Organic agriculture: sustainability, markets and policies : [OECD Workshop on Organic Agriculture, held on 23 - 26 September 2002 in Washington, DC]

375 Pages·2003·2.22 MB·English

by  OECD

«
Organic Agriculture
SUSTAINABILITY,
MARKETS AND POLICIES
Agriculture and Food
Agriculture and Food
Agriculture and Food
Agriculture and Food
Agriculture and Food
Agriculture and Food
Agriculture and Food
Agriculture and Food
Agriculture and Food
Agriculture and Food
Agriculture and Food
Organic Agriculture:
Sustainability, Markets
and Policies
ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT
ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION
AND DEVELOPMENT
Pursuant to Article 1 of the Convention signed in Paris on 14th December 1960, and which came
into force on 30th September 1961, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD) shall promote policies designed:
– to achieve the highest sustainable economic growth and employment and a rising standard of
living in member countries, while maintaining financial stability, and thus to contribute to the
development of the world economy;
– to contribute to sound economic expansion in member as well as non-member countries in the
process of economic development; and
– to contribute to the expansion of world trade on a multilateral, non-discriminatory basis in
accordance with international obligations.
The original member countries of the OECD are Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France,
Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain,
Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. The following countries
became members subsequently through accession at the dates indicated hereafter: Japan
(28thApril1964), Finland (28th January 1969), Australia (7thJune1971), New Zealand (29thMay1973),
Mexico (18thMay 1994), the Czech Republic (21st December 1995), Hungary (7th May 1996), Poland
(22ndNovember 1996), Korea (12thDecember1996) and the Slovak Republic (14th December 2000). The
Commission of the European Communities takes part in the work of the OECD (Article 13 of the OECD
Convention).
© OECD 2003
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FOREWORD
The OECD Workshop on Organic Agriculture, hosted by the United States authorities, was held on
23-26 September 2002 in Washington DC. The Workshop was part of the OECD work programme on
agriculture and the environment under the auspices of the Joint Working Party on Agriculture and the
Environment (JWP). It offered an opportunity to share knowledge and experiences on a range of issues regarding
organic agriculture, in particular:
(cid:1) defining organic production and analysing how organic farming systems differ from “integrated” or
“conventional” systems in terms of structure, characteristics and environmental effects;
(cid:1) reviewing the current and projected growth in the supply and demand for organic products;
(cid:1) improving knowledge of the conditions under which organic agricultural systems are economically
efficient with least risk to the environment (i.e. sustainable) on the basis of empirical evidence
comparing it with other systems;
(cid:1) identifying market and policy successes, and market and policy failures hindering the development of
organic agriculture;
(cid:1) outlining policies, including market-based approaches, that have been used to develop organic
agriculture (from conversion assistance through to output subsidies), and to regulate organic food
(accreditation, certification and labelling); and
(cid:1) identifying trade issues arising from domestic policy measures to develop organic products, including
impacts on developing countries.
Over 140 participants, including representatives from 21 OECD countries and one non-OECD
country, attended. In addition, there were participants from academia, and a range of international government
and non-governmental organisations, representing farmers, consumers, organic associations, agri-business and
environmental interests.
The Workshop covered three broad themes: examining organic agriculture’s contribution to
sustainability; the market for organic products, including issues facing agents along the product chain from
producers to consumers; and policy approaches, including market-based initiatives. Each of the themes was
explored in depth, with a general overview paper supported by specific country examples. Plenty of time was
provided for interaction and discussion among participants. Included in the Workshop was a one-day study visit
to a United States’ Department of Agriculture research station and an organic farm.
In this collection of papers, the reader will find a wealth of material relating to organic agriculture in
OECD countries. We hope that it will contribute to the current and future debate on organic farming, particularly
in the context of policy reform and the advancement of policies for sustainable development. It is not an
exhaustive analysis of the issues. Many questions and issues remain, with the need for further multi-disciplined
analysis. This work is published under the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD.
Stefan Tangermann
Director
Directorate for Food, Agriculture and Fisheries
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
These proceedings bring together papers from the OECD Workshop on Organic Agriculture, held in
Washington DC, on 23-26 September 2002. The Secretariat gratefully acknowledges the voluntary financial
contributions from the host country, the United States, as well Belgium, Denmark, Korea and Japan, which made
this Workshop possible.
The Workshop was organised by the OECD in close collaboration with the United States’ Department
of Agriculture. For the OECD, Darryl Jones was responsible for the organisation of the Workshop, with initial
preparations being undertaken by Outi Honkatukia, and assistance provided from Wilfrid Legg and
Laetitia Reille. Catherine Greene and Carolyn Dimitri of the USDA Economic Research Service co-ordinated the
American input, with the help of Cathi Ferguson and Leslee Lowstuter. Thanks to all those who provided papers
and contributed to the success of the discussions. Darryl Jones edited the papers, with the assistance of
Theresa Poincet, Michèle Patterson and Françoise Bénicourt, who also prepared the final publication.
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Table of Contents

Conclusions and recommendations 9

Introduction
Organic agriculture, sustainability and policy 17
Darryl Jones
What is organic agriculture? What I learned from my transition 31
Bill Liebhardt

Part I.
Organic Agriculture and Sustainability
Chapter 1. Organic Agriculture and the Environment — Overview

Organic agriculture and sustainability: environmental aspects 51
Stephan Dabbert
Organic farming and nature conservation 65
Walter Vetterli, Richard Perkins, Jason Clay and Elizabeth Guttenstein
The biodiversity benefits of organic farming 77
Hannah Bartram and Allan Perkins
Productivity of organic and conventional cropping systems 95
Tom Bruulsema

