News
June 2012
The publication Ecological Organic Agriculture: The Alternative for Africa is now available in IFOAM bookstore
The contributions of the successful International Conference on Ecological Organic Agriculture: The Alternative for Africa that took place in November 2011 at the UNEP Headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, make up the core of this publication. The second part of the book offers more valuable information and networking resources and opportunities which are crucially important to help support the sector’s development. The publication may be ordered via the IFOAM web shop at: http://shop.ifoam.org/bookstore.
May 2012
Second African Organic Conference: Growth in African Organic Sector Unity
Over 300 participants from 35 countries attended the Second African Organic Conference “"Mainstreaming Organic Agriculture in the African Development Agenda", held in Lusaka, Zambia, from May 2 to 4. The conference was organized by Organic Producers and Processors Association of Zambia (OPPAZ) in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock of Zambia under the auspice of IFOAM and the African Union. The next African Organic Conference will be held in Nigeria in 2015.
Read the Conference Declaration!
For more information about the conference, visit: www.africanorganicconference.com.
International Conference on Ecological Organic Agriculture: The Alternative for Africa: A great success!
Some 200 participants from 20 countries throughout the world attended the conference that took place in November 2011 at the UNEP Headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. The conference was organized by IFOAM together with the African Union, the Kenyan Organic Agriculture Network (KOAN) and COLABORA.
Read the Conference Declaration!
For more information about the conference, visit:
www.ifoam.org/events/ifoam_conferences.
UNCTAD and UNEP push for recognition for the importance of sustainable agriculture in addressing the challenges of poverty and hunger in Least Developed Countries
- Read and make use of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Policy Brief on Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security in Least Developed Countries!
The policy brief underlines the importance of sustainable agriculture and calls for an urgent need for a fundamental shift in national and donor policies.
- Watch the short film "Organic Agriculture: A Good Option for Least Developed Countries"!
This film features Organic Agriculture in Uganda and explains how Organic Agriculture improves Food Security in Least Developed Countries and reduces their vulnerability to external price and climatic shocks.
African Union to support development of organic farming
The Executive Council of the African Union has recently adopted a decision on organic farming. In particular, the Decisioncalls for the establishment of an African organic farming platform based on available best practices; and to provide guidance in support of the development of sustainable organic farming systems and improve seed quality. More
The IFOAM Africa Office (IAO)
IFOAM established its Africa Office (IAO) in 2004 to help the growth of Organic Agriculture on the continent. The IAO is staffed with a coordinator and is presently based at the IFOAM Head Office in Bonn, Germany.
The Africa Offices coordinates at the continental level IFOAM’s advocacy network on Organic Agriculture to enable it to be proactive and react appropriately on upcoming issues. The Africa Office ensures that on the entire continent of Africa, Organic Agricultural representatives make concerted efforts to promote and get recognition for Organic Agriculture among farmers groups, NGOs, governments and intergovernmental organizations, and development organizations.
The Africa Office provides the tools and a platform for information exchange and networking activities on issues relevant to the organic sector in Africa. These include, for example:
- This webpage provides targeted information in English and French on advocacy work and issues relevant to the development of the organic sector in Africa.
- The electronic newsletter, Africa Organic News, featuring news on Organic Agriculture in Africa. It is distributed for free in English and French to a wide audience in and outside Africa in a format that can be printed and distributed locally.
- IFOAM Contact Points (each of them represents or is the coordinating office of a national organic agriculture movement or national or regional network) across Sub-Saharan Africa facilitate the information flow and networking activities within the African organic sector.
- The IAO coordinates the global organic data survey among the African countries. The data are published in the yearbook ‘The World of organic Agriculture’ of which IFOAM and the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) are the publishers.
IFOAM Africa Office Coordinator:
Hervé Bouagnimbeck (h.bouagnimbeck[at]ifoam.org)