Here’s What We Accomplished in 2022!
This year, we celebrated 50 years of IFOAM – Organics International.
This meant celebrating five decades of promoting organic all over the world, advocating for the organic community at the highest levels, representing farmers, and supporting policy development that contributes to sustainable food systems.
All year long, from BIOFACH Nuremberg to our anniversary conference in South Korea, we came together to reflect on our collective successes - and exchanged on how to continue our work together, shaping the future of organic as a strong global community for the next 50 years!
Our Events | Our Projects | Our Guiding Documents and Tools
Our Blog’s New Members Section | Our Year of Organic Partners
Spreading the Word During the Year of Organics
It’s been an exciting time celebrating this Year of Organics! 2022 marked our 50th anniversary, IFOAM Organics Europe’s 20th, IFOAM Asia’s 10th, and countless milestones by the global organic community.
We teamed up with global partners Arla, Naturland, Organic Plant Protein, and Thise to spread the word on why we #LuvOrganic. A heartfelt thanks for their incredible work and for helping raise awareness of how organics can be a pathway to truly sustainable food systems!
At the IFOAM-Goesan International Organic Expo + Industry Fair in South Korea, we reflected on the last 50 years of achievements and exchanged on how to shape the future of organic together.
The International Conference on Organic Agriculture Policy
Together with the Chungbuk Province, South Korea, we co-hosted the second International Conference on Organic Agriculture Policy from 20–22 July 2022.
Policymakers and experts from more than 10 countries gathered to exchange on how efficient government policy-making is a vital tool for developing the organic sector and bringing us closer to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
The conference drew on case studies spanning from Argentina to Saudi Arabia and Ghana. It also referred to resources gathered in the IFOAM Policy Toolkit, which covers topics from support for organic inputs to Participatory Guarantee Systems.
Another Record-Breaking #IGrowYourFood Action Day
Over the past four years, we’ve showcased video messages from 300+ organic and agroecological farmers from more than 60 countries through the #IGrowYourFood action day—culminating in yet another record-breaking engagement this year!
The global action day kicked off on 14 September with a launch event and live panel discussion gathering organic farmers from Kenya, India, Peru, and Nigeria.
With a social media reach of 1,207,869 this year—and contributions spanning a testimony from a Chilean agroecological farmer to a message from Ireland’s Minister for Land Use & Biodiversity—the #IGrowYourFood platform continues to grow!
💪 Our Projects
Jaratılış: A Training of Trainers Programme in the Kyrgyz Republic
Named after the Kyrgyz word ‘Jaratılış’ meaning nature and Mother Earth, this project provided representatives from the Kyrgyz Republic’s public sector, cooperatives, and farmers a space to learn, exchange and develop in-depth knowledge on how to produce and market organic products. The participants’ commitment and enthusiasm resulted in the Jaratılış Reader + Trainers Handbook, a manual on organic agriculture. An additional section on marketing strategies will soon be added to the handbook.
Get yourself a copy of the Jaratılış Reader + Trainers Handbook
Supporting the Ukrainian Organic Sector Through the OT4D Project
This year, we worked closely with the Ukrainian organic sector to support their efforts and ensure access to safe, nutritious food remains accessible to Ukrainians. This work included supporting more than 40 different initiatives as well as guaranteeing the Ukrainian organic community was represented in events like the Organic European Congress, BIOFACH, and the Organic Europe Youth Event. All these efforts were implemented through our Organic Trade 4 Development in Eastern Europe (OT4D) project.
CERTIFICATION
Development of guidance documents for groups of operators and control bodies on the group certification according to the EU Regulation 2018/848.
On 1 January 2022, the new EU Regulation 2018/848 and associated secondary legislation came into effect, redefining the rules applicable to thousands of certified organic smallholder groups worldwide. The new regulation meant significant changes to current practices from both groups and control bodies in the Global South. Farmers and certification bodies faced significant challenges navigating complicated regulatory documents.
To support them, we worked with FiBL and IFOAM Organics Europe on two guides that break down how group certification works under the new EU regulation.
Leading experts from around the world collaborated on these documents, making accessible their findings and progress both to our membership and the broader public through online webinars and in-person sessions, including at BIOFACH. The importance of this work showed in the 2,000+ participants that joined from around the world. As a vital tool for our membership, IFOAM - Organics International will continue to work on supporting documents in the future and keep the organic community informed of further developments.
PGS
New 2022 data on Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS) supports our global overview of PGS initiatives
Ever two to three years, IFOAM - Organics International conducts a global survey to gather the latest data on PGS initiatives. This information is displayed in the Global Map of PGS initiatives, which includes an overview of the producers involved, products certified, and how to get in touch with PGS initiatives around the world.
Based on the data collected throughout 2021 (also published in the World of Organic Agriculture yearbook), we estimate that there are at least:
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242 PGS initiatives in operation around the world, 63 of which are currently under development.
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1,244,239 producers involved in PGS
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1,205,050 producers certified by PGS initiatives
As we collected data this year, we launched an updated global PGS map, including a tutorial video explaining how to submit information. We hope this will make it easier for PGS coordinators to regularly update their contact details, annual figures, and general information.
PGS initiatives continue to grow around the world, benefitting countless communities, organic producers and processors building sustainable food systems worldwide! We’re proud to support these initiatives by maintaining this global overview and tools available.
Putting the Spotlight on our Members
with a New Blog Section
👩🏽🌾👨🏿🌾👩🏼🌾
With 700+ affiliates spanning more than 100 countries and territories, our members champion organics globally – every day!
You’ll find plenty of success stories and inspiring work in this new section on our blog, now dedicated to celebrating our membership in all its breadth and variety; from founders Nature & Progrès to newcomers like Global Seed Savers.
To our members around the world who continue to work for truly sustainable food systems that care for people and planet: we thank you!
👏 Appreciating Our Year of Organics Partners
Thanks to support from the Year of Organics global partners Arla, Naturland, Organic Plant Protein, and Thise, we raised awareness worldwide of the multiple benefits of choosing organic and its impact on our health and the environment. We showcased how organic can be a pathway to truly sustainable food systems and will continue to do so in the next 50 years! Are you interested in promoting organic with us?
