The World of Organic Agriculture:

Statistics and Emerging Trends

Beate Huber
www.fibl.org

Helga Willer

19.02.2009
 Organic agricultural land* and other
areas 2008
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Includes in-conversion areas

 Development of organic agricultural land
and other organic areas 1999 to 2008
40
Million hectares

35

35.0
30

32.1

31.8
31.5
30.7
30.5
29.7

28.9
25

27.0
26.7
25.5
22.5
20

21.0
19.7
19.8
17.3
15
14.8
10
11.0

5
4.1

5.6

0
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Agricultural land
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Other areas (Wild collection, bee keeping, aquaculture,

forest, grazed non-agricultural land)

Source: SÖL, FiBL & IFOAM 2010

 Developing countries: Growth of organic agricultural land and
other organic areas in developing countries 1999 to 2008

2
25
Million hectares

22.7

22.7
2.2
20

18.9
16.9
15

12.2
10

10.6
9.9

9.0
8.9

8.6
8.0
7.4
6.7

6.6
5
5.7
4.0
0.1

0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Agricultural land
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Other areas (Wild collection, bee keeping, aquaculture,

forest, grazed non-agricultural land)

Source: SÖL, FiBL & IFOAM 2010

 Organic producers by geographical
region 2008 (total: 1.4 million)

1% 1% Africa
16%
Asia
34%
Latin America

Europe
19%
Northern America

Oceania
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29%

Source: FiBL & IFOAM 2010

 World: Development of organic
producers 1999-2008 (Revision date:
February 2010)
1.4

1.4
1.2

1.2
Million producers

1.1
1.0

1.0
0.9
0.8

0.7
0.7
0.6

0.5

0.5
0.4 0.4

0.4
0.4

0.3
0.2 0.3
0.3

0.2
0.2
0.2

0.1

0.0
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1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Producers total Producers dev. countries

Source: FiBL, IFOAM & SOEL 1999-2010

 Global revenues by region 2008
Global market growth 1999-2008
60
3%
50

Revenues in billion US Dollars

40

46% 51% 30
50.9
20
33.2
10 23
Europe 15.2
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North America 0
Others 1999 2003 2005 2008

Source: Organic Monitor 2009, Sahota 2009

 Product Categories

Ranking
1. Organic fruit & vegetables
2. Organic dairy
3. Organic meats
4. Organic beverages
5. Other organic products
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Fresh and healthy products are most favoured

 Organic Plus Strategies

Pioneers / Successful companies are going beyond

organic and undertaking sustainability initiatives…

Sustainability
Value X

Organic
Sustainability
Organic Value Y
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Sustainable values: Fair trade & ethical sourcing, carbon neutral, local
sourcing, promoting biodiversity, ecological packaging, energy usage…
 The World of Organic Agriculture 2010

11th edition of ‚The World of

Organic Agriculture‘, published
by IFOAM and FiBL
Contents:
Results of the global organic
survey;
Organic agriculture in the
geographical regions;
Chapters on the global
market, standards and
legislations, carbon markets;
crops (coffee and cotton),
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development cooperation,
other issues.
 The regulated organic world

Canada's US- EU-Reg. JAS

OPR NOP ISO 65

China

IFOAM
Accr.
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National
Requirements

Bea
te
 Relevant Norms in the Organic Sector

Private standards (national,

regional and international)

National Standards

International Standards
IFOAM Basic Standards and
IFOAM Critera
Codex Alimentarius
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Other Relevant Norms

ISO 65, 17011, 17025, 19011,

Bea
te
www.fibl.org Certification Bodies by Continent

2003

19.02.2010
 OA and Food Security

• In traditional farming systems, OA often improves

production efficiency and can increase yields
• In the long run, more sustainable production is
possible, even for high-input farming systems
• Diverse organic farms harvest more products on
the same area, thus providing more food for the
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farmers’ families and reducing the dependency on a

few products in the market.

promote: Organic Agriculture - visit: www.organicworldfoundation.org

 OA and Climate Change

OA has considerable potential to mitigate climate

change:
reduce greenhouse gasses: lower global warming potential
per land area (on farm resources, e.g. leguminous cover
crops)
prevention of soil carbon-losses: less erosion etc.
CO2-sequestration: soil fertility management, enhance
biodiversity, compost, cover crops, biogas etc.
OA has greater potential to adapt to climate change:
organically managed soils are better adapted to weather
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extremes,
enhancing productivity by building soil fertility,
diversity enhances farm resilience

19.02.2010
 Organic Agriculture

...is sustainable and diverse

... conserves resources
...contributes to food security and food safety
...systems provide access to markets and value
added products; farmers achieve higher incomes
...reduces greenhouse gas emissions and is adaptive
to climate change
... raises self-confidence and mobilizes new
partnerships
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19.02.2010