There are two streams of organic agriculture in Asia, one as part of sustainable farming and the other as export-oriented organic projects. The first group is supported by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the other is initiated by the business sector. Historically, the sustainable agriculture movement emerged earlier (in the 1970s) as a reaction to the green revolution, while the commercial organic farms are the product of commercial collaboration between Asian food exporting companies and importers seeking to capture organic market opportunities in industrialized countries. The NGO model is predominantly small-scale, working with family farms and mainly targets the domestic market, while the business model is larger-scale and focuses on export markets.
Due to their export orientation, the private organic projects need to rely on foreign certification services from importing countries, while the NGO projects, at least at the beginning, do not require any formal third party certification. As the market expands, more and more NGO projects have begun to embark on export opportunities while keeping the efforts to develop local markets as their primary objective. Local competency has been developed by assistance from importing countries to establish local organic certification programme.
The Asian governments have become interested in organic farming for the last 5 years, as the organic market further expands and exhibits its potential and significant market opportunities. Almost all Asian authorities have taken interest in organic certification and accreditation as their priority, even though the major constraints in organic farming in Asia are at the level of farm production. The booming of public organic standards and inspection systems makes little contribution to Asian organic growth and, on the contrary, further complicates international harmonization of organic guarantee systems.
Public-private partnership (PPP) is urgently needed if rapid growth in organic agriculture in Asia is to be sustained. Re-orientation of government policies is urgently needed, including the support for farm extension, post harvest technologies, and supply chain management. Closer collaboration between NGOs, the private sector, farmers, scientists, and public authorities can ensure that the efforts of each group are not in conflict with one another and that synergy is achieved.
