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Organic agriculture is an increasingly important part of the agriculture sector. Its environmental and economic benefits have
captured the attention of many countries. Consumer demand for organically produced food and fibres products - and society's
demand for more sustainable development - provide new opportunities for farmers and businesses around the world.
It also presents new challenges for FAO. In particular, member countries need advice and information on the potential of organic
agriculture to contribute to sustainability in order to direct research, extension efforts, and tap national and international market
opportunities.
Organic agriculture:
offers the opportunity to discover, through traditional knowledge and modern science blending, new and innovative production
technologies;
provides market opportunities;
promotes the national and international public debate on sustainability by creating awareness of environmental and social
concerns that merit attention.
FAO has the responsibility to give organic agriculture a legitimate place within sustainable agriculture programmes and to assist
member countries in their efforts to respond to farmer and consumer demand in this sector.
Collaboration with IFOAM
FAO held, from 19 to 20 March 1998, a brainstorming meeting with the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements
(IFOAM) aimed at defining future FAO's involvement in organic agriculture and identifying potential areas of collaboration between
FAO and IFOAM (see Conclusions and recommendations or download full report).
Subsequently, FAO participated in IFOAM's Scientific Conference in Mar del Plata, Argentina, 16-19 November 1998, and
presented the document "Evaluating the potential contribution of organic agriculture to sustainability goals". Users may download
the full document (Word 6.0 for Windows, zipped, 40K) or browse the following summary:
Introduction
Defining organic agriculture
Growing interest in organic agriculture
Evaluating the potential of organic agriculture:
Difficulties in evaluating the feasibility of organic agriculture
Issues for scrutiny when contemplating a shift to organic agriculture
Potential impacts
Summary and conclusions
FAO Committee on Agriculture
The FAO Committee on Agriculture met in Rome on 25-29 January 1999. It considered a position paper on Organic Agriculture,
COAG/99/9 (see paper in English, French and Spanish), and provided guidance, in its Report (also in English, French, Spanish),
on how FAO might best shape a coherent programme on organic agriculture. IFOAM presented a position document at this
meeting.
Document COAG/99/9, approved by the Committee on Agriculture, represents the FAO position on organic agriculture. The
document defines organic agriculture, according to the proposed FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius definition. It discusses the
opportunities and constraints of organic agriculture from the perspectives of markets, farm productivity, and environmental
impacts and sustainability.
It considers public policies that influence the adoption of organic agriculture. It proposes a cross-sectoral FAO programme in
organic agriculture with several distinct functions, all aimed at enabling member countries to make informed choices about
organic management.
Codex Alimentarius Commission
The FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission, the highest international body on food standards, met in Rome from 28 June to
3 July. The Commission adopted international "Guidelines for production, processing, labelling and marketing of organically
produced foods" (downloadable here in PDF format in English, French and Spanish).
The standards clearly define the nature of organic food production and prevent claims that could mislead consumers about the
quality of the product or the way it is produced. The final objective is to provide the consumer with a choice while giving
assurances that organic agricultural standards have been met.
Organic Agriculture Programme
Following FAO governing bodies' recommendation to develop a cross-sectoral programme on organic agriculture, an
inter-departmental working group has been established to initiate and implement activities. The organic agriculture programme
collaborates and builds partnerships with interested institutions including national organic programmes or associations; NGOs
such as the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM); and national and international research centres.
Activities will focus on five main functions:
provision of information on organic production and trade through studies, statistics, networks and fora;
facilitation of research and extension to respond to the multi-disciplinary needs of organic agriculture;
institutional support and policy advice for members countries to fully understand the magnitude of the organic sector;
technical assistance for developing skills, organic standards and certification capacities;
and pilot projects that explore and promote feasible organic agricultural techniques.
Information base
The Environment and Natural Resources Service (SDRN) is developing the information basis for organic agriculture. An
annotated list of links to organic agriculture web sites has been compiled as well as a list of meetings related to organic
agriculture.
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