London: Organic food production is booming in China and India — which together host more than half the world’s farming households.
A new study by the UN specialised agency on rural poverty, the International Fund for Agriculture and Development (IFAD), says organics can offer an effective route out of poverty for poor farmers, provided they can work together in farmers’ associations and get adequate institutional support.
Farmers who switch from traditional farming, which uses few or no purchased inputs, to organics, are likely to boost their incomes significantly. There are two main types opting for organic farming: smaller farmers ..often poor .. who could not afford intensive farming methods; and commercially-oriented farmers who see new market opportunities in certified organic products.
“Marginal and small farmers in China, India, Latin America and most probably in other developing countries, have a comparative advantage in shifting to organic agriculture, as the traditional technologies they use are often very close to organic practices,” says Mr Paolo Silveri, senior evaluation officer at IFAD.
Currently more than 26 million hectares of farmland are under organic management worldwide. Global organic sales have achieved double-digit annual growth for more than a decade and in several European countries organic farms are approaching or even exceeding 10% of total farmland. In 2005, the estimated market value of organic products worldwide will reach close to US$30 billion, with the largest share being marketed in North America and Europe.
In China and India, organic production is growing fast. The value of Chinese exports grew from less than one million dollars in the mid-1990s to about 142 million dollars in 2003 with estimates for 2004 of nearly 200 million dollars, and more than 1000 companies and farms certified.
“In China, organic farming offers the potential for sustainable poverty reduction. IFAD will be supporting pilot programmes in China to refine this approach for further up-scaling in the future,” says Thomas Rath, IFAD’s Country Programme Manager in China.
In India, there has also been remarkable growth, but primarily in the domestic markets with, about 2.5 million hectares now under organic certification and 332 new certifications issued during 2004.
IFAD’s recent study, “Organic Agriculture and Poverty Reduction in Asia”, draws on the work of numerous researchers and original case studies in China and India. A similar study was conducted between 2001-2 in six Latin American and Caribbean countries (Argentina, Costa Rica, Dominica Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico). IFAD is now supporting new programmes for the rural poor in the Pacific Islands and hopes to expand these activities.
To read the rest of this story, please click on the link.
www.newkerala.com/news.php?action=fullnews&id=72209
