Production systems
Services
At the core of organic agriculture is the promotion of soil fertility, biodiversity and sustainable land use through production methods adapted to local conditions. The development of such methods is a great challenge for many producers in developing countries, since research and extension in organic agriculture is only just starting in these countries.
FiBL cooperates with national and international research institutions, universities and organic producer groups in the development of locally adapted production technology through practice-oriented on-farm research and in the comparison of organic and conventional production systems.
Selected Projects
Albania: Sustainable Agriculture Support Albania (SASA): Production Systems
Project aims: Development and enlargement of local and international market opportunities for Albanian organic products.
The project is running from 2006-2009.
Project partners are BioAdria Market Development Unit (MDU) and Albinspekt.
The project is funded by DEZA/SDC and seco.
Homepage: www.bioadria.org
- FiBL contact Martin Lichtenhahn
Cuba: Tropical Fruit Production
The aim of the project is the Development of the production and marketing of organic specialities from Cuba: citrus, mango, coconut, coffee etc., market development, development of internal control systems and local certification.
The project has been running since 1997.
Project partners are the Institute for Tropical Fruit IITF as well as further research stations and universities.
The project is funded by ASI.
- FiBL contact Lukas Kilcher
Kenya, India, Bolivia: Long-term farming system comparison in the tropics
The aim of this project is to assess the contribution of organic agriculture to sustainable development in long-term field trials and farm surveys. The FiBL network of long-term trials examines the contribution of organic agriculture to food security, poverty alleviation and environmental conservation. It covers cash crop oriented systems as well as subsistence crop based systems, both under a wide range of agro-ecological and socio-economic conditions. The project has been running since 2005.
The project partners are:
in Kenya
- International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE)
- Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Institute of CIAT (TSBF-CIAT)
- Kenyan Agricultural Research Institute (KARI)
- Kenyatta University (KU)
in India
- bioRe Association India
in Bolivia
- Promoción e Investigación de Productos Andinos (PROINPA)
- Asociación de Organizaciones de Productores Ecológicos de Bolivia (AOPEB)
- El Ceibo
- Instituto de Ecología, Universidad La Paz (IE)
The project is funded by the Swiss Development Cooperation DEZA/SDC, Coop, Biovision Foundation.
- FiBL contact Christine Zundel
further FiBL staff members involved: Lukas Kilcher, Paul Mäder, Monika Schneider, Salvador Garibay
- Further links and info
Press release 'Biolandbau zur Ernährungssicherung in den Tropen'
by Biovision, FiBL, DEZA/SDC and Coop Naturaplan-Fonds
Pictures
Paper "Was kann der biologische Landbau zur nachhaltigen Entwicklung im Süden beitragen?" – Langfristige Systemvergleiche in den Tropen [What can organic agriculture contribute to sustainable development? – Long-term farming system comparisons in the tropics ].
Poster: What can organic agriculture contribute to sustainable development? Long-term farming system comparisons in the tropics
