Growing green and trading fair
There has always been agricultural trade. Trade remains a necessity whether it is barter between neighbours or long-distance trade facilitated by money. Trade expansion has brought benefits o many agricultural producers and consumers, However, it has also been responsible for an uncontrolled concentration of power and wealth in the hand of a few.
This not only leads to an increasing gap between the rich and poor, but also to the loss of food security, ecological degradation, pollution and decline of indigenous knowledge and cultural diversity. It does not necessarily have to be this way.
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4 - 5written by ILEIA editorial teamThere has always been agricultural trade. Trade remains a necessity whether it is barter between neighbours or long-distance trade facilitated by money. Trade expansion has brought benefits to many agricultural producers and consumers, However, it has also been responsible for an uncontrolled concentration of power and wealth in the hand of a few. This not only leads to to an increasing gap between the rich and poor, but also to the loss of food security, ecological degradation, pollution and decline of ingenous knowledge and cultural diversity. It does not necessarily have to be this way.
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6 - 7written by Bernwald GeierThe trade in organic products is growing rapidly. Many consumers in the North are ready to pay a premium price for products that are ecologically sound and socially fair. To certify quality a guarantee system is needed. IFOAM has formulated Standards for organic agriculture and has established an accreditation system for certifying institutions. Although the growing market poses an enormous challenge to the organic movement there is also a danger of ˜ecological and social dumping\" and of ˜bio-colonialism\". The author therefore sees development of local markets for organic products and a truly ecological lifestyle as very important.
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8 - 9written by Bert BeekmanThe author draws on his experience of the fair trade movement to examine its development and to discuss its strengths and weaknesses. He argues that the continued development of the fair trade movement will depend on merging the ecological and fair trade criteria and on closing the management and information gap. Strong global alliances between trade, industry, development organisations, ethical and conventional financial institutions, universities and consultants are needed to challenge \"business as usual\".
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10 - 10written by Nick Robins , Sarah RobertsToday, export success is one of the major routes to eocnomic progress for developing countries. But the conditions for success are changing as producers face rising environmental expectations in key export markets, resulting from tightening regulations, new corporatepractices and changes in consumer values and lifestyles. Profound changes in the way in which goods and services areproduced, traded and consumed are required, both to reduce the burden on the global environment and to ensure that a growing population has resources to meet its needs.
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11 - 11The Northern Bolivian Amazon region has an abundant vegetation cover of humid tropical forests with a high diversity of timber and non-timber species. Rubber and Brazil nut have been important for the livelihoods of indigenous groups and peasants. Rubber has not been exploited for about twenty years but there is increasing exploitation of palm heart. Shifting cultivation is practiced and a hectare of forest is cut each year to grow food, a process that can be sustained for two years. To counter this and increase incomes, Instituto para el Hombre, Agricultura y Ecologia (IPHAE) has a project which uses agroforestry systems to improve land use sustainability and generate higher incomes for farmer families.
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12 - 13written by Craig SamsIn 1991 we launched Green & Black\'s organic dark chocolate made with cacao grown in Togo. It was a success at the very top end of the chocolate market. In 1993 we needed an alternative source of cacao and we started a new project in Belize. Together with the Toledo Cacao Growers Association, we worked out a new deal for a new product called \"Maya Gold\". We see this as an example for larger projects.
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14 - 15written by Petra HeidPlans by the European Union for an expensive and unreasonable control mechanism to monitor small organic farmers’ co-operatives are in the pipe-line threatening the livelihoods of thousands.
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18 - 19written by Jos van OostrumHow to combine making a living with conserving their resource base? Kenyan smallholders got together with the Association for Better Land Husbandry (ABLH) in 1993 to develop a conservation for business\' approach in which farmers group commited themselves to debeloping a business plan. Farmers in the districts of Busia, Kakamega, Kirinyaga and Vihiga managed to ensured a continuous supply of 24 fresh and 12 processed Conservation Supreme certified products to 14 different market outlets in Nairobi and Kisumu.
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20 - 21written by Hielke van der MeulenRegional typical food production is a promising option for marginal rural areas. Experiences from Italy show that where production per hectare is low, prices per kilogram can be high. Value is added to these products primarily during processing and marketing. However, there are obstacles to introducing regional-typical food production and these problems are often organisational not technical.
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22 - 23written by Vitoon R. PanyakulIn Thailand the national market for organic products looks quite promising. Product quality and quantity need to be improved and there is considerable scope for new processed food items. Organic Agriculture Certification Thailand has been initiated but due to lack of international recognition, the ACT label cannot yet be offered to organic exports. The author makes clear that information, training, capacity building, management, certification and raising of consumer awareness are all crucial for further development of the organic sector.
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24 - 25AME\'s foray into organic methods of vegetable cultivation was triggered off by discussions on recycling organic waste in the city of bangalore, in southern India. AME objectives were to systematically develop technical knowledge on organic vegetable cultivation through field experimentation.
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26 - 26written by GK UpawansaA country such as Sri Lanka, with several agroclimatic zones, is able to produce a rich assortment of agricultural products. Ecologic conditions allow a wide variety of crops to be grown at different times of the year. At times markets are flooded with particular commodities and prices are below the cost of production.
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27 - 27Kerala, the southernmost state of India has a wide variety of plantation and food crops. In order to developthe horticulture sector, the Kerala Horticulture Development Programme was set up in 1993. This programme aims at enhancing and sustaining the income of participating farmers through organic farming practices and appropriate marketing. The organisation of self help groups was successful, as thes eproved to be effective and boosted the confidence of the farmers who were able to fetch a fair price for their produce.
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28 - 29In subsistence economies barter provides an important alternative to commercial trade. The authors describe the traditional barter systems still widely in use in the Bolivian Andes. Fairs and \"inter-ecological journeys\" are important vehicles for exchange of products between the highlands and the valleys. Commercial trade only has a complementary role in the indigenous trade system.
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30 - 30written by Camilo RamadaThe Local Exchange and Trading Systems, tried by Strohalm.
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36 - 36AME, operational in Southern India, is a partner of the ILEIA research programme. Its research focuses on farming systems where groundnuts constitute about 70% of the area farmed. Twenty to thirty years ago bunch type groundnuts were introduced in the area as a cash crop. Before that runner type groundnuts were grown in rotation with finger millet, in mixed crop systems with cowpea, pigeon pea and castor. Marginal farmers on poor quality soils still use this system but the runner type has been replaced with the bunch type.
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