Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
small producers, that they took the USDA to court over the creation of a peer review panel,
without which it was feared the US organic standards would be compromised toward the inter-
ests of large agribusinesses (Pesticide Action Network North America 2002).
This countermovement is only a small undercurrent in IFOAM meetings, conferences and
workshops, but is gaining momentum in discussions among IFOAM members. As a starting
point, a first workshop on Alternatives on Certification for Organic Production was held in
April 2004. Participating at this workshop were people from 20 countries who represented a
wide range of assurance alternatives (e.g. farmers' pledges, second-party assurance schemes,
group certification, participatory network assurance). Participating systems ranged from the
Teikei system in Japan, a co-partnership between producers and consumers to Centro Ecolog-
ico linked with the Ecovida Network of Agroecology in Southern Brazil that functions through
network certification with visits made by an ethics commission made up of farmers, consum-
ers and technical consultants.
Most of these systems operate through alternative marketing channels such as box schemes
(i.e. local, not-for-profit groups buying and distributing organic food cooperatively), commu-
nity supported agriculture (CSA) and farmers markets among others, where there is a possibil-
ity of developing a relationship with consumers characterised by information exchange and
personal trust. An interesting example where the system is integrated into mainstream retail
channels comes from New Zealand. The Organic Farm New Zealand scheme was set up to
provide an assurance system for an estimated 1500 smallholder organic farmers who did not
have organic certification. This scheme uses widely accepted organic standards, and its verifi-
cation is based on a combination of farmer group peer review, internal inspection and approval
by a regional group certification committee (Lernoud and Fonseca 2004a).
Given that there is a general lack of knowledge about the status of alternative approaches
and the range of different systems represented within the category of participatory guarantee
systems, a main objective of the workshop was to explore and evaluate the range of existing
informal methods 'by the people who work with them' (Lernoud and Fonseca 2004b). Strengths
and weaknesses of the participatory systems were discussed with a view to gain wider recogni-
tion by the organic movement and potentially organic regulators, particularly in countries
where regulations are yet to be implemented (Lernoud and Fonseca 2004b).
Participatory guarantee systems can be critical in strengthening local organic markets in
developing countries, reducing reliance on exports and contributing to sustainable food
security. For example, the absence of a national organic standards in India has helped to
engender a 'locally acceptable strategy which involved both producers and consumers', sup-
ported by the Institute for Integrated Rural Development in Maharashtra (Daniel 1999 in
Harris
et
al
. 2001). This involves weekly farm visits ensuring compliance to locally developed
guidelines. The wealth of case studies from around the world support claims that local markets
for organic products in developing countries could increase significantly in the next few years,
provided that consumer confidence in organic assurance can be raised and that availability of
organic produce can be increased to local consumers through supermarkets, specialised outlets
and farmers' markets (Harris
et
al
. 2001).
Although participatory guarantee systems hold great promise for local markets, they will
face difficulties in gaining acceptance where there is greater distance between producers and
consumers, particularly in key import markets such as the USA and the EU that do not recog-
nise participatory certification (Giovannucci 2005). For those developing country govern-
ments that have managed to gain recognition of their domestic regulatory regimes through the
adoption of standards and systems that are consistent with key import regimes, they are placed
in a difficult bind when it comes to recognising participatory guarantee systems for their
domestic markets. Of the situation in Costa Rica, EcheverrÃa (2004) recounts:
