Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
In summary, quantitative models do not help in understanding how to achieve
food security. A broader approach, that, questions the assumptions behind the whole
agrofood system, as well as the strategies and targets for change is required (Bartley
2007
). From our perspective to better understand the impact of the organic approach
is to question what kind of ethics motivates the different agricultural paradigms
(Beus and Dunlap
1990
). Organic farming is unique in its foundation on ethical
principles. But these principles are rarely, if ever acknowledged in the debates
over food security (e.g., Bartley
2007
). Nevertheless, there are some remarkable
contributions on ethical consumerism, food sovereignty, organic farming and the
need for a new public ethic of care in the context of climate change (Morgan
2010
)
or within the context of peasants (Altieri and Toledo
2011
). Thus, it becomes critical
to consider the ethical dimensions of an organically driven approach to food security
and to thinking about how to feed the world.
5.3
The IFOAM Principles and Food Security
This section focuses on the relationship between the IFOAM Principles and various
dimensions of food supply, demand, access and the achievement of food security.
We argue that the IFOAM Principles extend an entry-point for considering whether
organic can feed the world (IFOAM
2012
).
The IFOAM Principles offer an ethically founded guide to organic practices for
consumption, production, processing, distribution and trade, through a normative
framework that invites all actors from producers to consumers in the organic
agrofood chain (IFOAM
2012
). Additionally, in contrast to the mainstream dis-
cussion of “eco-intensification” (cf. Hunt et al.
2010
) within conventional farming
(often associated with high-inputs), organic eco-intensification, drawing parallels
to the IFOAM framework, is sensitive to broader perspective. The organic eco-
intensification includes the food chain as a whole aknowledging technical and
ecological relevant practices, health strategies and food consumption patterns, as
well as far reaching social and economic dimensions in a holistic sense (Breman et
al.
2001
; Arbenz
2011
; Abouleish
2013
). The Principles include feedback loops that
integrate the impact of all activities on the whole agrofood system. This allows for
the discovery and possible avoidance of unintended consequences of any activities
in the organic agrofood chain on other human-nature systems. Furthermore, this
explains why the IFOAM Principles cannot be applied piecemeal: the Principles are
overlapping, and their message is always interrelated with the other Principles.
Organic actors do not simply practice or participate in the organic agrofood
chain. These actors actively create and define the organic principles through their
active and ongoing participation (IFOAM
2012
). Thus, the development of the
organic agrofood chain is not only an issue for farmers, processors, or certifiers,
but also a responsibility of all actors, including consumers and traders. Seeing
the organic agrofood system as a socio-ecological system, requires avoiding any
Search WWH ::
Custom Search