitats, water cleansing and the
recycling of organic material and nutrients.
From this perspective organic production
offers many more benefits.
ECOLOGY & FARMING | 1-2011
organic & health
39

The central strategy of organic production
is to create an ecosystem, where the selfregulating
properties of organisms can
function optimally, thereby avoiding the
need to utilize pesticides and antibiotics.
The aim is to maximize the robustness
and resilience of organisms, their capacity
to adapt to changes without losing their
equilibrium (or homeostasis). This strategy
is applied to the soil, the plants, the animals
and the farm itself.
This strategy of self regulation is central
to organic production and is in stark contrast
to conventional and more technological
approaches which follow a strategy of
control and standardization.
This self regulating approach brings several
valuable benefits, which enhance a
wide range of ecosystem services (listed
below) which consumers might bear in
mind when considering buying organic.
Buy ‘Seven
in One’:
1 Healthy, safe and tasty food
Most consumer surveys show that people’s
expectations about the health benefits
of organic products are the main
motivation for buying organic. There are
two aspects to this; on the one hand
people know that organic produce does
not contain any residues and this creates
a sense of security. On the other
hand there are expectations that organic
produce has a generally beneficial effect
on people’s health, even if this is not yet
fully proven. There is still much scientific
debate over this issue. Although differences
in the nutrient content of organic
and conventional produce are not always
found, there are increasing indications
that consumption of organic produce by
humans and animals increases resilience
and general health levels.
Pesticide residues are only very rarely
found in organic produce (for example as
a result of contamination from neighbouring
farms) and antibiotic resistant bacteria
are found far less often. GMOs are not
allowed in organic production.
Many professional chefs consider organic
products to be tastier. This is connected
to a lower level of fertilizer use in organic
produce, and to harvesting the produce
when it is (almost) ripe and not much
earlier.
2 Animal welfare
The regulations for organic livestock production
guarantee better animal welfare
than conventional systems. There is more
space for each animal, more access to
the outdoors, different types of housing,
in some cases calves remain with their
mothers and there is no use of preventive
and growth regulating antibiotics.
The aim of organic livestock husbandry
is to increase the natural resilience and
robustness of the animals through specific
management practices that seek to
prevent diseases from occurring instead
of fighting them when they do occur.
3 Biodiversity
Biodiversity can be measured in terms
of the number, variety and variability of
living organisms within an ecosystem.
Historically human activities have led
to a reduction of biodiversity and these
losses have accelerated to unprecedent-
edly high levels over the past 50 years.
Many animal and plant populations have
declined in numbers and/or their geographic
spread. This threatens the stability
of ecosystems. A systems approach,
such as that used by organic producers,
supports and stimulates biodiversity. It is
known that organic farms support many
more species than conventional ones and
that this can enhance productivity and
the stability of the farm (and wider) ecosystem.
4 A clean and sustainable environment
Organic agriculture is environmentally
friendly as there is no run-off of artificial
fertilizers into the surrounding water
regimes and it does not use any pesticides.
In contrast it aims to increase
the fertility of soils and, in this respect,
is focused on the future. Research has
shown that organic agriculture binds more
CO than conventional systems.
2
5 A beautiful landscape
The ecosystem approach, which promotes
self-regulation, increases the
abundance of species on a farm. In practice
this means more insects, butterflies,
flowers, bushes, birds and amphibians.
An organic farm, with a diversity of crops
has a different appearance than one that
grows the same crop in monocultures.
Many people who visit organic farms
to see how their food is grown find it a
refreshing experience to see the diversity
on display.
6 Connectedness to the producer
There are more and more initiatives which
connect consumers to local or regional
producers, so they can know where their
food is coming from, rather than buying
‘anonymous food’, the origins of which
are not known. Many consumers greatly
appreciate this sort of connectedness and
the transparency it provides. Connectedness
is often related to a desire for a more
responsible, sustainable and healthy lifestyle
and also makes it easier to pursue
these goals – improving the quality of life
of these consumers.