Chapter 2. Organic Agriculture and the Environment — Case Studies

Considerations of the environmental and animal welfare benefits of organic 103
agriculture in the Netherlands
Eric Regouin
Soil quality of organically managed citrus orchards in the Mediterranean area 115
Stefano Canali
Energy balance comparison of organic and conventional farming 127
Tommy Dalgaard, Michael Kelm, Michael Wachendorf, Friedhelm Taube and
Randi Dalgaard

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Chapter 3. Economic and Social Aspects of Organic Agriculture

The profitability of organic farming in Europe 141
Hiltrud Nieberg and Frank Offermann
Farm-level impacts of organic production systems 153
James Hanson
Economic perspectives of Korean organic agriculture 157
Chang-Gil Kim
A social agenda for organic agriculture 171
Thomas Cierpka and Bernward Geier

Part II.
The Organic Market
Chapter 4. Marketing and Trading Issues for Organic Products

The organic market in OECD countries: past growth, current status 179
and future potential
David Hallam
Emerging issues in the marketing and trade of organic products 187
Daniele Giovannucci
International harmonisation of organic standards and guarantee systems 199
Diane Bowen
International and national standards and their impact on trade: 203
the Swiss perspective
Patrik Aebi

Chapter 5. Issues for Producers of Organic Products

What are the key issues faced by organic producers? 207
Els Wynen
Pollution threats to organic production and products 221
Michel Helfter
To convert or not to convert to organic farming 227
Eric Regouin

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Chapter 6. Issues for Consumers of Organic Products

What are the key issues for consumers? 239
William Lockeretz
Organic agriculture: the consumers’ perspective 245
Bjarne Pedersen
Consumer preferences for organic foods 257
Mette Weir, Lars Gaarn Hansen, Laura Moerch Andersen and Katrin Millock

Part III.
Policy Approaches to Organic Agriculture
Chapter 7. Labelling, Standards and Regulations

The role of government standards and market facilitation 277
Kathleen Merrigan
The impact of consumer standards and market facilitation in Korea 285
Gi-Hun Kim
Organic agriculture and national legislation in Turkey 289
Meral Ozkan
Organic agriculture in Japan: development of a labelling scheme 295
and production policies
Yukio Yokoi
Organic farming in Poland: past, present and future perspectives 301
Jozef Tyburski

Chapter 8. Conversion and Support Payments

From conversion payments to integrated action plans in the European Union 313
Nicolas Lampkin
The influence of the EU Common Agricultural Policy on the competitiveness 329
of organic farming
Frank Offermann
Norwegian experience with conversion and support payments for 337
organic farming
Kristin Orlund
Do support payments for organic farming achieve environmental 345
goals efficiently?
Lars-Bo Jacobsen

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Chapter 9. Research, Information and Communication

The role of research, information and communication 367
Johannes Michelsen
New Zealand’s organic agriculture: the government’s role 379
Peter Kettle
INRA and organic farming: towards a research programme 383
Bertil Sylvander and Stephane Bellon
Dutch policy on organic agriculture: a market-oriented approach 393
Gabrielle Nuytens-Vaarkamp
Ways to improve the organic food chain: a consumer-oriented approach 399
Bettina Brandtner and Erhard Hoebaus
Organic food for public institutions 401
Thomas Rech

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CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS1
Main conclusions and recommendations
Organic agriculture is expanding in all OECD countries to meet increasing consumer demand, although it still
only accounts for a relatively small share of agricultural production and food consumption. It is no longer limited
to those farmers for whom organic production is a holistic life-style, selling through specialist outlets, but has
extended into the mainstream of the agri-food chain as an economic opportunity to satisfy a niche market at
premium prices. Organic farming is generally more environmentally friendly than conventional agriculture but
may require more land in some countries to provide the same amount of food and often requires more labour in
place of purchased fertilisers, pesticides and animal health care products.
In most OECD countries, organic farming information, standards, certification and labelling are in place or being
developed by the organic sector and governments, intended to aid consumer choice. But the proliferation of
labels and standards can confuse consumers, and differences between schemes can impede international trade.
In most countries, market forces largely drive the development of the organic sector but a number of
governments, mostly in Europe, offer financial incentives to farmers to convert to, and continue in, organic
production on the basis that some environmental benefits are not captured in the market. Such incentives are
higher than would otherwise be the case where existing support to agriculture raises the cost of entry into organic
production. There has also been some shift in publicly financed agricultural research towards organic systems,
while in a few countries procurement policies feature the purchase of organic food by public institutions.
The OECD could contribute to the identification of appropriate policy practice by monitoring and evaluating
developments in policy approaches to organic agriculture, including market-based approaches, and facilitating
dialogue with stakeholders.
Background
The focus of the Workshop was on policy approaches to organic farming, including market-
based instruments in contributing to the economic, environmental and social dimensions of
sustainable agriculture. The organic sector is changing rapidly and the Workshop was an opportunity
to take stock of developments by bringing together a wide range of stakeholders and to share
experiences of how policies in different countries are influencing those developments.
The development of organic agriculture
The organic sector at the turn of the century is broadly estimated to be worth
USD 26 billion world-wide and is generally the most rapidly growing sector of agriculture, at anything
between 15-30% annually, albeit from a very low base. Organic agriculture on average accounts for
about 2% of total agricultural output across the OECD, but varies considerably, from under 0.2% in
the United States to over 10% in some European countries. The main organic markets are in fruits and
vegetables, fresh poultry and eggs, and fresh milk, butter and cheese, although cereals are important in
some countries.

1. These conclusions and recommendations have been prepared under the responsibility of the OECD
Secretariat and do not necessarily reflect the views of OECD Member countries and participants at the
Workshop.
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