Organic agriculture in relation to food security of developing countries

Summary

A study was conducted to investigate the differences in farm production, input use and farm income between organic and conventional systems in three regions (Uttaranchal, Madhya Pradesh and Tamilnadu) of India. From each region, 40 organic and 40 conventional farmers were interviewed with semi structured questionnaire. The results showed that input costs were less in the organic system while either total farm yield or net margin was righter in the organic system in two of the three regions. In Tamilnadu specializing in rice production, rice yield was less under organic system while net margin did not differ signifcantly.
In addition, the IFPRI-IMPACT model was used to fnd out the impact of large scale conversion to organic farming on food security of Sub-Saharan Africa. The model showed that large scale conversion to organic farming in Europe and North America will not have major impact on food security of Africa and large scale conversion in Sub-Saharan Africa will improve the local food security.