7 A satisfied producer enjoying his/her job
Producers who convert to organic production
often report an increase in job
satisfaction. They develop their craftsmanship
and skills, since organic farming
is not a cookbook of recipes, but requires
making individual decisions appropriate to
specific situations. Producers feel reconnected
to their original motivation for
becoming a farmer.
Awareness of these multiple benefits
motivates consumers to buy organic
produce and to enjoy the knowledge that
they are making a difference through their
shopping basket. This can be empowering
and also have a larger impact: many
stakeholders in the food sector are very
aware of “the power of the shopping
basket”. If one consumer gives up eating
meat for one day a week that means that
two less animals a year will be needed in
the food chain. Likewise, more consumers
eating organic food will have a direct
impact on the organic food chain, and on
the associated ecological functions.
7in1
organic & health
40 1-2011 | ECOLOGY & FARMING ECOLOGY & FARMING | 1-2011 41

y PeTer brul
Rapid development of organic
production after a difficult start
Iran is often in the news for the controversies about its development of
nuclear power systems and other political issues, such as human rights.
It is very rare to hear anything about agriculture in Iran, although it is a
strong agricultural country. Iran has a long agricultural history. The area
around Persepolis in Fars Province (Persia) is, alongside Mesopotamia
(now split between Iraq, Syria, Turkey), the birth place of farming as
we know it.
Iran: An emerging
organic player
The plain near Shiraz is still a highly productive area,
with two harvests a year. Wheat yields can be as
high as 10 tons per hectare. Iran has a huge range of
climatic differences and is able to grow crops ranging
from the sub-tropical to the temperate. Every week,
somewhere in the country, farmers will be planting or
harvesting potatoes. Although it is possible to grow
many different crops, (and many different crops are
exported), organic production started late. The first
attempts were in the nineties, but they were not successful.
The political circumstances were too difficult.
In 2002 two returning emigrants tried again. The first
certified organic production (of sultanas) was in West
Azerbaidzhan, followed by almonds and pistachios
near Isfahan, pomegranates near Shiraz, saffron in
the north eastern province of Mashad, and dates and
citrus fruits in the south.
Today, more than 7.000 organic farms, with 80,000
hectares, produce a wide range of crops, including
roses, rose oil, herbs and liquorice. The European certifiers
Control Union, Ecocert and BCS were the main
certifiers in 2010. Javad Zare, one of the pioneers in
organic agriculture in Iran, expects that the certified
area will expand in 2011 to more than 300,000 hectares.
Although most organic production is for export,
there are also small first signs of a domestic market
emerging. Last year the first organic restaurant opened
its doors in Tehran.
Iran is a country with good natural conditions for organic
production, but it is a difficult country for exportoriented
organic production. The political situation
makes international communications and banking
relations difficult. The heavy bureaucracy does not
make it easy for exporters. Success greatly depends
on developing good local relations. Iranian producers
had a booth at BioFach in 2010 for the first time and
will participate again in the fair this year.
The first Iranian stand at BioFach last year Iran is the homeland of pomegranate, which is
largely used for juice production
Pomegranate
country-reports
42 1-2011 | ECOLOGY & FARMING
ECOLOGY & FARMING | 1-2011 43

The organic sector is backed by robust organic standards and certification
systems and these have helped it become one of the fastest growing sectors of
the food market. There are now over 100 countries exporting certified organic
products and organic trade is expanding at the rate of 15-20% a year. Close to
500 public and private certification bodies now operate in the global organic
marketplace and there are already more than 70 countries with an organic
regulation in place or under development. There are more than 100
different standards used to certify organic products across the world.
by Joelle KaTTo-andriGheTTo
The 5 Services of the new IFOAM
Organic Guarantee System (OGS):
Leading, assisting
and uniting the world
of organic certification
These impressive figures reflect the
growth and the diversity of the organic
sector. Under the umbrella of IFOAM,
the international organic movement has
developed international references such
as the IFOAM Basic Standards for Organic
Production and Processing and the
Principles of Organic Agriculture. In the
past few years, our movement has become
increasingly successful in generating
interest and support from governments,
many of whom have started very serious
organic programmes.
