Minou Yussefi’s scientific contributions

The World of Organic Agriculture: Statistics and Emerging Trends

The 2008 edition of this annual publication documents recent developments in global organic agriculture. It includes contributions from representatives of the organic sector from throughout the world and provides comprehensive organic farming statistics that cover surface area under organic management, numbers of farms and specific information about commodities and land use in organic systems. The book also contains information on the global market of the burgeoning organic sector, the latest developments in organic certification, standards and regulations, and insights into current status and emerging trends for organic agriculture by continent. For this edition, all statistical data and regional review chapters have been thoroughly updated. Completely new chapters on organic agriculture in the Pacific, on the International Task Force on Harmonization and Equivalence in Organic Agriculture and on organic aquaculture have been added.

In this chapter, we present the main results of the 2007 global survey on organic land area, land use and organic farms carried out by SOEL and FiBL

According to the survey, currently almost 31 million hectares of farmland are under organic management worldwide. The study presents the latest organic farming statistics including land use data, continent reports and reports about general developments in organic farming.

It is generally acknowledged that organic agriculture can contribute to socio-economic and ecologically sustainable development, especially in poorer countries. The market for organic products is growing and offers producers and exporters in the South opportunities to improve their incomes and living conditions. But what role does organic farming play in the poorer countries? Some current data are presented in this paper, based on the global survey on organic farming carried out annually by the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL and the Foundation Ecology and Agriculture SOEL in co-operation with the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements IFOAM. Organic agriculture is developing rapidly and is now practiced in more than 120 countries of the world. Its share of agricultural land and farms continues to grow in many countries. According to the latest survey (Willer/Yussefi 2007), almost 31 million hectares of agricultural land are managed organically (data as of end 2005). This constitutes 0.7% of the agricultural land of the countries (123) covered by the survey. In total, Oceania holds 39% of the world’s organic land, followed by Europe (23%) and Latin America (19%). Currently, the country with the largest organic area is Australia (11.8 million hectares). The proportion of organically compared to conventionally managed land, however, is highest in Europe. In the European Union almost 4% of the land is under organic management.

Mehr als 31 Millionen Hektar der landwirtschaftlichen Nutzfläche weltweit werden mittlerweile von 623174 Betrieben ökologisch bewirtschaftet.Hinzu kommen weitere 19,7 Millionen Hektar, auf denen ökologische Waldwirtschaft und Wildsammlung betrieben wird. Die größte Bio-Fläche befindet sich mit 12,1 Millionen Hektar in Australien, gefolgt von China (3,5 Millionen Hektar) und Argentinien (2,8 Millionen Hektar). Den vierten Platz im weltweiten Vergleich belegt Italien mit etwa 950000 Hektar, die USA und Brasilien liegen gleichauf mit je knapp 900 000 Hektar. Deutschland folgt auf Platz sieben (fast 800000 Hektar). Der größte Teil der globalen Bio-Fläche liegt mit 39 Prozent in Ozeanien, gefolgt von Europa (21 Prozent), Lateinamerika (20 Prozent),Asien (13 Prozent),Nordamerika (vier Prozent) und Afrika (drei Prozent).Was den Anteil der Bio-Fläche an der gesamten landwirtschaftlichen Nutzfläche angeht, so sind die europäischen Alpenländer – die Schweiz zum Beispiel mit mehr als zehn Prozent – sowie Skandinavien Spitzenreiter. Deutschland liegt mit 4,5 Prozent im internationalen Vergleich an dreizehnter Stelle. Die meisten Bio-Betriebe befinden sich in Lateinamerika.

