Investigating Socio-Ecological Transformation of the Farming Sector: What Drives Policy Development for Organic Agriculture?

The number of policies for organic agriculture has increased globally during the past two decades with market demand. But how do countries support upscaling of the organic sector? Which policy outputs exist in which countries? Are there factors which can predict similar policy outputs between countries? In this paper, we shed light on the global development of organic policies over time and investigate how countries support upscaling of the organic sector. Further, we identify country characteristics to explain differences in countries’ policy efforts to support organic agriculture. Using FiBL & IFOAM – Organics International annual reports ‘The World of Organic Agriculture: Statistics & Emerging Trends’, this research outlines the current status of organic agriculture policy globally. Policy outputs are categorized following Schneider & Ingram (1990)’s behavioural assumptions of policy tools to understand how countries support their respective organic sectors, and thus perceive the challenge of upscaling organic agriculture. We then compare countries’ policy outputs against traditional development indicators for economic wellbeing (GDP, HDI), as well as national organic production area, market share, export share, and green party representation in national governing bodies to explain policy variations between countries, and identify potential driving factors of policy development for organic agriculture. We expect to see a correlation between higher economic wellbeing, national organic production area, market share, export share, and green party representation, and a higher frequency of policy outputs for organic agriculture. By identifying the driving factors behind policy development for organic agriculture, this research seeks to demonstrate how the (niche) organic market can be further up-scaled for broader socio-ecological transformation of the global farming sector.