16
Aug
International Sustainable Food Report Cites Organic as a Model for a More Resilient Food System
(Beyond Pesticides, August 16, 2024) The International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food) released a report, Food from Somewhere: Building food security and resilience through territorial markets, in July identifying the importance of moving beyond toxic chemical dependent, industrialized agriculture and toward “sourcing local and organic food†through alternative models, such as farmer and consumer-owned cooperatives, alternative certification schemes, and fostering relationships between organic producers and consumers through territorial markets. “[T]erritorial markets are closely associated with agroecology, and in many cases help to provide market outlets for farmers using natural fertilizers and pesticides that work with nature, rather than the fossil-fuel based synthetic inputs associated with corporate value chains,†the authors state and go on to advocate for transformative action based on various case studies rooted in organic principles and practices.
Territorial markets are a nascent concept rooted in agroecology (“an integrated approach that simultaneously applies ecological and social concepts and principles to the design and management of food and agricultural systems”) and political ecology, which depending on the perspective may have differing definitions. However, there are several commonly held principles of territorial markets that include ideas of “closer to home,†“largely or fully outside of corporate chains,†and “spaces where relationships are built…particularly between food producers and consumer[s],†among other key trends. (p. 27, IPES-Food) Organic agriculture in the United States started in the 1960s as a movement of concerned citizens, environmentalists, and farmers looking to move beyond a food production framework that substitutes “safer†toxic pesticide and safety mitigation measures, which reinforce pesticide dependency to a cultural shift that undergirds public health, biodiversity, regeneration, and climate resilience. This recent report by IPES-Food reinforces the existing belief in the organic community to be creative in imagining a toxic-free reality today, enhancing biodiversity and health.
There are numerous examples of organic food systems in low- and middle-income countries, as well as high-income nations, exemplifying the universal appeal of organic certification and governance models to food supply chains. For example, worker-led and owned cooperatives that engage through Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS), such as Ecovida Agroecology Network in Brazil, certify small-scale farmers following organic standards while simultaneously creating independent supply chains across 120 street markets covering 352 municipalities outside neoliberal, international trade structures. Since its formation in 1998, the Network has grown to a coalition of 436 groups representing 2,848 family farms that undergo the process of organic certification in compliance with Brazilian law, which was amended back in 2007 to recognize PGS certification to foster “the development of trust-based community guarantee/assurance systems that provide zero/low-cost alternatives to often costly and time-consuming third-party certification schemes.†(p. 46, IPES-Food)
The International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) defines PGS as “locally focused quality assurance systems. . .that certify producers based on active participation of stakeholders and are built on a foundation of trust, social networks and knowledge exchange.†(See 2018 IFOAM Policy Brief on PGS). There are various examples of PGS structures for certification in countries including India (nonprofit- and farmer-led PGS Organic Council) and Mexico (Participative Organic Certification facilitated by farmer- and peasant-led organizations such as MILPA Conscious Consumption Cooperative), as well as a pilot PGS structure in Yoro, Honduras for local seed certification to protect farmers from genetically-engineered and privately-patented seeds. Neither the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) nor the National Organic Standards Board, past or present, have formally considered proposals that would incorporate PGS as a priority in the certification system.
The Organic Farming Territories (TVAB) model introduced in 2020 by Madagascar serves as another paradigm shift in organic certification and compliance to build capacity and “respond to challenges like reducing chemical pollution, tackling over-exploitation of natural resources, improving urban food supplies, and securing farmers’ incomes and access to lands,†according to a 2023 briefing published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Each TVAB is dependent on the social, political, and economic contexts of the region, such as existing markets and supply chains that bring together farmers, government agencies, organic business community members, and international bodies such as the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and IFOAM-International to establish a multi-governance approach. The four main components of the national organic strategy are institutional governance, support measures for farmers and naval operators, research and development, and awareness of consumers and economic operators. For further information, see this brief webinar developed by SYMABIO (The Malagasy Organic Agriculture Union).
