17
Research strategy for the development of the organic farming and food sector in Germany Urs Niggli
Research strategy for the development of
the organic farming and food sector in
Germany
Urs Niggli
Forschungsstrategisches Fachforum 2015
Big Data und Forschungsdatenmanagement ̶
Fluch oder Segen für die Agrarforschung?�Background information
�Goals of the strategy
�Approaches to success
�Priorities for research
� Lessons learned
Contents
Ulrich Hamm, Anna Maria Häring, Kurt-Jürgen Hülsbergen, Folkhard Isermeyer, Stefan Lange,
Urs Niggli, Gerold Rahmann & Susanne Horn . Research strategy of the German Agricultural
Research Alliance (DAFA) for the development of the organic farming and food sector in
Germany. Org. Agr. (2017) 7: 225. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13165-017-0187-5
.
www.fibl.org
WORLD: ORGANIC FARMLAND 2015
Oceania
Europe
Latin
America
Asia
North
AmericaAfrica
0 5 10 15 20
1
2
3
4
5
Million hectares
0% 10% 20% 30% 40%
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
1999 2003 2007 2011 2015
Mil
lio
n h
ect
are
s
1% of the
world’s farmland is organic
World50.9
Mio ha
Australia
22.7Mio ha
In Oceania there were 22.8 Mio ha, in Europe 12.7 Mio ha, and in Latin America 6.7 Mio ha.
The ten countries with the largest organic agricultural areas represent 74% of the world’s organic agri-cultural land.
11 countries have 10% or more of their agricultural land under organic management.
In 2015, almost 6.5 million hectares morewere reported compared with 2014.
Source: FiBL survey 2017 www.organic-world.net
Distribution of organic
agricultural land by region 2015
The five countries with
the largest areas of organic
agricultural land 2015
Top 5 countries , where more than
10 percent of the farmland is
organic 2015
Growth of the organic
agricultural land 1999-2015
Argentina
US
Spain
China
Australia Liechtenstein
Sao Tome
& Principe
Estonia
Sweden
Austria
Percentage
+360% since 1999
www.fibl.org
WORLD: ORGANIC RETAIL SALES 2015
USA
Germany
France
China
Canada
UK
Italy
Switzer-
land
Other
WorldApprox.
75 billion €
North America
almost
39 billion €
262€are spent per
person in Switzerland
0 10,000 20,000 30,000
1
2
3
4
5
Retail sales in million Euros
0 100 200 300
1
2
3
4
5
Per capita consumption
in euros
0 5 10
1
2
3
4
5
Market share in %
The largest single market is
the USA followed by the EU
(27.1 billion €) and China.
By region, North America has
the lead (38.5 billion €),
followed by Europe
(29.8 billion €) and Asia.
The countries with the lar-
gest market for organic food
are the United States
(35.8 billion €), followed by
Germany (8.6 billion €),
France (5.5 billion €)
and China (4.7 billion €).
Switzerland has the highest
per capita consumption
worldwide, followed by
Denmark and Sweden.
The highest shares the
organic market of the total
market is in Denmark,
followed by Switzerland,
Luxembourg, Sweden, and
Austria.
Distribution of retail sales value
by country 2015
The five countries with the largest
markets for organic food 2015
The five countries with the highest
per capita consumption 2015
The five countries with the
highest organic shares of the
total market 2015
Source: FiBL survey 2017 www.organic-world.net
Canada
China
France
Germany
US
Liechtenstein
Luxembourg
Sweden
Denmark
Switzerland Denmark
Switzerland
Luxembourg
Sweden
Austria (2011)
8.4% of the
food market in Denmark is
organic
Source: FiBL survey 2017 www.organic-world.net
www.fibl.org
World: Development of organic retail sales 1999-2015
10.2 15.1
16.3 18.8
19.6
20.9 23.6 28.0 31.1 34.6 37.9 42.3 44.9 5
0.4 5
5.7 6
2.2
75.9
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
70.0
80.0
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
Re
tail
sa
les
in b
illi
on
eu
ros
Development of the organic retail sales 1999-2015Source: FiBL surveys 2002-2017
Please note that for the years prior to 2005 data may not be complete.
