Organic market development in Africa, Asia and Latin America: Case studies and conclusions for national action plans

Summary

Organic market strategies of many developing countries are mainly export oriented. On one hand, this is due to lack of local and regional market development. On the other hand, this is due to the fact that the organic market offers producers and trading companies in the South and East excellent export opportunities. How can developing countries develop local and regional markets? The promotion of organic markets ¬– both on local and international level – gets more and more attention in agricultural policies and in development cooperation. One big challenge is to support trade rules and favourable business conditions up to comprehensive national action plans in order to support the development of the organic market. Special focus needs the development of domestic markets for organic food products. There is a need for accompanying measures such as regional and national promotion activities, development of regional labels and capacity building. In each socio-economic environment, such initiatives and development programmes are differently. The paper analyzes examples of organic market development strategies, promotions programmes and projects in Asia, Africa and Latin America.