ifoam_newsletter


February 2007, Vol.2, no.2

Newsletter Update IFOAM’s African membership levels IFOAM’s engagement in sub-Saharan Africa Upcoming organic events Others

	1. Newsletter Update
	Welcome to yet another issue of the Africa Office electronic newsletter. We hope you will enjoy reading through this newsletter. We are very grateful for all your comments that you send, because they encourage us to improve and provide you with a better service. In this issue you will find information about IFOAM’s African membership levels, IFOAM’s engagement in sub-Saharan Africa, upcoming organic events and others.

	2. IFOAM’s African membership levels
	At present there are 68 full or associate members of IFOAM in Africa. This represents 9% of the world total: Anglophone African countries: 32 members Francophone African countries : 24 members Mediterranean African countries: 8 members For detailed information about members by countries, please see http://www.ifoam.org/organic_world/directory/index.html .

	3. IFOAM’s engagement in sub-Saharan Africa
	IFOAM is engaged in many projects in sub-Saharan Africa. Existing projects including: The OSEA project (Regional Cooperation for Organic Standards and Certification capacity in East Africa). The project aims at improving income and livelihood of rural communities in East Africa, through facilitation of trade in organic products by means of a regional standard and regional certification cooperation. For more information, please see http://www.ifoam.org/partners/projects/osea.html . The second draft of an East African Organic Standards was presented to the public on the 13th of December in Nairobi. The final draft has to be approved by the East African Community and will be presented to the public on May in Arusha, Tanzania. The main project activities this year include the improvement of the public private partnership and a consumer survey. The FAO project “Increasing incomes and food security of small farmers in West and Central Africa through export of organic and fair-trade tropical products”. This project is funded by the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany. IFOAM is represented in the project’s steering committee. Countries involved in the project are Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Senegal. The specific objectives of the project are: To elaborate best practices in organic agriculture for selected products and provide training in production and marketing. To increase the number of farmer groups producing selected crops according to best practices and complying with organic and/or fair-trade standards. To promote partnerships between farmer groups and exporters for European trade. For detailed information, please see the project website at http://www.fao.org/organicag/proj/proj_westafrica.htm . IFOAM case studies on local organic marketing in Africa. This project is implemented in the frame of the IFOAM Growing Organic Program (I-GO). The specific objectives of the research studies are: To give an overview and provide detailed information of selected existing and potential local marketing strategies in Africa. To provide analytical overview of factors hampering or fostering the success of these different local marketing strategies and provide people who aim at starting a local marketing activity with first hand recommendations and ideas. To provide donors and other supporting organizations with updated knowledge of local marketing activities in Africa and ideas on how to encourage them. Grolink implements the study. The final document will be available by the end of February and will be published for free for IFOAM affiliates on the IFOAM Internet Training Platform http://www.ifoam.org/organic_facts/farming/index.html . The IFOAM study on the socio-economic effects of organic agriculture in Africa. This project is implemented in the frame of the IFOAM Africa Office (IAO) project. The study will provide: A summary of socio-economic effects at the local level (e.g. individual, family, cooperative or community), Recommendations on what should be done to minimize the negative spin-off effects and maximize the positive socio-economic effects of organic agriculture in Africa and A solid base of documentation on which further research can be conducted. The Griffith University in Australia implements the research study, in collaboration with African partners like SACDEP in Kenya. The final draft will be published in the coming weeks. The document is planned to be used as an important advocacy tool in the future. The IFOAM study on Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS) in East Africa. Most certified organic production in Africa is geared towards export markets. Therefore, African organic production is vulnerable to external changes in the global market and is confronted with increasing competitiveness. Since Third party certification is expensive for small organic producers, PGS can be used as a tool for improving local markets by encouraging small organic producers to sell their crops as verifiably organic. For more information about PGS, please see http://www.ifoam.org/about_ifoam/standards/pgs.html . The main goals of the study are: To analyze the existing new systems established by the National Organic Movements in Kenya (KOAN), Tanzania (TOAN) and Uganda (NOGAMU). To recommend necessary improvement leading to a better understanding and approach to PGS in East Africa. This project is implemented in close collaboration with the OSEA project. The results of the case studies will be the basis for a workshop, which will take place in Arusha at the beginning of April 2007. The IFOAM Africa Office (IAO). The IAO is currently funded by Hivos (Africa Desk) in the form of institutional support and staffed with a coordinator. The IAO has an Advisory Group (AdGroup) that is composed of 6 representatives of the African organic movement. The AdGroup serves as a resource and gives inputs to the IAO. The 4 pillars guiding the work of the IAO are: Institutionalizing the organic sector in Africa Promoting OA as a development option for Africa Developing organic markets and standards Fostering a supportive policy framework for the development of OA in Africa

