The knowledge synthesis “Organic agriculture in a global perspective”

Background

The Danish Research Centre for Organic Farming (DARCOF) has initiated a knowledge synthesis on organic agriculture in a global perspective to provide a basis for launching a new research effort in this area.

The work will be performed by a group of Danish experts from a wide range of relevant fields in cooperation with international experts. Two international workshops are planned during 2004. The first international workshop was held on the 22nd ad 23rd of April 2004 aiming at giving inputs to the knowledge synthesis, discussing the issue and clarifying ambiguous concepts. On the second international workshop the results will be presented and discussed and the work will be reported in an English-language DARCOF report. As a supplement to the workshops there is a website (http://ecowiki.org/GlobalPerspective), where preliminary results are presented and inputs such as comments and questions can be given.

Globalisation and sustainable development is emphasized as two of the most prevalent discourses of the last decades. The knowledge synthesis should, with the point of departure in the increasing globalisation and the production of food and fodder, provide an overview of the potential role of organic agriculture in a global perspective. The work should include sustainability and fair trade as important considerations. Furthermore the role and contributions of Danish and European research in organic farming in this perspective should be discussed.

• See also Detailed proposal for knowledge synthesis here
• See also Short introduction here

Five key questions

The work should address five key questions: To which extent and under which circumstances:

1. Can organic production contribute to global food security? How?
2. Can organic production in developing countries contribute to a sustainable development? How?
3. Can organic certification protect natural resources, improve work conditions, etc.? How?
4. Can a fair global trade with organic products be realized? How?
5. Can organic research in high-income countries benefit organic agriculture in low-income countries? How?

Status

The work on the knowledge synthesis is now progressing. The first international workshop Organic farming in a global perspective - globalisation, sustainable development and ecological justice was held on 22.−23. of April 2004 in Copenhagen. The report outline is laid down and the work on writ-ing the chapters for the report is progressing positively.

Workshop on 22- 23 April 2004 in Copenhagen

Experts from USA, Sweden, Austria, The Netherlands and Denmark were invited to give presenta-tions on the international workshop. The speakers had furthermore prepared a draft for a chapter in the report.

PROGRAMME:
Thursday 22 April 2004:

1. Welcome (Thomas Hartung, chairman of the board, DARCOF).
2. Introduction to the workshop (Erik Steen Kristensen, Director, DARCOF).
3. “Globalisation, sustainable development and future commons” (John Byrne, director of the Cen-tre for Energy and Environmental Policy, University of Delaware).
4. “Free trade, agricultural policy and organic farming” (Christian Friis Bach, The Royal Veteri-nary and Agricultural University, Department of Food Economics).
5. “Soil fertility depletion in Africa: What is the role of organic agriculture?” (John Pender, Senior Research Fellow, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Environment and Pro-duction Technology Division).
6. Introduction to group work (Niels Halberg, Senior Scientist, Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Agroecology).
7. Group work.

Friday 23 April 2004:

1. “Sustainable development, globalisation and organic farming – an ecological economics per-spective” (Peter Söderbaum, Mälerdalen University, Department of Business Studies and In-formatics).
2. “The real green revolution: environmentally and socially responsible farming” (Nicholas Parrot, University of Wageningen)
3. “What rich organics might mean for poor organics – research and trade” (Michael Hauser, As-sistant Professor, University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, BOKU, Vienna, Department of Sustainable Agricultural Systems.
4. Group work.
5. Presentation of group work.

Participants were divided into three groups working on:

• “Globalisation and trade in organic products”
• “Sustainable food production systems in developed and developing countries”
• “Institutions, distributional effects and ecological justice”

Outline of the report

On the basis of presentations, discussions and group work at the workshop the outline of the report and chapters was made. The report will consist of twelve chapters plus an introduction and a syn-thesis chapter. Six of the chapters are based on workshop presentations. Every chapter has a main author and two or more co-authors. The structure in the DARCOF report will thus be:

0. Introduction

Status and concepts
1. Global trends in agriculture in relation to sustainability (Marie Trydeman Knudsen et al.)
2. Globalisation, sustainable development, and ecological justice: the role of organic agriculture (John Byrne et al.)

Trade and economy
3. Organic farming in a world of free trade (Chr. Friis Bach et al.)
4. Ecological economics in relation to organic food production and marketing (Peter Söderbaum et al.)

Farming systems
5. Review of organic farming in developing countries (Nicholas Parrot et al.)
6. Typologies of organic production forms in relation to IFOAM principles (Michael Hauser et al.)
7. Possibilities for closing the nutrient cycles at different scales (Karen Refsgaard et al.)
8. Soil fertility depletion and organic farming (John Pender et al.)

World food supply
9. Veterinary medicine and organic livestock production (Mette Vaarst et al.)
10. Deleted
11. The impact of organic farming on food security in regional and global perspective (Niels Halberg et al.)

Knowledge
12. Proposal for a regionalized global research programme for organic production methods (Henrik Egelyng et al.)

Synthesis
13. Synthesis: The potentials and pitfalls of organic farming in a globalised world and the con-tribution to world food supply

Time schedule

The chapters for the report will be written in cooperation between author and co-authors until the 1st of November 2004.

The final report is expected to be ready at the 1st of December 2004.