The Contribution of Organic Farming to Public Goods in Denmark Knowledge Synthesis 2015

Summary

In Denmark, the organic sector has broad political support, and the consumers’ demand for organic products is soaring. This is a sign of great interest in the organic production method that aims at developing sustainable farming, which takes nature, biodiversity, environment, animal welfare etc. into consideration and prioritizes high food quality. This has been expressed by the international organic umbrella organization, IFOAM, in their four principles on ecology, health, justice and precaution, which inspired the EU Organic Regulation from 2007 (EC 834/2007) that regulates the organic production in Denmark. International and Danish analyses have previously shown a certain degree of compliance with the organic principles but the degree of compliance may vary depending on the farm type and management. The purpose of this knowledge synthesis is to create an over view of the existing knowledge on the contribution of the Danish organic sector to different public goods. This may provide politicians and other stakeholders with a better foundation for using organic farming as a tool for the society, based on scientific documentation. The knowledge synthesis was coordinated by ICROFS’ secretariat and involved a large number of scientists and experts, to whom we owe great thanks for a dedicated effort within a very short period of time. The work was initiated with a conference in December 2014, where 62 researchers and experts contributed to the initial delimitation of the topics as well as to the identification of the most essential scientific documentation within the area. Subsequently, ICROFS appointed coordinators for each of the subject areas and together with them ICROFS made a gross list of co-authors. Approx. 75 researchers and experts have thus been involved in the preparation of the know ledge synthesis. In March 2015, the first draft for the structure and contents was presented at a meeting for relevant stakeholders with an interest in public goods in order to get their comments and ideas for the future work that was to be carried out. In parallel, the authors made this first, short summary of the knowledge synthesis, which was presented at a conference with politicians and other stakeholders at Christiansborg (the Danish Parliament) on 22 April 2015. The brochure was revised and reprinted in October 2015, and the knowledge synthesis itself (more than 400 pgs. in Danish) is published in November 1015