Too much confusion has been created by not clearly defining, in operational terms, the concepts of "sustainable" agriculture. The lack of workable indicators is perceived as a major gap, yet sustainability indicators have been developed in physical (organic) and social-economical (fair trade) terms. For over 20 years IFOAM has expertise...

The Swiss Development Agency and the "Research Institute for Organic Agriculture" (FiBL), greatly contributed to the success of this SREN Workshop. It is hoped that the enthusiasm and the many new initiatives continue to grow in order to bring together the most active researchers in the field and to share...

The importance of partnerships with non-governmental and civil society organizations was underscored by Member Governments in the World Food Summit Plan of Action and is confirmed in FAO's Strategic Framework. At the Director-General's request, the Unit for Cooperation with the Private Sector and NGOs (TCDN) coordinated an FAO-wide review of policy...

Although as yet only a small industry, organic agriculture is becoming of growing importance in the agriculture sector of a number of countries, irrespective of their stage of development. For example, in several developed countries organic agriculture has come to represent a significant portion of the food system (10 percent...

This document summarizes two recent surveys carried out by the Secretariat: one on organic bananas and the other on fair-trade bananas. Dealing with each successively, the paper examines the current market situation, the prospects for market expansion and the implications for small- and medium-scale producers.

Opinion now favours a shift away from the reliance on conventional insecticides towards the use of more natural, sustainable methods of protecting crops from insect damage. This bulletin considers alternatives which could be used as storage grain protectants, concentrating particularly on plants which have found other uses as food spices...