The two papers give a brief overview of the current (2006) organic farming sitation in Germany and in Switzerland. 



The papers include information about the history of organic farming, the market situation and statistics

Willer, Helga

Yussefi, Minou

English

Organic Eprints

COUNTRY REGIONAL REPORTSGermany, Switzerland & AustriaÉ°ùªædGh Gô°ùjƒ°Sh É«fÉŸG44 MIDDLE EAST FOOD (MEF) May - June 2006 / Vol. XXII Issue 3 Visit us at: www.mefmag.comOrganic Agriculture in Germany and SwitzerlandGERMANY - By: Helga Willer*  and Minou Yussefi Organic farming in Germany is one of the pioneering countries of organicfarming. There has been a steady growth of organic farms in the past decades. In 2001 a set of measures to support organic farming was introduced by theGerman government, which have boosted the development of organic farmingconsiderably.1 History and development oforganic agriculture in Germany; organ-isational developmentThe development of organic agri-culture in Germany has been stronglyinfluenced both by bio-dynamic and byorganic-biological agriculture. TheGerman catch-all term for all forms ofecological / biological agriculture is“oekologischer Landbau”(ecological/organic/biological agricul-ture).1.1 First Growth Phase (1968-1988)Towards the end of the 1960s, thenegative environmental effects ofindustrialised farming and pollution ingeneral were becoming obvious. The producer organisation Biolandwas founded in 1971; the Associationfor the Cultivation of Organic Fruit,Vegetables and Field Crops (ANOG)had already been established in 1961.(In 2002 ANOG merged with theNaturland association). Since 1975 the Foundation Ecology& Agriculture (SÖL)  has co-ordinatedthe exchange of experience and infor-mation on organic farming, mainlythrough its publications. SÖL has alsosupported the development of IFOAM,the International Federation of OrganicAgriculture Movements  from its begin-nings. During this phase it was impor-tant to show agricultural experts thatorganic farming can be practised suc-cessfully. More producer organisationswere founded later. 1.2 Second Growth Phase(1988 to 2000) The Federation for Organic FarmingAGOEL was founded in 1988 as anumbrella association for the six produc-er organizations. AGOEL ceased itsactivities in 2002. Today the organicsector is represented by the Federationof the Organic Food Industry (BOELW)uniting producer, processing and mar-keting organizations. Common basic standards hadalready been developed in 1984. Thesestandards set the framework withinwhich the standards of the individualorganisations operated. Since 1992Council Regulation (EC) 2092/91 onorganic farming  is in place, comple-mented by a national organic farmingact.  Organic agriculture spread veryquickly in the following years. Thisdevelopment was encouraged by statefunding through the EU extensificationprogramme from 1989 onwards andlater Council Regulations 2078/92 and1957/1999  on the support for ruraldevelopment. Organic agriculture also spreadquickly in East Germany after theGerman reunification in 1990. Organicfarming was not allowed in the days ofthe former German DemocraticRepublic (GDR). Nevertheless, a verysmall number of farms in easternGermany had practised organic farm-ing methods. The trade sector saw the lack of acommon seal as the main limiting fac-tor for the further development of theorganic market. Such a seal waslaunched in January 1999 by the privateorganic sector in cooperation withCMA, the marketing board for organicproducts. In 2001 this seal was replacedby the state organic seal; the Biosiegel . 1.3 Third expansion phase starting 2001In 2001 a set of measures to supportorganic farming was introduced by theGerman government. These include theimproved support of organic farms (seetable below), the implementation ofthe Federal Organic Farming SchemeBOEL  as well as the introduction of anational organic seal. This seal hadproven very successful tool and manyorganic products sold in Germany arelabelled with it: Currently 1,552 compa-nies have registered their use of theBio-Siegel for a total of 31,409 products(as of February 2006). The Federal Organic FarmingScheme aims to contribute to sustain-able growth based on a well-balancedexpansion of supply