Development of Organic Farming in Europe at the Crossroads: Looking for the Way Forward through System Archetypes Lenses

Abstract

Abstract:Over the last several decades, policymakers and stakeholders in the European Union (EU) have put considerable effort into increasing the adoption of organic farming, with the overall objective of its sustainable development. However, the growth of the organic sector has come with many challenges that jeopardize its sustainability. The question then is how to move organic farming in Europe forward and at the same time capitalize on its potential contribution to sustainability? Organic farming in the EU is a highly complex and dynamic food system and as such this question cannot be answered in isolation using a one-dimensional mind-set and tools of the past. In this paper, we use three system archetypes-Limits to Growth, Shifting the Burden and Eroding Goals-to sharpen our ability: (1) to analyze and anticipate difficulties in the development of organic farming in the EU under the current policy measures; and (2) to find effective ways to address these difficulties. A system archetype consists of a generic system structure that leads to unintended behavior over time and effective strategies for changing the structure into one that generates desirable behavior. The analysis reveals that in order to move forward, policymakers and stakeholders should reemphasize fundamental solutions rather than quick fixes that often generate unintended consequences. Specifically, Limits to Growth shows us that the leverage for moving organic farming out of the niche does not necessarily lie in increasing subsidies that push engines of growth, but rather in anticipating and managing its limits arising from, for instance, market dynamics or intrinsic environmental motivation. In turn, Shifting the Burden brings to attention how easily and unnoticeably the EU's organic farming system can become dependent on third countries thereby undermining its own sustainability. Finally, Eroding Goals highlights that is it important to continuously improve regulatory standards based on an external frame of reference, as otherwise organic farming in the EU will continue on its trajectory towards conventionalization.

Opportunities and barriers in diversified farming and the use of agroecological principles in the Global North – The experiences of Danish biodynamic farmers

“…Today, organic farming is practised on close to 10% of Denmark's total agricultural area (The Danish Agricultural Agency 2019). The expansion of organic farming across Europe is being criticized for the trajectory toward conventionalization followed by demands for its original principles and values to be reintroduced (Brzezina et al 2017). Biodynamic farmers are still a minority in Danish farming, with 43 Demeter-approved farmers registered by the Danish Biodynamic Association (http://www.biody namisk.dk/sider/avlere.html).…”

Barriers to the Development of Organic Farming

“…To reduce dependency on state transfers, the authors propose to apply an integrated support system, including support for processing and marketing activities as well as support for collaboration between farmers in order to increase the demand for organic products. Other authors also postulate, besides limiting market barriers, the introduction of supplementary payments for insurance as a risk management tool [Brzezina et al 2017]. Farmer opinions on state support for organic farming are rather varied, although there is a consensus that insufficient support constitutes a significant barrier [Wheeler 2008, Sharifi et al 2010.…”

Archetypes of common village pasture problems in the South Caucasus: insights from comparative case studies in Georgia and Azerbaijan

“…In a transdisciplinary approach, we included nonacademic knowledge and feedback from local stakeholders related to pasture quality and management. The chosen methodological approach is widespread in the system dynamics literature (Brzezina et al 2017, Tenza et al 2017 as well as in modeling approaches involving stakeholders (Castella et al 2005, Lagabrielle et al 2010, but goes beyond existing literature by engaging in an exceptionally holistic interdisciplinary analysis.…”

“…Until now, up to 10 system archetypes are described in the literature (Kim and Anderson 1998), among them, e.g., Tragedy of the Commons, Drifting Goals, or Fixes that Fail. These have already been applied to explain different environment and resource-related problems in social-ecological systems (e.g., Prusty et al 2014, Brzezina et al 2017, and also to land use changes (Banson et al 2016, Turner et al 2016, Tenza et al 2017. These authors mainly analyzed single case studies, while multiple and comparative case studies using system archetypes have not been, to the best of our knowledge, yet conducted.…”