Towards a global research programme for organic farming

Summary

The first half of this chapter theoretically explores, from a development policy perspective, the nature of institutional environments for certified organic agriculture. The aims are to understand the conditions required, and the prospects, for organic agriculture to thrive, to present a view of global initiatives for research on organic production, and the current degree of institutionalization of organic farming and organic research at the global level. Through institutional analysis of social incentive structures, or game rules, the chapter analyses how certified organics in the North has been operationalized into a single policy instrument through which multiple development benefits are pursued, i.e. institutionalized in a way that enables and facilitates a governance regime that promotes the use of intrinsically sustainable technologies and methods. Focusing on the needs and prospects for complementing the European situation, where organic farming policies, practices and institutions are now thoroughly studied, and where the institutional landscape of organic research has attained a critical mass, the authors highlight organic institutions in the South as severely under-researched. The chapter outlines the contours of a framework for investigating the social conditions under which organic agriculture is evolving in the South and to explore the extent to which policy instruments and regulations influencing such development exist. The chapter stresses that current trajectories of organic agriculture in tropical countries are often driven by Northern institutions, and as a result these trajectories may not address Southern realities. The chapter includes a brief review of international organizations promoting organic agriculture as a developmental instrument and identifies the potential for advanced international organic research networks contributing to this process. Given the fragmentation of knowledge on organic farming conditions and methods in the South, the analysis includes specifications of the options for, and roles of, research in supporting the development of organic farming and food systems.