Improving the Scope and Quality of Statistical Data on Organic Farming

Proceedings of the First European Conference on Organic Statistics now available

(Aberystwyth / Frick, 16.9.2004) European markets for organic products are developing fast, and more and more farmland is being converted to organic production. Detailed and reliable market information is needed by policy-makers, traders, consultants and the processing industry to guide future policy and investment decisions. A comprehensive book on the current challenges related to organic farming statistics has now been published as part of a European Commission funded project.

The EISFOM-project (European Information System for Organic Markets) aims to build up a framework for reporting credible organic production and market statistics. Currently these data are collected with methods differing from country to country, they are often not reliable or they are contradictory. For some countries even for the land under organic management two or more varying sets of data are available. Figures on market volumes often rely on rough estimations.

The results of a recent expert gathering, which have now been published, show that significant steps are being made to improve the methods of data collection and to include organic farming data in existing international systems. An important issue remains how reliably organic holdings and products are identified. A further key question is how best to ensure that quality data is provided by all countries and agencies.

The experts generated a wide range of ideas as to how current problems might be resolved. Some of these ideas for improving organic farming statistics are now being evaluated in a series of national case studies. Building on these experiences a long-term framework for a European Information System for Organic Markets will be defined. This information system should overcome the current challenges related to organic data collection. It will be discussed at the EISFOM membernet, open to all interested agencies and stakeholders provides, and at the second EISFOM meeting in October 2005 in Brussels.

The proceedings of the first EISFOM European conference held in Berlin earlier this year include more than 50 papers, covering aspects of organic food and farming data relating to farm structures and production, farm incomes and prices, the supply chain and trade, retailers and consumers, as well as supply balances and policy evaluation. The papers were contributed by representatives of the European Commission, Eurostat, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), national statistical offices and regulatory authorities, as well as researchers and stakeholders from the organic sector.

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Further Information

For further information contact the Programme Co-ordinator: Dr Nic Lampkin, Institute of Rural Studies, University of Wales, Aberystwyth, SY23 3AL, United Kingdom. Tel: +44 (0)1970 621603. E-mail: nhl@aber.ac.uk

Bibliographic details

Recke, Guido; Helga Willer, Nicolas Lampkin and Alison Vaughan (Editors) (2004): Development of a European Information System for Organic Markets - Improving the Scope and Quality of Statistical Data. Proceedings of the 1st EISfOM European Seminar held in Berlin, Germany, 26-27 April, 2004. Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL, Frick, Switzerland. ISBN 3-906081-53-2, 250 pages

Printed and electronic copies

The printed proceedings can be ordered from the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL, Ackerstrasse, CH-5070 Frick, Tel. +41 62 865 7272, Fax +41 62 865 7273 or from the FiBL-Shop at a cost of 20 Euro. The order number is 1339.

The proceedings can be also downloaded from the EISFOM Internet site (PDF) or at the Organic Eprints database.

Contacts

□ Dr. Nic Lampkin, Project Coordinator, University of Wales Aberystwyth, Institute of Rural Sciences, Llanbadarn Campus, UK-SY23 3AL Aberystwyth Ceredigion, Tel. +44 1970 622248, Fax +44 1970 622238, E-Mail nhl_@_aber.ac.uk

□ Dr. Helga Willer, Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL, Ackerstrasse, CH-5070 Frick, Tel. +41 62 865 7272, Fax +41 62 865 7273, E-mail helga.willer@fibl.org, Internet www.fibl.org.

The EISfOM project

EISFOM is an EU-funded Concerted Action whose aim is to develop a framework for reporting valid and reliable production and market data on the European organic sector, in order to meet the needs of policy makers, farmers, processors, wholesalers and other actors involved in organic markets. It has been formed by a network of researchers from universities, research institutes and market data collection agencies in Austria, Denmark, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, Switzerland, who have been researching and publishing organic farming statistics for many years. The project is co-ordinated by the University of Wales in Aberystwyth and will run from 2003 to 2005. Further information on the partnership and objectives of the project can be found at www.eisfom.org. Interested individuals can request to be registered as members enabling access to working documents and other unpublished project outputs.

The project is financially supported as a Concerted Action by the European Commission the Fifth Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development Programme (Quality of Life – contract n° QLK5-2002-02400) The views expressed in this press release do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission, nor do they in any way anticipate the Commission’s future policy in this area.