How Can Organic Farming Be Scaled Up Successfully?

A global review of the literature shows that successful strategies for promoting organic agriculture vary from one region to another and require a combination of measures, e.g economic incentives coupled with educational and informational campaigns.

Many countries and regions have formulated targets to increase the share of land under organic agriculture. The EU, for example, has set a target of 25 per cent of farmland under organic agriculture by 2030. Several EU Member States such as Germany, Austria and Sweden have gone even further, setting targets of 30% by 2030. There are also various targets at regional levels, such as the 2023 Organic Campaign Plan of the Canton of Lucerne, which aims to increase the percentage of organically farmed land from 11% to 15% by 2027. Research can help sector stakeholders achieve these targets. To date, however, a systematic overview of the scientific evidence for measures geared to expanding organic agriculture has been lacking. Out of 18,129 scientific publications we identified 120 relevant studies and extracted 182 policy action recommendations. The key points for promoting organic agriculture which we identified are summarised below.

Context-dependence of the measures

The potential effectiveness of policy measures is dependent on the regional context, stage of adoption and production system. Whereas informational and educational measures seem to be most effective in regions with a low share of organic agriculture, financial incentives such as subsidies tend to be key in established organic markets. Furthermore, a combination of subsidies, informational campaigns, support for cooperatives and the elimination of barriers may be more effective than individual measures alone.

How can conversion to organic farming be effectively encouraged?

Based on the results of our study, we suggest the following potential measures:

1. Adaptation of measures: Policy tools should be adapted to local socioeconomic and ecological circumstances as well as to changes in the organic market over time.
2. Subsidies and incentive systems: Targeted subsidies and the elimination of economic barriers can play an important role in encouraging further growth in markets where organic agriculture is already established, since a general awareness already prevails, and both infrastructure and informational systems are often already at an advanced stage.
3. Knowledge-building: In regions where the share of land under organic agriculture is low, informational and educational measures should be prioritised.
4. Strengthening cooperation: In systems that are more productive, providing support for agricultural cooperation and networks is important.
5. Market development: Particularly in less productive regions, the creation of infrastructure and supply chains is crucial.

Geographic and methodological gaps in research

To support sound policy design, a reassessment of previous research approaches is essential. There are research gaps in Africa, Central Asia and Eastern Europe in particular. Moreover, research should be more focused on investigating cause-and-effect relationships and specific mechanisms of the adoption process. Interdependencies between producers‘ decisions and consumer demand must also be studied in greater depth in order to understand adoption processes. Demand for organic products is currently seldom considered as a driver in analyses, although it can play a key role in farmers‘ decisions. This is also relevant for Switzerland and the EU.