Workshops

Workshop 14 (in English):
Organic Agriculture in developing countries – can Organic Agriculture contribute to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDG)

Organisation and Moderation: Prof. Bernhard Freyer (Universität für Bodenkultur, Vienna, Austria), Dr. Christian Hülsebusch (DITSL GmbH, Witzenhausen, Germany)

Duration: 2 h

Target groups: researchers, PhD Students, and MSc students who are interested in organic farming in developing countries, especially those who already have some working experience

Background:
A major share of the developing countries is located in tropical or subtropical regions. Environmental conditions in the tropics and subtropics differ considerably from those in Europe and most parts of North America. Likewise, socio-cultural and economic conditions differ largely between “South” and “North”. It is therefore to be expected that problems arising in organic agricultural systems in developing countries differ considerably from those in Europe and North America.

Based on the observation that agricultural yields in temperate regions experience a drop when converting to organic production, it is often argued, that organic agriculture has little to no potential to contribute to global food security or to achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG). However, a major principle of organic agriculture is that of maintaining nutrient cycles and soil fertility, thus – so it can be hypothesised – stabilising yields in the long run. Associated with this is the endeavour to make use of allelopathic relations between different ecosystem components – thus increasing the systems’ resilience against shocks resulting from imbalances. It is also often maintained that organic agriculture contributes to maintaining biodiversity, but on the other hand an increase in “organic” might go at the expense of natural ecosystems, while conventional agriculture would need less surface – thus leaving more room for natural ecosystems. Is there really “more” or “better” biodiversity in natural ecosystems, and is it more worthwhile to be maintained? How much biodiversity does humankind need and for which purpose?

The workshop wishes to critically address these and other – resource-related – topics, which are often controversially discussed in search of “pros” and “cons” for organic agriculture. The history of organic farming and associated research in tropical regions is relatively young hence the available base of information is still narrow. The workshop also wants to further the debate on the contribution that scientific research can make to answer some of the above questions and resolve parts of the controversy.

Procedere:

• Introduction by the moderators - MDGs as guideline for the group discussion
• Selected poster presentations of the scientists participating in the section Organic Farming in Emerging and Developing Countries
• Group discussions with specific topics linked with the MDGs in reference to the work of the scientist presenting their work:
• Farming system development (ecological effects of organic farming)
• Animal husbandry
• Income generation, poverty reduction and food security
• Synthesis: strengths and weakness of OA – needs in research, education, training, policy

The workshop gives a good opportunity for young scientists to discuss their work, their methodology and the special problems they are facing while working on Organic Agriculture

Registration: Please put your name on the list that will be available at the registration desk of the 9th German Scientific Conference.