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Tropentag 2021, September 15 - 17, hybrid conference, Germany

"Towards shifting paradigms in agriculture for a healthy and sustainable future"


Potential of Integrating Organic Livestock Production in already Certified Organic Crop Production Systems in the Tropics

Aida Tesfaye, Christoph Reiber, Mizeck Chagunda

University of Hohenheim, Inst. of Agric. Sci. in the Tropics (Hans-Ruthenberg-Institute), Germany


Abstract


Currently, there is an increasing shift towards safe and high quality food worldwide. This includes demand for organic animal products. In tropical countries, most who have certified organic crop production have their animal production excluded from certification. The objective of this study was to assess the potential of integrating and marketing organic livestock products in certified organic crop production systems in the tropics. Opportunities and challenges on this prospect were analysed using a systematic literature review together with seven expert interviews.
Results showed that the potential for integrating organic livestock production in already certified organic crop production systems and the marketing of organic animal products differs strongly depending on the countries’ circumstances. One opportunity for the development is the rising demand for organic products. This is especially so in emerging countries like India and Brazil, where middle classes and incomes are growing, the potential for marketing organic animal products increases. In those countries organic markets, mainly for crop products, already exist which helps introducing organic animal products. In other less developed countries, markets for organic products are rare. Agricultural focus in such countries often lays on increasing the productivity, usually with conventional farming methods, therefore it is unlikely that the certification of organic animal products will play an important role there in the near future. Missing infrastructures, transportation options, and marketing options are major challenge in most of the countries. To push the production in the tropics, these obstacles need to be removed which is time and investments intensive. To promote the development of certified organic animal production in the tropics, further research focusing on organic animal production under tropical conditions is necessary. Equally important are initiatives of knowledge exchange with and among farmers. Further, training and educational work are needed to raise awareness, about the benefits of organic animal husbandry on the environment, human health and product quality, among producers and consumers.


Keywords: Certified organic crop production, infrastructure, organic livestock, tropics


Contact Address: Mizeck Chagunda, University of Hohenheim, Inst. of Agric. Sci. in the Tropics (Hans-Ruthenberg-Institute), Stuttgart, Germany, e-mail: mizeck.chagunda@uni-hohenheim.de


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