Organic farming, climate change and sustainability in developing countries

Biofach, Thursday, February 21, 2008, 4-6 p.m. Istanbul Room

Discussion and presentations on: Organic farming and sustainability, soil fertility-building strategies and carbon sequestration, biodiversity and adaptation to climate change, clean development mechanisms and voluntary carbon compensation mechanisms.

Chair:

• Dr. Urs Niggli, FiBL, Switzerland

Speakers

• Dr. Simon Bolwig, Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
• Dr. Alexander Kasterine, International Trade Centre (ITC)
• Salvador Garibay and Lukas Kilcher, International Co-operation at FiBL, Switzerland
• Manoj Kumar Menon, ICCOA
• Dr. Johannes Kotschi, AGRECOL, Germany
• Dr. Othmar Schwank, INFRAS, Zürich, Switzerland

FiBL press release

• Wie Klimapolitik nachhaltige Landwirtschaft in Entwicklungsländern fördern könnte

FiBL workshop at the BioFach Congress 2007

• Programme of the workshop Climate Change and Organic Farming in Developing Countries
• Summary of the presentations // Resúmenes y Programa
• Press release: Organic farming saves resources and the climate – Promoting organic farming means mitigating climate change!

Simon Bolwig, DIIS, and Alexander Kasterine, ITC

Airfreight, organic products and Africa

The 2007 proposal from the Soil Association to withdraw certification of airfreighted organic products was aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the supply chain. What is the development impact of any future ban and would it mitigate climate change? Why is a trade ban discriminatory? What issues does this raise with respect to the transparency of private standard setting and the inclusion of developing countries in the process?

Results presented from the ITC-DIIS study Economic Impact of a Ban on Imports of Air freighted Organic Products to the UK (Gibbon, P. and S. Bolwig, with Lone Riisgaard and Nina Grunth. 2007).

• Power Point Presentation

Manoj Kumar Menon, ICCOA

Climate Change and Organic Farming - an Indian Perspective

• Power Point Presentation

Salvador Garibay and Lukas Kilcher, FiBL

Organic agriculture and climate change in developing countries

• Power Point Presentation

Johannes Kotschi, Agrecol

Climate change and the role of biodiversity for adaptation in agriculture

The role of biodiversity, soil fertility, crop rotations, polyculture, genetic diversity and farm management for adaptation of farms to climate change.

• Power Point Presentation

Othmar Schwank, INFRAS

The role of the carbon market in transformation of agriculture towards organic and sustainability

What role can CDM and Voluntary Carbon Markets play in the dissemination of organic farming practices? What is the future of carbon credit trade, especially with developing countries andthe interface to biomass energy interventions? How can carbon credits be better embedded in sustainable development ?

• Power Point Presentation