One less-expected development is that
government regulations have become
increasingly important in defining what is
organic and how this should be verified.
Governments are now faced with the
daunting task of working out bilateral
equivalence agreements with one another.
Yet, there is no international governmental
mechanism for establishing multilateral
equivalence of national organic regulations:
often what is recognised as “organic”
in one country is not recognised as organic
in another.
IFOAM believes that there is one common
vision of what organic is, even though
there may be slight differences in the
details of standards and regulations. The
organic movement has proven strong
enough to define this common vision and
to lead the fight against “green-washers”
and those trying to jump on the organic
bandwagon without committing to the
organic principles. Diversity must be
accepted (even encouraged) while preserving
integrity.
The IFOAM Organic Guarantee System
(OGS) draws the line between what is
organic and what is not. IFOAM will promote
those who are admitted into the
system as truly organic and encourage
their mutual recognition through multilateral
equivalence. Being admitted or accredited
within the IFOAM Organic Guarantee
System is, for organic standards and
certification bodies, the most important
endorsement of their organic credibility.
Ultimately, IFOAM aims to have all reputable
organic certification systems within
its OGS.
1 The IFOAM Family of Standards: This service is the core of the IFOAM OGS
and draws the line between organic and non-organic standards. The Family contains
all standards and regulations that have passed an equivalence assessment
against a normative reference approved by IFOAM’s membership. The assessment
is conducted by IFOAM, in accordance with codified equivalence assessment
procedures. Upon approval and publication of a standard in the Family, the results
of this assessment are published on the IFOAM website and in the OGS Courier.
Admission and continued approval in the Family are subject to an admission fee
and annual fees. All organic standard setters/ owners can apply, including governments,
certifying bodies, associations and PGS initiatives. Admission into the
Family grants the use of the Family logo in relation to the standard – it is not a product
logo. IFOAM will encourage all governments and private bodies to make use
of the IFOAM Family of Standards as a basis for equivalence recognitions.
2 The IFOAM Standard: An off-the-shelf organic certification standard maintained
by IFOAM, it is a convenient good practice standard, based on the former
IFOAM Basic Standards. It belongs to the IFOAM Family of Standards. The IFOAM
Standard can be used as a reference in the development of an own organic
standard, as one example of a global organic standard in studies, campaigns,
regulations or any other purpose. Certification bodies and standard managers can
sign a contract with IFOAM to obtain the right to use the IFOAM Standard for certification
or to affirm compliance with it. These clients will also be involved in the
development process of the standard, if they wish.
3 The IFOAM Community of Best Practice Standards: This service will be developed
in the coming years by IFOAM. It will recognize organic standards that lead
the improvement process of Organic Agriculture. Standard owners can apply for
their standard to be recognized as part of the Community of Best Practice. For
admission into this category, standards must have passed an assessment against
the optional Best Practices Requirements contained in the IFOAM Standards
Requirements. Admission will be subject to a one-off admission fee plus an annual
fee and will grant access to the Best Practice logo to be used in relation to the
standard.
4 IFOAM and the Global Organic System Accreditation for Organic Certification Bodies:
These accreditations are based on the IFOAM Accreditation Requirements (former-
ly IFOAM Accreditation Criteria) and certifiers can apply to the IOAS (International
Organic Accreditation Service, a daughter company of IFOAM) to obtain either the
IFOAM Accreditation or the Global Organic System Accreditation. Both accreditations
are conducted by the IOAS and subject to accreditation fees. IFOAM encourages
all governments to recognize the IFOAM and Global Organic System accreditations
as necessary and/or sufficient for access to their organic market.
5 A Global Organic Mark for operators: This mark is available to organic opera-
tors certified to any organic standard or regulation approved in the IFOAM Family
of Standards and certified within a credible system (government-approved or
IFOAM-approved verification system). Use of the mark is permitted on the products
under contract with IFOAM and is subject to a percentage fee.
standards & certification
IFOAM has launched the Family of
Standards via its OGS Courier (sign up for
the latest OGS news via ogs@ifoam.org)
and those who subscribed early to the
IFOAM Family of Standards are already
being promoted during the BioFach 2011
in Nuremberg.