“These are territories which will be intended to for all activities in the value chain of the organic agricultural sector starting with the production of seeds from the actual production of the products, from processing to marketing,†Marinà Rakotoniaina, director of support for producer organizations and agribusiness at Madagascar’s Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MINEA), shares on the significance of TVABs. Andriantsoa Tahiry Rabefarihy, former engineer at Group For Research and Technology Exchanges (GRET) and current UN-FAO researcher, confirms the link between biodiversity protection and expansion of certified organic in rural Madagascar, including the Anjozorobe protected area, “The establishment of TVABs on the outskirts of protected areas will contribute to the management of natural resources in these areas, but it will also generate income for residents around the protected areas.†As of April 2022, pilot TVABs are ongoing in three target zones: in buffer zones on the outskirts of protected areas, agricultural production zones intended for local markets, and outskirts of entrepreneurial organic production zones dedicated to export crops.
“So it will be territories where, for example, the use of pesticides, the use of mosquito nets, the entry of chemical products, is regulated and there it will be at the district level,†Heriniaina Ramboatiana, President of SYMABIO represents the growing interest of farmers in the Madagascan organic sector, and accompanying economic growth, in the past decade and a half. According to data gathered from Ecocert East Africa and third-party certifiers in a 2024 report by the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture, there are 278,349 acres of certified organic agricultural land in Madagascar up from 234,955 acres; between 2022 and 2012, certified organic farmland has more than tripled from just 74,787 acres.
This system appears to mirror the Transition to Organic Partnership Program (TOPP) launched in the United States under the Biden Administration’s Organic Transition Initiative (see Daily News here and comments to National Organic Standards Board here) in which regional partners representing organic farmers in different regions of the country lend technical assistance and support to aspiring organic farmers with the intention to cater to differentiated needs depending on the state and regional markets.
Another model example of organic food production and procurement is through the development of farmers’ markets that emphasize connections between urban and rural communities beyond supermarket chains. In Lome, the capitol city of the southeast African nation of Togo, Experta Toga facilitates an organic farm-to-community chain through various farmers’ markets as well as an online platform through its BIOLAMESSIN initiative. “With BIOALAMESSIN, farmers have been able to increase their production volume of organic food,†organizers with the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) share in a 2021 case study brief: “The Togolese farmers producing under the initiative could very well be the nation’s first wave of agroecological entrepreneurs. They have also been able to expand their farms, employ workers at the farms and pay fair wages for the work.†In France, a network of organic farmers in the National Federation of Organic Agriculture supported the launch of the Positive Food Households (FAAP) challenge, a mobile grocery store in southeastern France, with the goal of “democratiz[ing] access to their produce†at just “an average increase in the food budget [of participating families] of only €0.04.â€
Narrowing in on the United States context, there are plentiful opportunities and models to draw upon that defy the modern expectation of food systems maximizing efficiency at the cost of environmental and public health. At the Salinas USDA Agricultural Research Service Extension in Monterey County, California, a coalition of scientists, elected officials, farmers, and community members have become a force of political and ecological will, defying expectations of success in spite of subpar financial support. Organic Farming Research Foundation, a member of the National Organic Coalition (of which Beyond Pesticides is also a member organization), determined that these types of programs “generate an impressive $20 of benefits for every dollar invested in public agricultural research.†There are fundamental gaps to organic that advocates and organic farmers demand to be addressed in the policy process, including lack of organic certification for seafood and aquaculture, pesticide, plastic, and PFAS contamination in organic compost, and infiltration of hydroponics as organic, among other structural issues such as accessibility and cost for BIPOC consumers and farmers.
See Keeping Organic Strong to engage in the public consultation and hearing process outlined in the Organic Foods Production Act to demand and emphasize continuous improvement. See Daily News section on organic, as well as Why Organic, to learn more about the environmental justice, ecological, and public health benefits of a wholesale transition to organic. You can also demand the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate to establish regenerative agriculture provisions under existing organic standards and expand funding for the National Organic Program in the 2024 Farm Bill ahead of the fall election.
All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.
Sources: IPES-Food, Organic Farming Research Foundation