Source: FiBL survey 2017 www.organic-world.net
www.fibl.org
Germany: Growth of retail sales in Germany 2000-2015
2,050
2,700
3,010
3,100
3,500
3,900
4,600
5,300
5,800
5,800
6,020
6,640
6,970
7,420
7,760
8,620
0
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000
6,000
7,000
8,000
9,000
10,000
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Mil
lio
n e
uro
s
Germany: Growth of organic food and beverages retail sales 2000-
2015Source: FiBL-AMI surveys 2000-2017
Source: FiBL survey 2017 www.organic-world.net
www.fibl.org
Comparing SDGs to what organic agriculture delivers
Increase productivity
of subsistence & small
holder farms
Strongly reduce ne-
gative environmental
externalities
Foster learning
and cooperation
of farmers
Use ecosystem
functions for pro-
ductivity increase
Create value
addition in food
chains
Reduce poverty
of farm families
Foster farmer-owned
knowledge instead of
external inputs &
knowledge
Increase global food
production
by ~ 50 %. �
�
�
�
��
�
�
�
Stabilize and secure
yields of cash crops
(and staple foods?).�
Literature to be found:
Niggli, U (2014) Sustainability of
Organic Food Production:
Challenges and Innovations.
Proceedings of the Nutrition Society.
doi:10.1017/S0029665114001438, 6
pages.
Increase agronomic
and ecological
resilience
www.fibl.org
Annual spendings for organic research National OF
research
strategies,
bottom-up
and top-
down
Niggli U, Andres Chr, Willer H & Baker B (2016) Building a global platform
for organic farming research, innovation and technology transfer. Org. Agr.
Springer, DOI 10.1007/s13165-017-0191-9
www.fibl.org
Innovation in agriculture
Social innovation
Ecological innovation
Technological innovation
Organic
Conven-
tional/IPM
Farming systems:
«The most important resource is the
human brain, a resource which is
pleasantly reproducible»
Johann Norberg, 2016
Forschungsstrategisches Fachforum 2015
Big Data und Forschungsdatenmanagement ̶
Fluch oder Segen für die Agrarforschung?�Support of the goal of the Federal Government of Germany to
expand organic farming up to 20% of the agricultural area by
�improving the performance and competitiveness of organic food
and farming;
�while increasing the sustainability in terms of the 4 principles of
organic farming (health, environment, fairness, care) of the
international umbrella organization of the organic world (IFOAM
Organics International).
Goals of the strategy
�(1) Focusing of research on the most important themes with a high
leverage effect;
�(2) the establishment of efficient structures for research and
funding;
�(3) more funding for research on organic farming.
Three approaches to success
�Plant breeding tailored to the need of organic agriculture.
Fields of priority for research
Plant – Plant Interaction
Plant – soil microbe Interaction
-
Plant – Fauna –
Microbe
Interaction
Monika Messmer, FiBL
�autonomous field micro-robots,
�alternative control of fungal diseases and
�management of nutrients and soil fertility.
Fields of priority for research
PGPR (Plant growth-
promoting rhizobacteria)
VAM (Mycorrhizal fungi)
�In organic livestock production, the most important topics are to
meet competing goals in production systems (future production
systems—a focus on pigs);
�to ensure optimum supply of essential amino acids in poultry,
�And to foster successful animal production by implementing
research-practice networks.
Fields of priority for research
�Strengthening the characteristics of organic food systems—
processing, retailing, and certification;
�gentle processing technologies;
�transfer of trustworthiness features (e.g. indicator-based
certification, personalized value chains)
�research on societal expectations and consumer behaviour.
Fields of priority for research
�Funding structures which are no longer strictly time limited;
�research-practice network offering co-learning
between farmers, advisors, and researchers;
�real transdisciplinary funding instruments;
�funding for model regions to facilitate transfer of advancement of
research and knowledge;
�federal and state co-funded university chairs.
Funding structures
�Two year process with many stakeholder involvements;
�Potential is relevant for setting the research agenda and influencing
the priority setting:
�A strategy is a paper. Intensive dissemination and conviction work is
needed.
Lessons learned