and demand.Bearing this aim in mind, the FederalScheme incorporates various measuresin line with a production chain conceptin the following sectors: - agricultural production, - recording and processing, - trade, marketing, consumers, - development and transfer of technologies, - accompanying measures such asresearch and development.2 Current statistics At the end of 2004 767'891 hectaresof agricultural land were managedorganically according to CouncilRegulation (EC) 2092/91 by 16’603farms. Compared to the previous yearthis represented an increase of 127farms (+0.76 percent) and of 33’864hectares (+4.6%). The share of organicfarms of all farms was 3.95 and share oforganic agricultural land 4.5 %. Theseshares are higher than the Europeanaverage. With 3.5 billion Euro theGerman organic market is the biggestin Europe.3 The market Organic food sales in 2004 inGermany are estimated at 3.5 billionEuro (US$ 4.46 million). This amounts toaround 2.5 percent of the totalturnover of the food market and aYearLand under organicmanagement% of all agriculturalland Organic farms % of all farms2000 546'023.00 3.20% 12'740.00 2.93%2001 634'998.00 3.72% 14'702.00 3.57%2002 696'978.00 4.12% 15'626.00 3.96%2003 734'027.00 4.32 16'476.00 3.92%2004 767'891.00 4.52% 16'603.00 3.95%Table 2: Development of organic farming in Germany 1994 to 2004 (always per 31.12.)Sources: Bundesanstalt für Landwirtschaft und Ernährung (BLE), Frankfurt / Bonn, Germany; ZMP,Bonn, Germany; Bund Ökologische Lebensmittelwirtschaft (BÖLW), Berlin, ArbeitsGemeinschaftÖkologischer Landbau (AGÖL), Bioland und DemeterôjQÉ≤J ≥WÉæŸGh ¿Gó∏ÑdG É°ùªædGh Gô°ùjƒ°Sh É«fÉŸGGermany, Switzerland & Austria45 Visit us at: www.mefmag.com §°ShC’G ¥ô°ûdG ä’ƒcCÉe 3ºbQ OóY 22 ó∏› / 2006 (ƒ«fƒj/ƒjÉe) ¿GôjõM - QÉjCGREFERTORIN53ONPAGE98growth of 13 percent compared to the previous year.Germany remains the biggest market for organic products inEurope, and all supply channels showed significant growth.Recently, conventional supermarkets have become the dom-inant distribution channel for organic products in theGerman market with sales of 36 percent of all organic prod-ucts. Nearly every conventional supermarket or discounter inGermany now provides at least a basic organic range of 20 to50 items, primarily easy-to-handle organic staple foods. Anumber of retail chains have developed their own labelbrands for organic products. Specialist organic shops playalso an important role (accounting for 34 percent of all salesof organic products). About 3’000 specialized organic storessell organic products in Germany. The most important prod-ucts for these stores are fruits, vegetables, cheese and otherfresh products, but also a wide range of grocery products.Growth rates in this independent organic retailing sectorremain high (approximately ten percent annually) despitethe growing number of conventional retailing competitors.In fact, Germany is the country with the largest numberof specialized organic supermarkets in the whole of Europe.The specialized organic supermarkets that opened in the late1990s form an attractive sub-group of the specialist organicshops that has mushroomed in the last decade. Today thereare 250 specialized organic supermarkets all over Germanywith a strong growth trend.A further 16 percent of the organic products were sold viadirect sales. This is in contrast to many other countries, wheremore than two-thirds of all organic products were sold viaconventional retail channels. Direct selling by farmers con-sists primarily of farmers’ markets. This form of retailing is ofconsiderable importance for the sales of fruits, vegetables,potatoes, meat and poultry. An increase in this marketingchannel is, however, relatively unlikely.There is a growing demand for organic food in the cater-ing sector. Many public and private canteens and restaurantsprovide at least single items or combinations of organicfoods on their menus. 