IFOAM | More on Policies that favor Organic Agriculture - Components of a policy favorable to organic agriculture, There are two major ways in which organizations and governments can encourage more sustainable agricultural production systems. One is to provide subsidies, grants, credit or low-interest loans to sustainable models such as organic agriculture; the other is internalization of costs, i.e. removal of subsidies and other interventions that currently work against sustainability. Either of these would have the effect of removing distortions and making the sustainable, low-input options more competitive, at least for domestic trade. Policy reform is underway in many countries, with some initiatives supporting a more sustainable agriculture, including organic farming. Only a few of these initiatives, however, represent coherent plans and processes that clearly demonstrate the value of integrating policy goals. Organic farmers’ organizations and NGOs worldwide have identified some important steps for change towards sustainability in agriculture: * Phasing out subsidies that encourage natural resource degradation or depletion * Elimination of agricultural support programs that create commodity surpluses and lower global commodity prices * Reform of national economic indicators of the agricultural sector to reflect depletion and degradation of natural resources * Increase of public funding for research on sustainable and organic agriculture * Bans or restrictions on hazardous chemicals and practices Counting the costs Farmers are surrounded by numerous rules, schemes and other economic situations that influence the decisions and results of farm production. Farmers respond ‘rationally’ to the conditions – and changes of conditions – that they work under, including the policy environment. Most of the policy measures used to support agriculture discourage sustainable and organic farming, and conversion may seem impossible because of transitional costs, lack of knowledge of new production methods, lower yields, new risks, etc. These costs are mainly borne by the consumers in the premium organic market. But it is not realistic that the majority of consumers should be willing to compensate for the whole scope of policy failures by paying higher prices for organic products. One of the reasons that organic products often require higher prices than non-organic is that food prices do not reflect the long-term costs of social and environmental degradation and resource depletion. The external costs of modern farming, such as soil erosion, health damage, and polluted ecosystems, are not incorporated into the costs of the individual farm’s production. Distorting payment schemes giving farmers good economic incentives for producing particular commodities, such as key cereals, have discouraged mixed farming practices, replacing them with monoculture. Resource-degrading, polluting production systems are subsidized (costs are hidden or external) while more environmentally friendly and low-resource-use systems pay their full production cost (costs are internalized). Back to the Criticisms and Misconceptions page Back to Policies Against Organic Agriculture IFOAM is constantly updating the information on this website. Comments or suggestions contact the Platform Coordinator

	More on Policies that favor Organic Agriculture - Components of a policy favorable to organic agriculture, There are two major ways in which organizations and governments can encourage more sustainable agricultural production systems. One is to provide subsidies, grants, credit or low-interest loans to sustainable models such as organic agriculture; the other is internalization of costs, i.e. removal of subsidies and other interventions that currently work against sustainability. Either of these would have the effect of removing distortions and making the sustainable, low-input options more competitive, at least for domestic trade. Policy reform is underway in many countries, with some initiatives supporting a more sustainable agriculture, including organic farming. Only a few of these initiatives, however, represent coherent plans and processes that clearly demonstrate the value of integrating policy goals. Organic farmers’ organizations and NGOs worldwide have identified some important steps for change towards sustainability in agriculture: * Phasing out subsidies that encourage natural resource degradation or depletion * Elimination of agricultural support programs that create commodity surpluses and lower global commodity prices * Reform of national economic indicators of the agricultural sector to reflect depletion and degradation of natural resources * Increase of public funding for research on sustainable and organic agriculture * Bans or restrictions on hazardous chemicals and practices Counting the costs Farmers are surrounded by numerous rules, schemes and other economic situations that influence the decisions and results of farm production. Farmers respond ‘rationally’ to the conditions – and changes of conditions – that they work under, including the policy environment. Most of the policy measures used to support agriculture discourage sustainable and organic farming, and conversion may seem impossible because of transitional costs, lack of knowledge of new production methods, lower yields, new risks, etc. These costs are mainly borne by the consumers in the premium organic market. But it is not realistic that the majority of consumers should be willing to compensate for the whole scope of policy failures by paying higher prices for organic products. One of the reasons that organic products often require higher prices than non-organic is that food prices do not reflect the long-term costs of social and environmental degradation and resource depletion. The external costs of modern farming, such as soil erosion, health damage, and polluted ecosystems, are not incorporated into the costs of the individual farm’s production. Distorting payment schemes giving farmers good economic incentives for producing particular commodities, such as key cereals, have discouraged mixed farming practices, replacing them with monoculture. Resource-degrading, polluting production systems are subsidized (costs are hidden or external) while more environmentally friendly and low-resource-use systems pay their full production cost (costs are internalized). Back to the Criticisms and Misconceptions page Back to Policies Against Organic Agriculture IFOAM is constantly updating the information on this website. Comments or suggestions contact the Platform Coordinator



	There are two major ways in which organizations and governments can encourage more sustainable agricultural production systems. One way is to provide subsidies, grants, credit or low-interest loans to sustainable models such as organic agriculture. The other way governments and organizations can encourage sustainable agricultural systems is through the internalization of costs, i.e. removal of subsidies and other interventions that currently work against sustainability. Either of these would have the effect of removing distortions and making the sustainable, low-input options more competitive, at least for domestic trade. Policy reform is underway in many countries, with some initiatives supporting a more sustainable agriculture, including organic farming. Only a few of these initiatives, however, represent coherent plans and processes that clearly demonstrate the value of integrating policy goals. Organic farmers’ organizations and NGOs worldwide have identified some important steps for change towards sustainability in agriculture: Phasing out subsidies that encourage natural resource degradation or depletion Elimination of agricultural support programs that create commodity surpluses and lower global commodity prices Reform of national economic indicators of the agricultural sector to reflect depletion and degradation of natural resources Increase of public funding for research on sustainable and organic agriculture Bans or restrictions on hazardous chemicals and practices Counting the costs Farmers are surrounded by numerous rules, schemes and other economic situations that influence the decisions and results of farm production. Farmers respond ‘rationally’ to the conditions – and changes of conditions – that they work under, including the policy environment. Most of the policy measures used to support agriculture discourage sustainable and organic farming, and conversion may seem impossible because of transitional costs, lack of knowledge of new production methods, lower yields, new risks, etc. These costs are mainly borne by the consumers in the premium organic market. But it is not realistic that the majority of consumers should be willing to compensate for the whole scope of policy failures by paying higher prices for organic products. One of the reasons that organic products often require higher prices than non-organic is that food prices do not reflect the long-term costs of social and environmental degradation and resource depletion. The external costs of modern farming, such as soil erosion, health damage, and polluted ecosystems, are not incorporated into the costs of the individual farm’s production. Distorting payment schemes giving farmers good economic incentives for producing particular commodities, such as key cereals, have discouraged mixed farming practices, replacing them with monoculture. Resource-degrading, polluting production systems are subsidized (costs are hidden or external) while more environmentally friendly and low-resource-use systems pay their full production cost (costs are internalized). Back to the Criticisms and Misconceptions page Back to Policies Against Organic Agriculture IFOAM is constantly updating the information on this website. Comments or suggestions contact the Platform Coordinator




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