| |  | | March 2011 |
|
- Organic Farming Continued Growth in Africa
- Ants help African farmers
- UNEP Green Economy Report
- The Organic Alternative for Africa Conference has been postponed
- Door-to-door basket delivery scheme popularizes organic products in Uganda
- Upcoming Organic Agriculture related events
|
|
| | 1. Organic Farming Continued Growth in Africa
| | | According to IFOAM and FiBL survey, organic farming is practiced in more than 160 countries by almost 1.8 million organic producers. Currently, 37.2 million hectares of agricultural land are certified according to organic standards (data as the end of 2009). In addition, more than 41 million hectares were certified for organic wild collection and bee keeping. Global organic food and drink sales continue to grow surpassing 54 billion US Dollars in 2009.
In global terms, Africa accounts for three percent of total certified organic land. Currently, 38 African countries are engaged in certified organic agriculture and more than 1 million hectares is certified organic, constituting an increase of more than 170,000 hectares compared with the previous survey (2008 data). This land is managed by at least half a million producers. Agricultural land is mainly used for permanent crops, principally cash crops like coffee and olives.
The leading country in terms of organically managed agricultural land is Uganda with 227,000 hectares. However, when organically managed land is measured as a percentage of each country’s agricultural area, Sao Tome and Prince rank highest with 6.5 percent. Uganda, however with more than 187,000 farms has the largest number of organic farms.
In addition to the 1 million hectares of certified agricultural land, 16.4 million hectares of land are dedicated to organic bee keeping, forest collection and wild collection areas. The largest beekeeping areas are in Cameroon (5 million hectares). The largest wild collection areas are in Namibia (3 million hectares) and Morocco (618,000 hectares). Medicinal plants like Devil’s claw (Harpagophytum procumbens) play the most important role in wild collection.
In addition to certified organic agriculture covered by this survey, it should be noted that much organic production is also taking place in Africa without certification. There are a large numbers of African organic farmers who use organic practices and principles but for whom formal certification does not have any advantages. Unfortunately, there are no official statistics to quote on this type of organic production.
The book “The World of Organic Agriculture - Statistics and Emerging Trends 2011” may be ordered via the IFOAM web shop at: http://shop.ifoam.org/bookstore.
| | | | | 2. Ants help African farmers
| | | Every year, African farmers suffer enormous financial losses because their crops are attacked by insects. The synthetic insecticides used to eradicate such pests are both expensive and ineffective. Researchers at Aarhus University (Denmark) have found an effective and low-cost way to overcome these challenges and improve production. They use a novel form of pest control – ants eat the pests and are subsequently eaten themselves. This new approach to pest control will provide African farmers with larger and better yields.
The Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) has therefore granted EUR 1.3 million to developing and adapting pest control management using ants. “In the DANIDA project, we have to set up ‘ant farms’ in both Benin and Tanzania so that we can rear sufficient numbers of colonies for biological pest control in mango and cashew nut plantations,” says Associate Professor Mogens Gissel from Aarhus University, Denmark. The species of ants used for pest control is Weaver ants, which are naturally present in Africa.
Besides being efficient pest controllers, ants are edible. In fact, both the larvae and the adult ants are harvested for food production. Their nutritional content is similar to that of meat, and can therefore contribute to an improved diet in Africa, where there is a shortage of protein. This means that something of which there is too much of – pests – can be converted to something there is too little of – edible protein.
More information: http://science.au.dk/en/news
| | | | | 3. UNEP Green Economy Report
| | | UNEP recently launched its Green Economy Report. The report demonstrates that the greening of economies is not generally a drag on growth but rather a new engine of growth; that it is a net generator of decent jobs, and that it is also a vital strategy for the elimination of persistent poverty. The report also seeks to motivate policy makers to create the enabling conditions for increased investments in a transition to a green economy. Policy reforms aimed at “greening” agriculture will offer opportunities to diversify economies, reduce poverty through increased yields, the creation of new green jobs especially in rural areas as well as ensuring food security on a sustainable basis, and significantly reducing the environmental and economic costs of agriculture.
The full report is available at: www.unep.org/greeneconomy
In addition to the Green Economy Report, UNEP launched a short film on organic pineapples from Uganda. This video demonstrates that the Green Economy and Organic Agriculture allow farmers to improve their livelihoods.
Watch the film here!
| | | | | 4. The Organic Alternative for Africa Conference has been postponed | | | The conference scheduled for April 26-28, 2011, in Nairobi, Kenya, has been postponed. Intended to build awareness of ecological based production systems in Africa and to help position Organic Agriculture and the IAASTD report higher on the agenda of policy makers and the international donor community the conference will be rescheduled.
IFOAM continues to work with its members and partners to bring an united front to the potential of organic agriculture for Africa. The rescheduled conference will feed into the Second African Organic Conference scheduled next year in Lusaka, Zambia.
| | | | | 5. Door-to-door basket delivery scheme popularizes organic products in Uganda | | | Through the National Organic Agricultural Movement of Uganda (NOGAMU) home delivery basket scheme, organic fresh fruits and vegetables as well as other organic products such as sesame, spices are supplied on an order basis to customers. Costumers place their orders by telephone or email twice a week and baskets are prepared and delivered to their doorsteps.
“We have had a remarkable increase in the local organic food sales since we started the basket scheme in 2005. That year, the sales stood at sh26m. In 2006, they were sh36m, 2007, sh59m and in 2008 they reached sh73m,” said Moses Muwanga, Chief Executive Officer of NOGAMU.
More information: www.newvision.co.ug/detailnews
| | | | | 6. Upcoming Organic Agriculture related events
| | | Ugandan National Organic Day
June 2011
Kampala, Uganda
For more information, please contact Musa Muwanga: mkmuwanga@nogamu.org.ug.
Second West African Organic Summit
August 29-31, 2011
Thies, Senegal
For more information, please contact Ibrahima Seck: iseck@yahoo.fr.
The 17th IFOAM Organic World Congress
September 28 – October 1, 2011
Gyeonggi Paldang, South Korea
Register online now!
IFOAM General Assembly
October 3-5, 2011
Gyeonggi Paldang, South Korea
| | | | |
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
© 2011 IFOAM - All rights reserved. International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) e.V.
Trial Court Bonn, Association Register no. 8726
|
|  |