Funded by the European Union’s research programme Horizon Europe, the project OrganicTargets4EU, "Transformation scenarios for boosting organic farming and organic aquaculture towards the Farm-to-Fork targets," launched on September 1, 2022.
Bram Moeskops, project coordinator and Research and Innovation Manager at IFOAM Organics Europe, explains: "The organic sector needs to grow from 9.2% farmland in 2020 to 25% farmland by 2030. There is no concrete target for organic aquaculture, but a similar almost three-fold growth will require enormous efforts. Reaching these ambitious goals demands a balanced upscaling of both production and consumption and implies a huge transformation in farm structures and value chains. This transformation needs to be supported by pioneering research and innovation (R&I), strong advisory services, effective knowledge exchange and training opportunities for all organic operators and related professionals."
Scenarios for reaching the organic targets
Based on an assessment of drivers and lock-ins affecting the development of the organic sector, the OrganicTargets4EU project will set up a multi-actor process to develop possible scenarios for reaching the organic targets of the Farm to Fork Strategy.
The project is structured into two strands:
- Production and markets: analysing how to achieve increases in organic farmland and the (socio-economic) impacts for primary production, value chains and markets.
- Knowledge and innovation: identifying opportunities to strengthen advisory services, building on the CORE Organic network*, increasing and better coordinating R&I investment for organic, and working towards an innovation ecosystem fit for achieving the Farm to Fork Strategy’s targets.
Multi-actor approach at the project’s core
Eight focus countries will help bridge the gap between science and practice: Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, and Romania. These were selected to cover Europe’s full range of geographical contexts. Each focus country is represented by a ‘Practice Partner’, with close connections to producers and value chain actors.
OrganicTargets4EU will also facilitate a multi-actor policy dialogue to assess the feasibility of the organic Farm to Fork targets and develop policy recommendations for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), EU organic regulation, EU and national organic action plans, Horizon Europe, and horizontal legislation on inputs and public procurement.
FiBL takes on diverse roles in OT4EU
The project utilises FiBL’s extensive knowledge and databases in the organic sector to identify drivers and lock-ins for the development of the organic sector, providing the bases for the foresight and scenario analysis. The Organic Farm Knowledge platform’s toolbox will be further expanded, with practice partners, aiming to provide useful end-user materials to farmers and advisors. Additionally, FiBL will produce new knowledge with involvement in communication and dissemination activities, including digital country factsheets, media articles, scientific papers, videos, practice abstracts and policy briefs, for the benefit of all target stakeholders: most notably farmers, researchers and policymakers.
Additionally, FiBL EU’s expertise in project management and administration is utilised, supporting technical and financial reporting, the data management plan, exploitation, and stakeholder collaboration.
ÖMKi is responsible for supporting knowledge exchange and capacity building to reach the Farm to Fork goals. ÖMKi will carry out an assessment of the knowledge and innovation systems for organic agriculture, aquaculture and for processors and retailers and will furthermore organise workshops to stimulate the availability of advisory services and capacity building.
*CORE Organic: CORE Organic is the acronym for "Coordination of European Transnational Research in Organic Food and Farming Systems". It is a network of European ministries and research councils funding research in organic food systems at national levels. For more information see link below.
Further information
About the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity Strategies
The European Union strives to become climate-neutral by 2050 and halt environmental degradation through the European Green Deal. The Farm to Fork Strategy and Biodiversity Strategy are at the heart of the European Green Deal.
The Farm to Fork Strategy aims to accelerate the transition to a sustainable food system that should:
- Have a neutral or positive environmental impact;
- Help to mitigate climate change and adapt to its impacts;
- Reverse the loss of biodiversity;
- Ensure food security, nutrition and public health, making sure that everyone has access to sufficient, safe, nutritious, sustainable food;
- Preserve affordability of food while generating fairer economic returns, fostering the competitiveness of the EU supply sector and promoting fair trade.
The Biodiversity Strategy aims to put Europe’s biodiversity on the path to recovery by 2030.
The Farm to Fork and Biodiversity Strategies recognises the positive role of organic farming in contributing to these objectives. Therefore, it aims to reach at least 25% of the EU’s agricultural land under organic farming by 2030 and a significant increase in organic aquaculture.
FiBL contacts and their role in the project
- Ingrid Jahrl, FiBL Switzerland, Department of Food System Sciences, FiBL coordinator OT4EU, Leader of Work Package 1: Drivers and lock-ins for the development of the organic sector; Task 1.1: Inventory of enabling and constraining factors on the development of organic farming, aquaculture, the organic market and food system
- Lauren Dietemann, FiBL Switzerland, Department of Extension, Training and Communication; Task 5.4: Expanding knowledge reservoirs and promoting online knowledge exchange, Task 8.3: Content production
- Dora Drexler, ÖMKi, Leader of Workpackage 5: Knowledge exchange and capacity building
- Jürn Sanders, FiBL Switzerland, Leader of the Department of Food System Sciences, Task 1.5: Synthesis of drivers and lock-ins of organic sector development and Task 8.3: Content production
- Carla Pinho, FiBL Europe: Task 9.2: Legal, financial, and administrative management
- Mathias Stolze, FiBL Switzerland, Department of Food System Sciences, Task 1.4: Influence of key drivers for change on organic sector development, Task 8.3: Content production
- Helga Willer, FiBL Switzerland, Task 1.4: Influence of key drivers for change on organic sector development, Task 8.3: Content production
Supporters
This project is funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Research Executive Agency (REA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them (Grant Agreement no.101060368).
The work of FiBL Switzerland in this project is supported by the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) under contract number (SERI contract no. 22.00155).
Partners
- IFOAM Organics Europe, Belgium
- FiBL Europe - Research Institute of Organic Agriculture, Belgium
- Universita' Politecnica delle Marche, Italy
- Institut du Développement Durable et des Rélations Internationales, France
- Aarhus University, Denmark
- ÖMKi - Ökológiai Mezőgazdasági Kutatóintézet, Hungary
- Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institut, Bundesforschungsinstitut für Ländliche Räume, Wald und Fischerei, Germany
- CONSULAI - Consultoria Agro-Industrial Lda., Portugal
- La Fondazione COISPA ETS, Italy
- Naturland - Verband fur ökologischen Landbau, Germany
- Universitatea Spiru Haret, Romania
- Centro Internazionale di Alti Studi Agronomici Mediterranei, Italy
- Innovation Centre for Organic Farming, Denmark
- L’ITAB, l'Institut de l'agriculture et de l'alimentation biologiques, France
- INRAE, l'Institut national de recherche pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement, France
- The Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
- FiBL Switzerland - Research Institute of Organic Agriculture, Switzerland
Duration
42-month project (September 2022 – February 2026).
Links
- fibl.org: OT4EU in the FiBL project database
- organictargets.eu: OT4EU project website
- cordis.europe.eu: OT4EU project description
- food.ec.europe.eu: Farm to Fork Strategy
- commission.europe.eu: European Green Deal
- environment.ec.europe.eu: Biodiversity Strategy
- organic-farmknowledge.org: Organic Farm Knowledge homepage
- coreorganic.org: Core Organic website