4 OutlookThe area under organic management and the organicmarket in Germany continue to grow. Recently the new German government announced that itwill continue to run the Federal Organic Farming Scheme atleast until 2007, which will boost the further developmentfurther - mainly through consumer information, support forfarmers (advice, information) and funding of research. gMain category  Crop category HectaresArable Land Cereals 174'500 Flowers and Ornamental Plants 605 Oilseeds 7'600 Other Arable Crops 190Root Crops 7'600 set-a-side/Green Manuring 39'000 Vegetables 8'400 Protein Crops 18'100 Field Fodder Growing 104'000 Medical and Aromatic Plantsand Spices 570Permanent CropsGrapes 2'500Special Crops 65 Fruits and Nuts 15'000 Permanent PasturesPermanent Pastures 386'000 Other unknown /mixed 3'761 Total  767'891 Table 3: Land use in organic farming in Germany accordingto main crop categories per 31.12.2004Source: ZMP 2005/ FiBL Survey 2005/2006SourcesBundesministerium für Ernährung, Landwirtschaft undVerbraucherschutz  (no date given). Organic Farming in Germany(online).The BMELV homepage http://www.bmelv.de/, Bonn. Available athttp://www.bmelv.de/cln_045/nn_757134/EN/05Agriculture/OrganicFarming2005.html__nnn=trueRichter, Toralf, Padel Susanne, Steve Lowman and Bernhard Jansen(2006): The European Market for Organic Food 2004/2005. In: Willer,Helga und Yussefi, Minou, (Hrsg.) (2006)Willer, Helga und Yussefi, Minou, (Hrsg.) (2006) The World ofOrganic Agriculture - Statistics and Emerging Trends 2006. InternationalFederation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), Bonn,Germany. https://www.fibl.org/shop/show.php?sprache=EN&art=1402Yussefi, Minou (06.012006): Öko-Landbau in Deutschland (online).The SOEL Homepage www.soel.de. Available athttp://www.soel.de/oekolandbau/deutschland_ueber.htmlCOUNTRY REGIONAL REPORTSGermany, Switzerland & AustriaÉ°ùªædGh Gô°ùjƒ°Sh É«fÉŸG46 MIDDLE EAST FOOD (MEF) May - June 2006 / Vol. XXII Issue 3 Visit us at: www.mefmag.comREFER TO RIN54 ON PAGE 98ºgCG øe .´hô°ûŸG Gòg ≥«≤– ≈∏Y ¢Uô– »µd ÒHGóJ á∏ªL äòîJG ó≤a ∂dòd ,2010 ΩÉY ∫ƒ∏ëH ánjƒ°†©dG áYGQõ∏d á°ü°üıG »°VGQC’G øe %20 ∫ó©e ¤EG ∫ƒ°UƒdG án«fÉŸC’G áeƒµ◊G ∫hÉ–äóàeG ¤h’G á∏MôŸG ,πMGôe çÓK ¤EG …ƒ°†©dG êÉàfE’G ƒ‰ äGÎa º«°ù≤J øµªŸG øe .ájƒ°†©dG äÉéàæª∏d »æWƒdG ºàÿG ΩGóîà°SG ¤EG áaÉ°VE’ÉH ánjƒ°†©dG áYGQõdG ºYO Ú°ù– ÒHGóàdG √ògá°SQÉ‡ án«fÉµeG øY Ú«YGQõdG AGÈÿG ´ÉæbEG IÎØdG ∂∏J ∫ÓN º¡ŸG øe ¿Éc óbh çnƒ∏àdGh á«YÉæ°üdG áYGQõ∏d án«Ñ∏°ùdG äGÒKCÉàdG Qƒ¡X äÉæ«à°ùdG ôNGhCG ‘ CGóH å«M 1988h 1968 »eÉY ÚH Ée(2000-1988) á«fÉãdG IÎØdG ∫ÓN .íLÉf πµ°ûH ájƒ°†©dG áYGQõdG .Égó«MƒJ ó©H á°UÉN ,É¡æe án«bô°ûdG ≥WÉæŸG ¤EG á°UÉNh É«fÉŸG AÉëfCG ∞∏àﬂ ‘ kÉ©jô°S kGQÉ°ûàfG áYGQõdG √òg äó¡°T.ánjƒ°†©dG ´QGõŸG OóYh kÉjƒ°†Y áYhQõŸG áMÉ°ùŸG n‹É› ‘ »HhQh’G ∫nó©ŸG É«fÉŸG â£îJ ó≤a ,¿B’G ¤EG 2001 ΩÉ©dG øe óà“ »gh áãdÉãdG á∏MôŸG ÉeCGáYGQõdG »£¨J .∫ƒNóŸG Gòg πª› øe %75 ‹GƒëH ÊGƒ«◊G êÉàfE’G øe »YGQõdG ∫ƒNóŸG Qó≤jh ÖdC’G ∫ÉÑL »YGôe É¡æ«H øe ,áYGQõ∏d ¢ü°üﬂ Gô°ùjƒ°S ‘ áMÉ°ùŸG ‹ÉªLEG øe %40 ‹GƒM.Ö«∏◊G äÉ≤à°ûeh á«°TÉŸGh ÉWÉ£Ñ∏d áÑ°ùædÉH 100 hCG 90 ‹GƒM ¤G áÑ°ùædG √òg ™ØJôJ óbh ‹ÉªLEG πµ°ûH »∏ÙG Ö∏£dG øe %75 ‹GƒM Gô°ùjƒ°S ‘¤EG Oƒ©j ∂dPh 6000 ‹GƒM ¤EG 800 øe ájƒ°†©dG ´QGõŸG OóY ™ØJQEG ó≤a 1999h 1990 »eÉY ÚH ÉqeCG %10 ∫ƒM ìhGÎJ âfÉch áàHÉK ájƒ°†©dG áYGQõdG ƒ‰ áÑ°ùf â«≤H ΩÉY Ú©HQCG ∫GƒWÚà∏°ù∏°S ÈcCG ‘ ájƒ°†©dG äÉéàæŸG Qƒ¡X ,ájƒæ°S äGóYÉ°ùÃ ájƒ°†©dG ´QGõŸG ºYóJ »àdG áÄ«ÑdGh á«YGQõdG ádhódG á°SÉ«°S ,á«ë°üdG ä’ƒcCÉŸÉH Úµ∏¡à°ùŸG ΩÉªàgG :»g áØ∏àﬂ ÜÉÑ°SCG'' ôLÉàŸG øe Coop '''h '' Migros '' πãe êÉàfE’G øe ´ƒædG Gò¡d á©é°ûe äÉÄ«g πªY ,' Bio Suisse .ÚYQGõª∏d íFÉ°üædG AÉ£YEG ¤EG áaÉ°VE’ÉH ´ƒ°VƒŸG Gòg ∫ƒM IójóY çÉëHCÉH Ωƒ≤J »àdG ''SWITZERLAND - By: Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) ** General Information on the Situation of Agriculture in Switzerland Slightly less than 40% of the area of Switzerland is usedfor agricultural purposes, alpine pastures included. In 2003,the agriculturally utilised surface totalled 1'067'055 hectares(Bundesamt für Statistik). About three quarters of that areawere used for fodder production (permanent grassland,grass clover ley and maize silage). Therefore, seventy-five percent of the gross return of Swiss agriculture is derived fromanimal production. In 2003 there were 65'866 farms. Theaverage farm size was 16 hectares. Around per cent of thefarms were full-time holdings. However, a fast shift towardspart-time farms is projected for the next few years.Swiss agriculture meets sixty-five per cent of the domesticfood demand. Higher domestic supplies of 90 to 100% areonly reached by potatoes, veal, cattle and