Organic farming practices deliberately integrate traditional farming
practices and make use of locally available resources. As such they are
highly relevant to smallholders - the majority of African farmers - producing
for themselves and local markets. Organic farming contributes to achieve
public good goals at the national and local levels in Africa.
Contributes substantially to food security in Africa. Organic management
systems have doubled yields in arid and degraded soils (e.g. in Tigray,
Ethiopia). An internationally acknowledged computer model of global food
supply grown organically concluded that a fifty percent conversion to
organic farming in sub-Saharan Africa would likely increase food availability
and decrease food import dependency.
Offers the most effective way to reverse the currently dramatic desertification processes taking place in Africa - where two thirds of the continent is desert or drylands - through preventing soil erosion and land
degradation as well as by helping rehabilitate degraded land.
Establishes sustainable livelihoods for African farm families and their
communities by giving access to new market opportunities resulting in
premium prices for their products. Moreover, the possibility of receiving
a premium for organic produce is not only a major incentive to individual
farmers, but also provides greater opportunities for broader communities
to become more self-reliant, and to generate new education and economic
opportunities.
Improves human health and maximizes environmental services by
maintaining biodiversity, improving soils and avoiding chemical inputs that
contaminate people and ecosystems.
Reduces costs of external inputs by refraining from using synthetic
fertilizers and pesticides, genetically modified organisms and
pharmaceuticals.
Organic Agriculture is a holistic production management system, which
enhances agro-ecosystem health, utilizing both traditional and scientific
knowledge. Organic agricultural systems rely on ecosystem management
rather than external agricultural inputs.
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