	4. Upcoming organic events
	In Africa Official launch of the East African Organic Standard May 28 - June 1, 2007, Arusha, Tanzania Participation in this event is subject to invitation by the organizing committee. National Organic workshop July 3-4, Madagascar For more information, please contact Rajaonarison Andrianjaka (njakar@gmail.com) Organic Work Camp From July 21st to August 11th 2007, IFOAM Members CFAPE-Togo and CGPA-Kloto are organizing an organic work camp in Kpalimé, 120 kilometers from the capital Lomé. The camp will focus on supporting Organic Agriculture, sustainable development and the environment. The participation fee 305 Euros, which includes room and board and an organic tour. For more information, please contact: For CFAPE-Togo: Simon Anoumou Todzro Centre de Formation Agricole et de Production Ecologique du Togo CFAPE-Togo BP 222 Kpalimé – Togo Tel: +228 9294024 Email: cfape_eco@yahoo.fr For CGPA-Kloto: Kossi Dackey Email: cgpaorg@yahoo.fr Contact in Germany: Rosi Lehmann Egonstrasse 56 79106 Freiburg Ibr. Tél +49 (0) 76138337304 Email: kiamaya@web.de Fier-Mada (Rural Economy International Fair) August 1-5, ESSCA Antanimena., Madagascar For more information, please contact Rajaonarison Andrianjaka (njakar@gmail.com) Others global organic events BioFach Germany February 15-18, 2007, Nuremberg, Germany If you had an opportunity to attend this important organic event, please share the lessons with us in the next issue. International Conference on Organic Agriculture and Food Security May 3-5, 2007, Rome, Italy For more information visit the FAO website on Organic Agriculture (www.fao.org/organicag) or contact Nadia Scialabba (nadia.scialabba@fao.org). The IAO wants to set up a calendar of upcoming organic events in Africa on the African webpage of IFOAM's website. If you know an event relevant to Organic Agriculture in your region, please contact the IAO Coordinator at h.bouagnimbeck@ifoam.org to help us enrich and update this page.

	5. Others
	Term of reference (ToR) The IAO is collecting information for the ToR of the survey "Essential role of organic foods and products in a comprehensive response to HIV/AIDS". The survey will be based on the existing studies and documents. If you have any recommendations for key persons, institutions or organizations, please send it to the IAO Coordinator at h.bouagnimbeck@ifoam.org . The “Overview of the current state of organic agriculture in Kenya, Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania and the opportunities for regional harmonization” has been published on the UNCTAD home page. Please check the website http://www.unctad.org/Templates/Webflyer.asp?intItemID=1397&docID=8012 to have more information. A downloaded version of the survey is available on the African web page. A public discussion forum is now accessible to all stakeholders interested in sharing their views on organic topics in Africa with others. The forum is moderated by the IFOAM Africa office coordinator. You are invited to check out the discussion topics and leave your contribution on the forum at http://www.ifoam.org/forum_php/viewforum.php?f=1&sid=3b17a6485b9e8fa1d88ccfde2d176e29. We are now discussing about “Local marketing for organic products in Africa” and “Food security and the new Green Revolution in Africa”. For any comments about this issue, please write to the IAO Coordinator on h.bouagnimbeck@ifoam.org .

	Email: h.bouagnimbeck@ifoam.org Head Office Contact Information Charles-de-Gaulle-Str. 5 53113 Bonn, Germany Tel: +49-228-92650-10 Fax: +49-228-92650-99 Email: headoffice@ifoam.org http://www.ifoam.org © 2009 IFOAM - All rights reserved.

1. Newsletter Update

2. IFOAM’s African membership levels

3. IFOAM’s engagement in sub-Saharan Africa

4. Upcoming organic events

5. Others