Renewed energy, optimism and bolder confidence for collaboration at BIOFACH 2025

In our session “Global Organic Market Overview”, we took a closer look at the latest statistics from the FiBL yearbook “The World of Organic Agriculture” by region, which suggested a steady growth of organic farmland and global organic market. Despite the slower growth compared with 2022, multiple regions suggested a positive outlook and a greater potential for steady growth in the years to come. Key takeaways included:

• Organic is more than a trend in the EU – market size proves it’s a lasting shift.
• PGS plays a vital role in Latin America and the Pacific Islands.
• Africa, China and the US show significant potential for organic growth.

You can view the presentation of the session here.

In our session titled “Joining efforts to support smallholders towards compliance for the EU market”, speakers from FiBL, COLEAD, and Fairtrade International shared insights into the key challenges and opportunities faced by especially smallholder farmers. They also provided recommendations on how to support adaption of around one million smallholders that currently supplied Europe with a variety of important organic products. Key takeaways are as follows:

• The new EU Organic Regulation will bring considerable impact on smallholder value chains.
• From the perspective of Fairtrade producers, more support in terms of time, information, and affordable technical assistance will be necessary to adapt to the new changes.
• Low and middle-income countries are experiencing the cumulative effect of environmental pressure, EU due diligence initiatives, and the evolution of ‘sustainability’ as a whole.

The session “From Farm to Policy: Shaping the Future of Organic Agriculture and Agroecology” explored how forward-thinking policies can shape the future of organic agriculture and agroecology and discussed successful policy models, challenges, and opportunities in promoting sustainable farming practices. Key takeaways included:

• Valuable insights were gained in creating an actionable roadmap for Nepal, Bhutan and India through the Himalayan Agroecology Initiative (HAI).
• Successful implementation of national roadmaps requires a rigorous participatory process.
• Evidence-based advocacy is crucial – research shows agroecology and organic farming are scalable, profitable and can enhance food security, supporting broader adoption.

The session “Beyond finances: Investing in People – Capacity Development for Harvesting Organic Quality” presented innovative methodological approaches to improve the quality of products from agroecological producers and actors of the organic value chain. Key takeaways from the session included:

• Farmers should be owners of their own knowledge.
• It is efficient in a short and long term to train trainers on useful topics with the right tools and context.
• We should train farmers not only in the production but also in market access, that will ease transition into organic.

The session "Participatory guarantee systems - challenges, impacts and insights on government recognition" showcased resent research findings from Southeast Asia that highlight enablers and barriers for PGS upscaling and explain economic and environmental impacts of PGS adoption. Key takeaways included:

• After almost four decades of development, PGS has entered the stage of wider recognition and seeks to strengthen its systems through innovation and clarification.
• As the body of research on PGS grows, there is an increasing need to collect research outcomes and network. 
• The project on organic PGS certification for vegetables in northern Vietnam shows the need for labour-saving technologies and new marketing channels.