The aim of the study was to compare the development of organic food production in eight European countries: Austria, Denmark, Estonia, France, Finland, Germany, Norway and Sweden. The comparison was done between years 1998 and 2014.
Many countries have set similar targets for organic agriculture: the most general for the production is 20 % of the field area before year 2020. Austria as the first European country has already reached it, but it had an earlier start for the organic development. Best practices to increase production are better targeted subsidies, national development programs with precise goals and proper actions to reach them and co-operation between farmers and research.
Best countries in consumption of organics are Denmark, Sweden and Austria. The best methods to increase the consumption in Denmark were providing information to the consumers (pesticides, when found) and efficient marketing campaigns. The municipality level programs to enhance the welfare of the nature and humans by including organic food into public catering were effective especially in Denmark and Sweden. The diversification of production has been made possible with policy actions and national level decisions to better target subsides e.g. for plants and products that need an increase in production (Austria, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Sweden).
The reasons for the differences pointed out, are basically cultural. In some countries organic food production is more generally accepted and promoted (Austria, Denmark, Sweden) than in others. In some countries consumers are actively demanding organic food (France, Denmark, Sweden). If the conventional production is considered good enough by the citizens, national food policy is targeted to that more than to organic production (Norway, Finland)
