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International Conference of Organic Movement and Seed Industry Held at FAO Headquarters in Rome |
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July 20, 2004
International Conference of Organic Movement and Seed Industry Held at FAO Headquarters in Rome |
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Bonn, July 20th 2004 – From the 5th to the 7th of July in Rome, the organic movement and the seed industry met for the first time on a world level to examine mutual challenges and opportunities for the organic agriculture and seed sector. The organic seed conference attracted some 270 participants from 57 countries and was jointly organized by the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), an umbrella organization for the global organic movement, the International Seed Federation (ISF), which represents seed breeders and traders worldwide, and the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). |
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The conference focussed on several key aspects of seed production and
propagation, including economics, seed quality and diversity, in
addition to harmonization and regulation within the industry.
About 60 presentations and 27 posters gave a broad overview of relevant
topics. The conference’s panel discussion addressed the pivotal
issue of co-existence of organic agriculture with genetic
engineering. Conference proceedings (188 pages/24 Euros) are
available from IFOAM.
As the first conference jointly organized with NGOs and hosted on FAO
premises, the meeting was a remarkable event and participants were
heartened by FAO’s hospitality and substantive contributions.
IFOAM president Gunnar Rundgren stressed in his keynote speech,
entitled “Seeds are magic,” some of the challenges for the organic
movement regarding seeds, drawing special attention to the control held
by multinational seed corporations and the most apparent manifestation
of this force – the genetically-modified seed market.
Rundgren stressed the need for harmonization in the organic sector,
seed regulation in general, and the importance of respecting farmers’
rights. His speech also highlighted the difficulties with organic
seed legalities as they relate to the preservation of genetic diversity
on organic farms.
In this context, Edith Lammerts van Bueren (Louis Bolk Institute, NL)
pointed out in her conference summary that the organic sector needs to
develop new strategies adapted to market diversification. In
particular, it was concluded that plans should involve cooperation with
the commercial seed industry and serve both larger-scale farmers
focussed on export- and supermarket- quality varieties, and small-scale
farmers who deal primarily with local markets and seed varieties.
In order to maintain dialogue between conference organizers and
stakeholders - especially on the vital issue of co-existence
between organics and GMOs - IFOAM Executive Director Zadok Lempert
proposed to the FAO that it take the lead in establishing a standing
committee that would evaluate the current situation and formulate a
code of conduct for the matter. The FAO expressed a willingness
to take this up, and also made a commitment to work with IFOAM to
support participatory plant breeding for organic farmers.
The organic movement met alone prior and after the conference to
discuss important issues around organic seeds which couldn’t be
accommodated in the official conference programme. Topics of
discussion included seed exchanges, seed breeding, farmer’s rights, and
protection against invasive GMO technologies. Another chief discussion
point was how organic seed regulation requirements create obstacles for
farmers operating in local markets and/or living in developing
countries.
The conference’s spirit of cooperation was captured in the “Wrap-up”
speech by Ms. Ranghanathan (ISF), who stated, “the forum provided for
an exchange of use, opinions, and experiences based on mutual respect.”
Ranghanathan characterized the high level of inter-sectoral cooperation
as good “seedsmanship”.
The conference’s positive impact was further evidenced by the
organizers’ commitment to continue working together to ensure the
availability of organic seeds, in their full diversity, for organic
farmers around the world.
For further information, contact Bernward Geier (b.geier@ifoam.org).
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