In 1999, BioFach/Oekowelt GmbH commissioned Foundation Ecology & Agriculture SOEL to compile statistical data and general information on organic agriculture world-wide. Since then this study has been revised annually, and the newest figures are regularly presented at Biofach, which takes place in Nuremberg, Germany, every year. Since the 2003 edition the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL and the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) have collaborated in this project. For the sixth edition, February 2004, the reports were newly written or revised and the statistical material was up-dated. An extensive chapter on standards and regulations was added. The main findings can be summarised as follows: • Organic agriculture is practised in almost all countries of the world, and its share of agricultural land and farms is growing. The total organically managed area is more than 24 million hectares world-wide. In addition, the area of certified “wild harvested plants” is at least a further 10.7 million hectares, according to various certification bodies. • The market for organic products is growing, not only in Europe and North America (which are the major markets) but also in many other countries. It is valued at 23 billion USD (2002). • Official interest in organic agriculture is emerging in many countries, shown by the fact that many countries have a fully implemented regulation on organic farming or are in the process of drafting regulations. Contents 1 Preface 2 Introduction Minou Yussefi and Mike Mitschke 2.1 General Overview 2.2 Methodology 2.3 Information Resources 2.4 Literature 3 Development and State of Organic Agriculture World-wide Minou Yussefi 4 Overview of the Global Market for Organic Food & Drink Amarjit Sahota 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Western Europe 4.3 North America 4.4 Asia 4.5 Latin America 4.6 Oceania 4.7 Conclusions 4.8 Reference 5 Standards and Regulations Lukas Kilcher, Beate Huber and Otto Schmid 5.1 International Standards 5.1.1 IFOAM Standards 5.1.2 The Codex Alimentarius 5.2 National and Supranational Regulations 5.2.1 The EU Regulation on Organic Production 5.2.2 Other National Regulations 5.2.3 US and EU Import Procedures 5.3 Private Standards 5.4 Relationship to Fair Trade 5.5 Literature 6 Certification and Accreditation 6.1 Certification Gerald A. Herrmann 6.2 Organic Certification Statistics: 364 Certification Bodies in 57 Countries Gunnar Rundgren 6.3 IFOAM Accreditation International Organic Accreditation Service (IOAS) 6.4 IFOAM Accredited Certification Bodies International Organic Accreditation Service (IOAS) 7 Organic Agriculture in the Continents 7.1 Africa Nicholas Parrott and Fred Kalibwani 7.1.1 Introduction 7.1.2 Statistics / Historical Development 7.1.3 Markets 7.1.4 State support, standards and legislation 7.1.5 Innovations in Agroecology 7.1.6 Research, Extension and Training 7.1.7 Outlook 7.1.8 Reference 7.2 Asia Ong Kung Wai 7.2.1 General 7.2.2 Production & Markets 7.2.3 Standards, Certification & Regulation 7.2.4 Development challenges 7.3 Australia/Oceania 7.3.1 Organic Farming in Australia Darren Halpin and Martin Brueckner 7.3.2 Organic Farming in New Zealand Seager Mason 7.4 Europe Helga Willer and Toralf Richter 7.4.1 Statistical Development: Continued Growth 7.4.2 Milestones in the History of Organic Agriculture in Europe 7.4.3 The IFOAM European Union Regional Group 7.4.4 The European Market for Organic Foods 7.4.5 EU Regulation on Organic farming 7.4.6 Organic Farming Research in Europe 7.4.7 State Support for Organic Agriculture 7.4.8 Enlargement and Organic Farming 7.4.9 Action Plans 7.4.10 Future 7.4.11 References 7.4.11 Appendix: Development of Organic Agriculture in the Countries of the European Union 7.5 Latin America Pipo Lernoud 7.5.1 Traditional Farming 7.5.2 The Market 7.5.3 Commodities 7.5.3 Certification 7.5.4 Governmental Support 7.5.5 Education and Extension 7.5.6 Latin America: Country reports Alberto Pipo Lernoud and Marcela Piovano Argentina Bolivia Brazil Colombia Costa Rica Chile Mexico Peru Uruguay Sources of Information 7.6 North America 7.6.1 United States Barbara Haumann 7.6.2 Canada Barbara Haumann 8 Continued Achievements and Challenges Bernward Geier 9 Contact

According to the study, currently more than 26 million hectares of farmland are under organic management worldwide. This is more than two million hectares more than in the previous year. In terms of organic land, Australia leads pack with 11.3 million hectares, followed by Argentina (2.8 million hectares) and Italy with more than one million hectares. Regarding the share of organic farmland in comparison with the total agricultural area, Austria, Switzerland and Scandinavian countries lead the way. In Switzerland for example more ten percent of the agricultural land is managed organically. In 2003, the market value of organic products worldwide reached 25 billion US$, the largest share of organic products being marketed in Europe and North America. For the upcoming years.

Ökologischer Landbau wird derzeit in rund hundert Ländern weltweit betrieben, und die ökologisch bewirtschaftete Fläche wächst kontinuierlich. Eine Untersuchung der Stiftung Ökologie & Landbau und des Forschungsinstituts für biologischen Landbau (FiBL)in Zusammenarbeit mit der International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) vom Februar2003 kommt zu dem Ergebnis, dass weltweit fast 23Millionen Hektar ökologisch bewirtschaftet werden. Das Land mit der größten Biofläche ist mit Abstand Australien (10 Millionen Hektar), gefolgt von Argentinien(3 Millionen Hektar) und Italien (mehr als 1,1Millionen Hektar). Die Anteile an der gesamten landwirtschaftlichen Nutzfläche sind jedoch in Europa am höchsten. In Australien /Ozeanien befinden sich 46 Prozent der gesamten Biofläche weltweit, gefolgt von Europa (23 Prozent) and Lateinamerika (21 Prozent). Vermutlich wird weit weniger als die Hälfte der gesamten Ökofläche ackerbaulich genutzt, denn alleine in Australien und Argentinien ist ein Großteil der Fläche extensives Grünland.

This study documents concisely recent developments in global organic agriculture. Apart from figures on the area under organic management and on organic farms this publication also contains general information on the state of organic agriculture in the five continents.