New impulses for continued growth: latest statistics on organic farming worldwide

Published in North Texan E News, Aug 23, 2013

By Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) and the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements PR

1.8 million farmers in 162 countries grow organically on more than 37 million hectares of agricultural land worldwide (2011). The global market for organic food reaches 62.9 billion US dollars, which is 4 billion more than reported for 2010. IFOAM  and FiBL  initiatives lay the foundation for further growth: The United Nations Forum on Sustainability Standards (UNFSS), the Best Practice Reference consultation (SOAAN) and the global organic science platform (TIPI).

“200,000 new organic farmers, this is good news for the environment and for the social and economic development of rural areas”, says IFOAM president and Australian organic farmer Andre Leu. In fact, the results of the latest annual global survey on organic agriculture conducted by FiBL and IFOAM show evidence of continued growth. Past investments have clearly paid off and three new initiatives are now paving the way for investments in future growth and expansion:

Organic is spearheading sustainability standards at UNFSS: The UN launches a new initiative: The United Nations Forum on Sustainability Standards (UNFSS) creates economic and social development opportunities. Both IFOAM and FiBL are contributing to the experiences made in the organic world that are accumulated in the Global Organic Market Access project. The Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) has confirmed its support for the future UNFSS cluster on harmonization and equivalence. The increased recognition of the IFOAM Family of Standards and the recent equivalence agreements between the US and EU or Canada and Switzerland are important steps, which have attracted the UN’s attention and will drive further development in the organic industry.

Best Practice Reference in consultation: Following a year of intensive visioning, discussing and internal drafting, the Sustainable Organic Agriculture Action Network (SOAAN) – launched at BioFach 2012 – presents a Best Practice Reference for Agriculture and its value chain. It defines and details, for the first time ever in the history of organic agriculture, how agriculture will look in practice once we achieve the objective of sustainable agriculture.

TIPI, The Technology Innovation Platform of IFOAM: This year sees BioFach host its first science event to which FiBL and IFOAM have invited scientists from all over the world. More than 100 professionals debate the vision for organic agricultural research and launch the first global science network as part of the Global Organic Movement. Andre Leu emphasizes, “given the current debates on agriculture, it is critical to the future of organic systems that these are both science and evidence based. The establishment of this platform is a key step in closing the gap the industry currently has here”.

 Global Statistics 2013: The market, the producers, and the area