The import of organic products to Denmark has seen a four to five fold increase during the last seven years,
due to a growing demand for organic products. Globally, the market for organic food and drinks has also
more than doubled during the same period. The global organic agricultural land has concurrently expanded
from 26 to 35 million hectares, mostly due to major conversions in Argentina, China, India, Australia, USA
and Brazil. While Europe and North America still makes up the major markets for organic food and drink,
the extraordinary growth in the organic markets offers export opportunities for both developed and
developing countries. The production and export of organic products in developing countries might offer
both economic and environmental benefits, though this has mainly been investigated in Europe and North
America. However, long-distance trade with organic products has also given rise to a debate on the
sustainability of this development especially with regard to global warming. Consumers of organic products
might ask themselves what are the environmental benefits of buying organic products from e.g. South
America or Asia as compared to conventional production and is this outweighed by the long-distance trade?
The overall aim of the present PhD study was to assess the environmental impacts of selected imported
organic products from developing countries based on impacts during both production (as compared to
conventional) and during processing and transport to Denmark. Firstly, the global trade, development and
overall environmental impacts of organic agriculture and food systems were investigated to form the
foundation for the further analysis. Organic soybeans from China and orange juice from Brazil were selected
as relevant case studies. Secondly, environmental life cycle assessments (LCA) were conducted for the case
studies in China and Brazil focusing on comparing organic with conventional cultivation and on identifying
environmental hotspots of the imported organic product during production, processing and transport to
Denmark. Thirdly, LCA was evaluated as a tool for evaluating the environmental soundness of organic
agricultural products and a new methodology on including of soil carbon sequestration in LCA was
suggested.
The PhD study shows that the increasing globalization affects both conventional and organic agriculture and
food systems. Major environmental problems with regard to agriculture and food systems are identified as
global warming, nutrient enrichment and pollution of water resources, reductions in biodiversity and soil
degradation. The growing global trade and development within organic food and farming systems holds a
potential to offer economic and environmental benefits for developing countries, but at the same time holds a
risk of increasing the environmental load from long-distance transport and of pushing organic food and
agricultural systems toward the conventional farming model and thereby diminishing the environmental
benefits of organic farming.
The case studies in China and Brazil show that the total greenhouse gas emissions associated with imported
organic soybeans from China is 429 kg CO2 eq. per tonne soybean, whereas imported organic orange juice
from small-scale farmers in São Paulo, Brazil is 424 g CO2 eq. per litre orange juice. Transport accounts for
50-60% of the total greenhouse gas emissions from the imported organic plant products. As a comparison,
transport only account for 1-15% for imported meat products, since the greenhouse gas emissions per kg
meat is a lot higher than for plant products. However, the actual contribution from transport is the same. The
mode of transport is a determining factor in that truck transport has a much higher greenhouse gas emission
per km than sea transport. Thus, sea transport from South America (reloaded to trucks in Rotterdam) is
comparable to truck transport from Italy and France and lower than truck transport from Spain and sea
transport from South Africa and China (also reloaded in Rotterdam) in terms of greenhouse gas emissions
per kg imported product. It should be noted that greenhouse gas emissions from the agricultural production
can vary (due to inputs, yields etc.) among countries and in some cases outweigh the emissions from
transport.
Comparing organic and conventional small-scale production until farm gate in the case studies, greenhouse
gas emissions per kg organic product is found to be 60-75% of a comparable conventional production in the
case study area. The nutrient enrichment (eutrophication) per kg organic product is 38-82% of a comparable
conventional production whereas land use per kg organic product is 10-13% higher. Higher crop diversity is
found on small organic compared to small conventional orange farms in Brazil, which may have a positive
effect on biodiversity along with the absence of pesticides and the interrow vegetation. No differences are
found in biodiversity potential in the Chinese case study except the absence of pesticides. Comparing large
and small organic orange farms in Brazil, greenhouse gas emissions, eutrophication potential and copper use
per hectare is found to be significantly lower on organic small-scale than on large-scale organic orange
plantations.
The shortcomings of LCA as a tool for evaluating environmental soundness of agricultural products,
especially with regards to including biodiversity and soil carbon changes, are discussed. The studies in Brazil
and China find that including estimated soil carbon changes widens the difference in greenhouse gas
emissions per kg product between organic and conventional, but there is a need for methodological
development on how to estimate and include this. A methodological approach to include soil carbon changes
in LCA is suggested
