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| Organic produces |
Certified organic farming is now a lucrative business that generates a whopping 60
billion US dollars (about 90trn/-) annually although millions of farmers remain
outside the formal system, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
said in a statement on Monday.
The
UN agency said that the world has now an estimated two million certified
organic farmers of whom 80 percent are in developing countries with 34 percent
of them in Africa, including Tanzania. Asia has 29 percent while Latin America
has 17 percent.
“Developing
countries account for 73 percent of land certified for organic wild collection
and beekeeping…other countless developing country farmers practice organic
agriculture without being formally certified,” UNCTAD noted.
Organic
agriculture relies on healthy soils and active agro-ecological management
rather than on the use of inputs with adverse effects such as artificial
pesticides and fertilizers.
It
combines tradition, innovation and science. Among the benefits are higher
incomes, more stable and nutritious diets, higher soil fertility, reduced soil
erosion, better resilience to climate extremes such as drought and heavy
rainfall, greater resource efficiency, lower carbon footprints,less dependence
on purchased external inputs and reduced ruralurban migration, the UNCTAD said.
The
UN agency that cater for trade and development pointed out that organic
products are increasingly fetching higher prices globally averaging between 15
and 150 percent more than conventional products.
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| Organic Farm |
“Minor
differences in organic standards and certification requirements can hinder this
trade. Harmonization and equivalence – that is, mutual recognition of different
standards and conformity assessment systems – are a means of overcoming these
differences so that markets for organic products continue to grow,” the
statement added.
The
latest news comes at a time when the government of Tanzania has announced major
policy shift to allow research on genetically engineered organisms backed by an
over 5bn/- per annum grant from United States Agency for International
Development (USAID).
Minister for Agriculture and Food Security, Professor
Jumanne Maghembe said in Dar es Salaam last week that the government is moving
towards embracing GMOs which many parts of the world have rejected because of
concerns of environment, health and trade patents.
Source: The Daily News,www.dailynews.co.tz, reported by its reporter
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