During BioFach 2011, certification bodies
interested in an IFOAM Accreditation or
in a Global Organic System Accreditation
can discuss details with staff from
the IOAS. At the same event, IFOAM is
available to discuss with potential clients
the uptake of the IFOAM Standard as
certification standard. Operators using a
standard that is in the Family and whose
certification body is accredited by IFOAM
or their respective governments, will be
able to start using the Global Organic
Mark immediately after BioFach.
All the OGS service logos are presented
in the February 14, 2011 edition of the
OGS Courier. See www.ifoam.org/ogs for
more information.
44 1-2011 | ECOLOGY & FARMING ECOLOGY & FARMING | 1-2011 45

y vanaja raMprasad
Seed has been the life line of food
production, ever since organized
agriculture began.
Seed,
the life line
of organic
agriculture
The Green Revolution largely benefited
farmers in irrigated areas, the fertilizer
and seed industry and urban consumers.
However, small-scale farmers in dry lands
did not benefit much and often suffered
adverse side effects. For centuries these
farmers have used their heirloom seeds,
to preserve the genetic diversity of their
lands, domesticating crops through the
simple act of selecting seeds for re-
sowing. Saving seeds was part of the
culture and tradition of agriculture. Today,
however, the industrialization of farming
has undermined the role of the farmers in
contributing to seed security.
India was home to over 100,000 rice
varieties. Yet, more than 90 percent of
these have been lost and most of the rest
are on the brink of extinction. Evidence
shows that this severe loss of diversity
India is home to
over 100,000 rice
varieties. Yet, more
than 90 percent of
these have been
lost and the rest
are on the brink of
extinction.
In recent times, the potentials of seeds as a means of technological
intervention in agriculture have captured the attention of the world,
due to commercial interests on the one hand and, on the other, the
urgent need to conserve diversity.
occurred in the transition to modern agriculture
which, through monocropping,
has greatly simplified agricultural processes
and reduced genetic diversity, even
within a single crop. The loss in genetic
diversity affects both domesticated and
wild flora and fauna. Much of the diversity
in India’s irrigated tracts was lost during
the Green Revolution period, while the
dry lands and semi-arid tracts maintained
their diversity, with small-scale, marginal,
farmers playing a major role.
Multi-cropping systems combine species
and structural diversity in time and
space through both vertical and horizontal
organization of the cropping regime.
Such systems have a higher biodiversity
of plants, microbes and animals and this
supports the productivity of crops - even
under stressful conditions - and mediate
the biological recycling of nutrients. In
addition, indigenous local genetic diversity
can provide security against disease
and pathogens, which may well increase
as a result of climate change and conditions
of drought. In the last 15 years, as a
response to changing climatic conditions,
community seed banks for conservation
have been introduced by the Foundation
for Genetic Resource Energy, Ecology
and Nutrition (GREEN). GREEN has learnt
many valuable lessons through working
with small-scale and marginal farmers -
the true custodians of diversity - whose
sustenance is derived from the use of
diverse crops, flora and fauna.
Organic farmers breed crop varieties
for quality, nutrition, resistance and
yield, with practically no external input.
Research has shown that these characteristics
are more likely to be found in older,
native cultivars. In particular, open pollinated
varieties and indigenous breeds have
diverse and regionally adapted characteristics,
suitable to organic agriculture.
In the last decade, the adoption of organic
agriculture has indirectly established
a rescue operation of species, varieties
and breeds, threatened by under-use or
extinction. Of the vast diversity in food
crops, rice, wheat and maize have become
established as the world’s main staple
crops. Indigenous species that have a
high-yield potential and are resistant to
pests and drought, under different soil
and agro climatic conditions, have been
underutilized and neglected.
