growthgrowth
8.3.3 The proble The proble The proble The problem of adaptation m of adaptation m of adaptation m of adaptation
8.3.3
8.3.3
8.3.3
The probleThe probleThe probleThe problem of adaptationm of adaptationm of adaptationm of adaptation
The experience of the six countries forms the basis of identifying five steps, which implies that organic farming – after having defined itself – is able to conquer parts of all the three domains: the farming community, agriculture policy, and the food market. The five steps indicate a process using policy as a means of increasing farmers’ conversion levels, which in turn is transformed into supplies for the food market. Described in this way it comes close to the suggestion for Italy’s sequential development, but the steps mentioned here should be found in each region, while in Italy, only one step was taken in separate regions.
The six cases also indicate major problems of balancing the efforts directed towards the three domains. An institutional setting has been established in four countries – among them the three with the largest organic farming sectors. In the Danish case in particular, the institutional setting has been able to help by smoothing the development of organic farming, following a setback in organic farming growth between 1992 and 1994. The Danish institutional setting is organised to combine the interests of farmers – whether organic or general – with the interests of consumers, industries and ministries. Even so, the working of the institutional setting is not based on opposing interests as the representatives of the organisations have developed a policy community in support of organic farming. This materialised in its ability to develop two strategic development plans aiming at securing sufficient and balanced supplies for the home market and – when supplies appeared plentiful – aiming at developing exports. In Austria, the institutional setting is based mainly on the
Lanwirtschaftskammer as the general agriculture organisation supplemented with some advice from competing organic farming
organisations. Consequently, the institutional setting in Austria has been much weaker and less ambitious than is the case in Denmark. In Italy, the institutional setting is virtually absent and in Belgium the institutional setting only involves organic farming organisations. Hence, in these three instances, it is left to other actors that have less direct and comprehensive contacts with the sector to prevent or solve problems of organic farming
Organic farming growth
growth. This task may involve for instance the development of action plans, which appear an important tool in organic farming development, and which – outside the six countries studied here – are found in France, Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden among the EU member states (Lampkin et al. 1999).
Thus, an institutional setting based on organic farming views but including the main interests in developing organic farming, seems an important tool in the development of organic farming. In Denmark it seems to have prevented any experience of major setbacks since 1994. Organisations of an institutional setting-type were introduced early on in the development of Austria, Denmark and Belgium – and in all instances they were designed to help solving problems as the organic farming sector developed. This points to the fact that the five steps mentioned above did not, in practice – and could not in theory be expected to – develop sequentially in a way that secures smooth growth. From time to time problems will arise such as insufficient supplies to cover market demand; insufficient sales on overly unfavourable conditions; lack of organic production adaptation to meet consumer demand; feed production that does not correspond to livestock production; or many other problems associated with developing a small farming sector. Hence, it seems necessary to go through the five steps not once and for all but several times in order for conditions in all domains to adapt to changing conditions. Each time the five steps are carried out it should then be expected that the organic farming sector has reached a larger share of national agriculture. Once again, this is demonstrated by the Danish case where each of the major institutional changes means that a change in one domain is influenced by, and also itself influences, changes in the other domains – a feature which – among the other five countries – only appears in the UK example of institutional change, this having taken place around 1998-99.
Hence, the main outcome of this search for a path to successful organic farming development has been to specify five steps, each of which should – as an ideal – involve the presence of organic farming within all
institutional domains of agriculture. These steps should, however, not be seen as a once and for all sequence, but rather as a way of specifying the need to develop the basis of a fruitful interrelationship between organic farming and general farming institutions in all domains. Thus, when organic farming has obtained a presence in all domains of agriculture it seems necessary for a successful development of organic farming to act continuously within all domains, aiming at preventing and solving problems for organic farming growth in such a way as to combine efforts of the separate domains. This implies the development of an adaptive institutional setting, which is both attentive to the problems, involved in the development of organic farming, and committed to solving the problems – and on a continuous basis. This, in turn, presupposes a dynamic approach to organic farming development.
When realising the quest for a dynamic approach to organic farming development, creative conflict and competition should, according to economic theory, be the type of interrelationships aimed at. This runs counter to the finding that Austria with the largest organic farming sector is characterised by co-operation, as well as those regions of Italy where the organic farming sectors cover largest shares, and Greece, which is
characterised by major growth. In this way the theory questions the developmental potential in these countries. The recent Austrian develop- ment suggests that a large organic farming sector has been established, but it seems vulnerable to major changes when the general agriculture
conditions change and no organisations appear able to counter the impacts on organic farming arising from these changes. In other words, Austria – under conditions of pure co-operation – has not been able to develop institutions or organisations able to cope with organic farming sector instability. The main source of income for Austrian organic farmers is agriculture policy support, while neither the farming community (via the farmers’ farming expertise/productivity) nor the food market seems able to produce a separate and safe earning base. Similar situations are found in Italy and Greece. In Denmark, the earning base is spread across all domains and they are developing on the basis of creative conflict dynamics. In the northern regions of Italy, in the UK and in Belgium there are some organisations and institutions of organic farming established within all three domains, but their impact on development has been limited because the interrelationships with general farming institutions are characterised by competition. Hence, it seems fair to conclude that interrelationships which combine co-operation and competition into some sort of
continuous creative conflict are best suited to promoting an enduring growth of organic farming. As creative conflict cannot be characterised as a stable state in the same way as pure co-operation or pure competition, this points to a somewhat constant need for new initiatives aiming at keeping up creative conflict in order to promote organic farming growth.