Organic agriculture: opportunities and challenges - Organic Agriculture: A Global Perspective - page 421

Chapter 18
Organic agriculture: opportunities and challenges
Paul Kristiansen*, University of New England, Australia, Acram Taji, University of New England,
Australia and John Reganold, Washington State University, USA
*Dr Paul Kristiansen, School of Rural Science & Agriculture, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales 2351,
Australia. Tel: [phone], Fax: [phone], Email: [e-mail]
The tradition in agriculture has been to maximize production and minimize the
cost of food with little regard to impacts on the environment and the services it
provides to society. As the world enters an era in which global food production is
likely to double, it is critical that agricultural practices be modified to minimize
environmental impacts even though many such practices are likely to increase the
costs of production. (Tilman 1999)
Introduction
The organic movement may have gained a place in the spotlight of the mainstream media now,
but it has not been like that for long. Since the 1950s, organic farmers operating at a grass roots
level have devised, tested and shared production methods. They have codified a set of ideals
into a pioneering best practice agricultural management system that addresses multiple com-
munity values. Niche markets have gradually been created, commonly based on trust and
goodwill (formal certification did not begin until the 1960s and 1970s), and often using novel
direct marketing strategies such as box schemes and community supported agriculture. After
many years of consumers having to hunt around for their organic produce from several suppli-
ers, perhaps directly from the farmer, the task is now a lot easier with specialist food shops and
organic shelf space in supermarkets, in the industrialised world at least. Global links have been
forged in all continents as organic agriculture has been seen to be an effective rural develop-
ment option.
Although the movement is still regarded with some scepticism (e.g. Trewavas 2001, Kirch-
mann and Ryan 2004, Trewavas 2004), the concept of organic farming has strong marketing
appeal, growth forecasts are almost all positive and it has been suggested that the 'movement'
is now an 'industry' (Cornish and Stewart 2002). Organic agriculture is one of the fastest
growing agribusiness sectors in the world, with double-digit annual growth in land under
organic cultivation, value of organic produce and number of organic farmers. There are about
26 million hectares of organic farmland currently and the global market value of organic goods
in 2003 was US$25 billion per year (Willer and Yussefi 2005, see also Chapter 10 ), about 2% of
the US$1.3 trillion per year in global agricultural production (Wood et al . 2001). Furthermore,
each year brings new peer-reviewed research showing the strengths and weaknesses of organic
agriculture (see Chapter 15 ), a sign of growing interest by academics and funding bodies.
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