India’s has many different geographical
regions and a vast genetic diversity with
specific characteristics that have evolved
along with these environments. Varieties
that have been found that are suited to
fragile ecosystems, such as drylands
or saline coastal areas, are being conserved
by farmers’ networks, facilitated
by GREEN. The Green Revolution, with
its focus has on increasing productivity,
through using a narrow genetic base
of high yielding varieties, backed up by
synthetic inputs and increased quantities
of water, led to such local varieties being
neglected. Diversity has special significance
for maintaining and enhancing the
quality and productivity of agricultural
crops. Geneticist Melaku Worede argues
that a wide variety of plant and animal
species provide materials for nutrition,
food, feed, fibre and medicinal uses. Such
diversity is also crucial for sustaining production
systems, improving human diets
and supporting biological systems, and
IFOAM
’s Position
on Seed
agro-biodiversity
Based on several motions during IFOAM’s General Assembly in
Modena in 2008, IFOAM, together with interested stakeholders, has
developed a position on seed. This position should guide organic stakeholders
in the development of their seed policies, in terms of research,
advice, communication and setting standards. In September 2010, a
consultation on the draft seed position paper was launched among
stakeholders and this has provoked a heated debate. A synthesis of this
discussion is now ready for the approval of IFOAM’s World Board and
will be published soon with more details in Ecology and Farming.
46 1-2011 | ECOLOGY & FARMING ECOLOGY & FARMING | 1-2011 47

are essential for the sustainability of local
communities.
There is a need for a wide gene pool in
order to improve and multiply genetic
resources for food and agriculture. Breeding
requires access to seeds and breeds
from both the formal and informal sectors.
Open pollinated varieties, which represent
an important gene pool for resource-poor
farmers living in marginalized and stressprone
areas, are rapidly vanishing. They
are being replaced by a very limited number
of hybrid varieties that require inputs
that are not affordable to poor farmers
and which entail dependence on large
seed companies and increased quantities
of water.
IFOAM is developing a position on organic
seed which seeks to promote the
co-existence of the formal seed sector
and the informal (peasant) propagation in
order to increase agricultural biodiversity.
This will involve IFOAM in lobbying for the
establishment of an open source public
domain for varieties that are not protected
by intellectual property rights, so they can
be freely bred, propagated and traded by
farmers, without having resort to invasive
technologies.
Many organic farmers, especially in the
horticulture sector, have begun to produce
their own seeds. In doing so, they
have often had to rescue local varieties
and develop their own systems of selection
and distribution, including seed
exchanges between farmers (e.g. village
organic seed banks). Farmers who save
their own seeds can gradually increase
crop resistance to pests and diseases
by breeding for horizontal resistance.
This describes the ability of a crop to
resist many or all strains of a particular
pest (and differs from breeding for vertical
resistance, in which the focus is on
developing a gene that can resist one
specific strain of a disease). By exposing
a population of plants to a certain disease
48 1-2011 | ECOLOGY & FARMING
or pest (or to several pests at one time)
and then selecting a group of the most
resistant plants and interbreeding them
for several generations, the resistance of
the population can be increased. Horizontally
resistant cultivars are well adapted to
the environment in which they are bred,
but may be less suitable for other growing
conditions.
There are several challenges involved in
promoting and conserving varietal diversity
within species. These include: the
loss of indigenous knowledge about seed,
poor timing of seed sowing (in relation to
rainfall), poor local processing facilities,
lack of opportunities for adding value and
poor market access.
There is growing resistance to the widespread
notions that food and seed are
merely commodities to be traded and
genetically manipulated. In the last
decade, food and agriculture have been
caught in the clutches of biotechnology
and genetic engineering, which is being
offered as a solution to reduce hunger
and malnutrition through higher yields.
There are serious doubts about the socalled
‘pro-poor biotech’ that is emerging.
Local companies riding on the back of
the biotechnolgy revolution are more
concerned with serving the interests of
multinational companies than meeting the
needs of marginal farmers. Bt cotton provides
a concrete example. Bt is the gene-
ric designation for seeds that have had a
gene from the soil bacteria bacillus thuringensis
(Bt) added to them. This gene enables
the plant to produce a protein that is
toxic to some types of insects, especially
the American boll worm. Currently more
than half the pesticides used in India are
sprayed on cotton.
As farmers in India got on the pesticide
treadmill, more chemicals were required,
‘justifying’ the need for Bt cotton. But Bt
cotton does not offer a solution, or alternative
to using pesticides, since cotton
is attacked by seventeen other pests and
these require frequent and prolonged use
of pesticides. The large-scale introduction
of Bt cotton has been resisted because it
also has implications for monopoly control
and creating dependence for seed
and other inputs.
Similarly, Golden Rice has been promoted
as a way of alleviating malnutrition and
blindness among rice-dependent populations.
Hunger in the midst of plenty is the
hallmark of today’s patterns of development.
India’s food production levels peaked
at around 209 million tones in the year
2000, yet even then some 42 percent of
the rural population consumed less than
the recommended minimum 2430 Kcals
per day. Inadequate calorie consumption
is particularly prevalent among farm households
with less than one acre and the
landless households.
More recently civil society mounted a
persuasive campaign against introducing
genetically engineered brinjal into India.
This campaign won the support of sensitive
scientists and farmers, and the move
to allow GM brinjal was put on hold.
While an encouraging result, this represented
more a coma, rather than a full
stop, on attempts to introduce genetically
engineered food crops into the country.
Dr. Vanaja Ramprasad is Founder of the
GREEN Foundation and IFOAM World
Board Member
FEBRUARY - DECEMBER 2011 //
FEBRUARY 15th 2011
IFOAM Summit / Member
Meeting BioFach 2011
Nürnberg, Germany
www.ifoam.org/ifoamsummit2011
FEBRUARY 16-19th 2011
BioFach Nürnberg 2011
Nürnberg, Germany
www.ifoam.org/biofach2011
MAY 12-15th 2011
Ekoloji Izmir 2011, 10th Organic
Product Fair
Izmir, Turkey
ekolojiizmir.izfas.com.tr
MAY 26-28th, 2011
BioFach China 2011
Shanghai, China
www.biofach-china.com
SEPTEMBER 22-24th 2011
BioFach America 2011
Baltimore, USA
www.biofach-america.com
SEPTEMBER 26th -
OCTOBER 5th 2011
17th Organic World Congress
2011
Gyeonggi Paldang, South Korea
www.kowc2011.org
OCTOBER 3-5th 2011
IFOAM General Assembly 2011
Gyeonggi Paldang, South Korea
www.ifoam.org/GA2011
OCTOBER 5th-7th 2011
BioFach America Latina 2011
Sao Paulo, Brazil
www.biofach-americalatina.com
Calen
dar
Items
NOVEMBER 1-3rd 2011
BioFach Japan 2011
Tokyo, Japan
www.biofach-japan.com
DECEMBER 5-7th 2011
Middle East Natural & Organic
Products Expo 2011
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
www.naturalproductme.com
DECEMBER 14-16th 2011
BioFach India 2011
Mumbai, India
www.biofach-india.com
“Healthy ow of money in society”
Our Mission
• Explain and promote sustainable agriculture and animal production in its productive chain,
aiming health and life integrity of humans, animals, plants, water, earth and air.
Our activities:
• Organization of national and international seminars and conferences. In 2010 the focus has
been public health and quality of living in relation to food security and food origin;
• High quality level networking in universities, industry, government, medical and consumer
associations, sustainability orientation;
• Support of small communities, who strive to protect the social, health, gender, economic
sound and environment aspects of common living. Municipality impacts of global warming
and food security;
• Support of industries who seek quality and safety in their products;
• Networking in the NGO world;
• Consultancy and observatories in medicine, toxicology, agriculture, law and food.
Etica da Terra /Instituto Ita Wegman do Brasil has won a special status -OSCIP- from the
Ministry of Justice in Brasil in 2010.