most milk prod-ucts. Growth and Distribution of Organic Farms inSwitzerlandUntil 1990, the rate of conversions to organic farming hadremained very steady for forty years, with annual growthrates of less thanten per cent. Duringthe boom yearsbetween 1990 and1999, the numberof organic farmsincreased from 800to over 6'000.Several factorshave driven thisgrowth: • the consumers’concern abouthealthy food • the agri–envi-ronmental policy ofthe state, whichsupports organic farms with annual subsidies, and • the appearance of organic foods in the two dominantsupermarket chains, Coop and Migros. • the work of the organic actors like Bio Suisse, whounites the organic sector and FiBL, who provides researchand practical advice for farmers. Most farms in Switzerland work organic-biologically.Although very well known to the public, bio-dynamic farmscompose only a small niche within the organic sector- Thenumber of bio-dynamic farms has changed little during thefast expansion of organic farming. The growth of organicfarming varies greatly from the mountain regions, hereorganic farming represents 22% of the agricultural area(2005); in the canton of Graubünden 51% of the agriculturalland is organic.  The fact that a lot of the organic land islocated in the Alpine regions is also reflected in the land usein Swiss organic farming, which has a higher percentage ofgrassland than farming in general. In the western part ofSwitzerland, where stockless arable farms and horticulturecrops dominate, the share of organically farmed land wasvery low in 2005 (see table).  Information about the Swisscantons is available at Wikipedia. The MarketIn 2004 the Swiss organic market grew by 3% and nowamounts to 1.19 billion Swiss Francs (0.77 million EUR - 0.96$US). On average the Swiss consumer spent 160 Swiss Francs(105 EUR - 131.25 $US) on organic products. The sales withorganic products have been continually growing in the pastyears.There has been speculation about possible market sat-uration in Switzerland, but the overall trend in organic salesremains positive despite a decline in general consumerspending and the arrival of food discount stores, drivingdown consumer prices. Over 80% of produce sold is of Swissorigin. The organic sales per capita increased in 2004, andSwitzerland remains the European leader with averagespending of 105 EUR per head. Demand is biggest for organ-ic fresh products (meat, milk product, eggs, vegetables, fruit).With fresh products the market share is 7%. Highest growthrates are achieved for cheese, cream, eggs and vegetables.About 75% of sales pass through two major retailers and15% through specialist organic shops, with the remainderretailing either direct from the producers or through familybutchers and bakery shops. The two leading retail chainsCo-op and Migros follow different strategies in their organ-ic assortments. While Co-op (397 million EUR retail sales inorganic food in 2004) continuously broadens the number oforganic lines, Migros (193 million EUR retail sales in organicfood in 2004) has slightly reduced its organic commitment.With the market entrance of the German discounters ALDICo-op and Migros increased their communication efforts fortheir discount segments.Coop Naturaplan sells a very wide range of organic prod-ucts in all its supermarkets. Its label naturaplan is not exclu-sively used for organic products; animal products comingfrom animal friendly husbandry systems may also carry thislabel. Organic products are additionally labelled with the BioSuisse bud. In 2004 the turnover with Naturplan productsconstituted 14% of total Coop Sales. Migros is selling its organic products under the Migros BioEngagement label.  gYear organic farmstotal organic land(hectares)2000 5'162 85'0002001 5'576 94'0002002 6'123 101'0002003 6'281 108'0002004 6'320 110'0002005 6'462 112'000Table: Development of the Organic Areaand the Number of Organic Farms inSwitzerland 1980-2004Source: Bio Suisse / FiBSources: * Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FIBL) Helga willer  -helga.willer@fibl.org** FiBL: Tel: +41628657-272, Fax: +41628657-273, www.fibl.org

Organic Farming in Germany / Organic Farming in Switzerland

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