Contact
Josiana Arippol
E-mail: josiana@eticadaterra.org
Tel: +55 11 3443-6423
Av. Brig. Faria Lima, 3729-4 o /5 o andares
CEP: 04538-905 São Paulo/SP/Brasil
Josiana Arippol
E-mail: josiana@institutoitawegmandobrasil.org
Tel: +55 11 3443-6397
Av. Brig. Faria Lima, 3729-4 o /5 o andares
CEP: 04538-905 São Paulo/SP/Brasil

APRIL 2011 // NR 2
Coming up in the next issue of
Ecology and Farming (April 2011)
Greenhouse horticulture: a reaction to the article by
Mike Nichols. Should we allow aquaponics in organic
greenhouses, or should we stick to soil-based horticulture?
This debate will have a big impact on the future
development of organic greenhouse horticulture and for
existing gardeners.
Organic and Health: Machteld Hüber (author of ‘Buy 7
in 1’) continues with a summary of scientific research on
the relative health effects of organic and conventional products.
Cocoa: the large players in the cocoa market follow
both the short term interests of consumers and a long
term interest in sustainable production. What prospects
are there for the cocoa market being more organic and
fairer?
Integrity: the organic is now worth 50 billion dollars
a year and continues to grow rapidly. That makes it
attractive for many entrepreneurs. A group of experts on
inspection and certification is worried about the integrity
of the organic seal and is trying to close the gaps between
legislation, standards, inspection and certification on the
one hand and the harsh reality on the ground on the other.
A report from the ‘fraud team’.
Publisher
Jaap van Westering
Editorial staff
Peter Brul (editor in chief)
Denise Godinho
Nick Parrott
Contributors to this issue
Alexandre Harkaly, Denise Godinho,
Edith Lammers van Buren, Mike Nichols,
Markus Arbenz, Peter Brul, Inge Vos,
Hartwig Mennen, Marina Goldinberg,
Machteld Hüber, Vanaja Ramprasad,
and Nelleke Veenstra.
Editorial office
P.O.Box 696
3740 AP Baarn, The Netherlands
T +31 35 88 735 31
F +31 35 54 241 19
E p.brul@ecologyandfarming.com
W www.ecologyandfarming.com
Lay-out
Vilarrica bv, Baarn, The Netherlands
Maurice Spithoven (design)
Annemieke Praamstra
Print
Drukkerij van Amerongen,
The Netherlands - FSC certified
Soil quality: “the loss of soil quality might be even more
important for the future than climate change”. A discussion
between soil scientists about the need for better soil
management strategies in organic agriculture.
Salt tolerant crops: producing and marketing of a new
range of organic crops. The organic solution for agriculture
in saline areas.
Country report: Turkey, the world leader in the organic
production of dried fruits and nuts, is developing new
programmes for organic production, through exports and
developing the domestic market.
And more news, opinions facts and figures about organic
farmers and market gardeners, companies, innovations
in agriculture and market developments.
Advert acquisition
Van Westering Groep bv
Baarn, The Netherlands
T +31 35 88 735 31
In the
next
Issue!
CONTACT
Subscriber administration
P.O.Box 696
3740 AP Baarn, The Netherlands
E subscriptions@ecologyandfarming.com
W www.ecologyandfarming.com
Subscription
Annual fee (2011), frequency of 6 x per year:
Companies € 120,-
NGO’s € 90,-
IFOAM members can get a reduction of 50%
Ecology and Farming is published by Van Westering Groep bv, Netherlands, under the auspices of IFOAM
Our organic seeds
grow your success
Rijk Zwaan is a world-leading specialist in
creating high-quality vegetable varieties; also for the organic
market. We do this through innovative research & development,
led by the needs of our customers. It is our aim to be a
knowledgeable, collaborative partner, with infinite respect for
the environment. Rijk Zwaan. www.rijkzwaan.com
423797RZW_adv187x126.indd 1 03-02-11 09:17
50 1-2011 | ECOLOGY & FARMING ECOLOGY & FARMING | 1-2011 51

52 1-2011 | ECOLOGY & FARMING