Organic Agriculture and Undernourishment in Developing Countries: Main Potentials and Challenges

Schoonbeek, Sanne; Azadi, Hossein; Mahmoudi, Hossein; Derudder, Ben; Maeyer, Philippe De; Witlox, Frank

doi:10.1080/10408398.2011.573886

Cited by 24 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 86 publications

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“…A more robust conclusion could be made in the future by analysing new long-term field trials. Other criteria such as the variability of fruit/vegetable nutrient contents (especially in developing countries, as pointed out by Hunter et al 2011 andSchoonbeek et al 2013) should also be analysed to assess the costs and benefits of organic products. In addition to criteria related to crop production, organic systems should undoubtedly be compared to conventional systems also according to their environmental and social benefits.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lower average yields but similar yield variability in organic versus conventional horticulture. A meta-analysis

Lesur-Dumoulin

Malézieux

Ben-Ari

et al. 2017

Agron. Sustain. Dev.

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Organic agriculture prohibits the use of almost all synthetic inputs and it is expected to have lower impacts on natural resources than conventional agriculture. However, previous meta-analyses have shown that yields in organic systems are in average 8 to 25% lower compared with conventional systems. Here, we focus on horticulture (fruits and vegetables) and we refine our knowledge by characterising the distributions of organic and conventional yields both in terms of average yield loss and in terms of variability across experiments and across years. We built a new dataset including 636 ratios of organic versus conventional yields covering 37 horticultural species and 17 countries and estimated (i) mean yield ratios, (ii) yield ratio probability distribution across experiments and (iii) interannual yield variances in organic and conventional systems. Our results show that yields in organic horticulture are indeed on average 10 to 32% lower than those in conventional horticulture but they exhibit large variation across experiments. An analysis of yield ratio probability distribution shows that yield loss in organic horticulture has about 10% chances to exceed 50% compared to conventional systems. The analysis gives also around 20% chances to get higher yields in organic horticulture compared to conventional systems. None of the tested covariates (e.g. crop type, climate zone) was able to explain a significant part of the yield ratio variability. We find no evidence of a larger interannual variability (i.e. lower yield stability) in organic versus conventional horticulture. Longer-term trials could nonetheless help substantiate this result. Our results support also the needs to conduct new experiments in countries from the Southern Hemisphere and to collect standard data on crop management and environmental characteristics. (Résumé d'auteur

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lower average yields but similar yield variability in organic versus conventional horticulture. A meta-analysis

Lesur-Dumoulin

Malézieux

Ben-Ari

et al. 2017

Agron. Sustain. Dev.

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“…There is growing evidence that increased adoption of organic farming can offer numerous environmental, social and financial benefits, and lead to an alternative way to sustainability in agriculture 2,66,67 . The results of this study show that for Iranian farmers', there are some main challenges that slow down the process of adopting OA.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Organic agriculture in Iran: Farmers' barriers to and factors influencing adoption

Soltani¹,

Azadi

Mahmoudi

et al. 2013

Renew. Agric. Food Syst.

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Organic agriculture is being promoted in Iran to address environmental problems resulted from the use of chemical materials in agriculture. Despite many advantages of organic agriculture, the results of several case studies show that its adoption rate is still very low among farmers. The purpose of this paper is to review previous studies that investigate the main factors influencing and challenges of adopting organic agriculture.The review included journal articles and conference papers from 2007 to 2012. The results showed that Iranian farmers have strong motives for the adoption, yet face challenges in certifying, marketing, access to reliable technical information, and credits.Given the review of factors that govern farmers' adoption of organic agriculture, key mechanisms for promoting farmers' adoption are discussed. Further research is needed to learn how to bring these mechanisms into play in Iran.

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“…In response to the concerns over agricultural biotechnology, many researchers have strongly advocated OF [16][17][18]. OF, as a holistic production system that aims to produce food with minimal harm to ecosystems, animals or humans, is the most prominent alternative farming system and is often proposed as a solution for more sustainable agriculture [19].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A World without Hunger: Organic or GM Crops?

2017

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It has been estimated that the world population will increase to 9.2 billion by 2050; supplying the growing population with food will require a significant increase in agricultural production. A number of agricultural and ecological scientists believe that a large-scale shift to organic farming (OF) would not only increase the world's food supply, but might be the only way to eradicate hunger sustainably. Nevertheless, OF has recently come under new scrutiny, not just from critics who fear that a large-scale shift in this direction would cause billions to starve but also from farmers and development agencies who question whether such a shift could improve food security. Meanwhile, the use of genetically modified (GM) crops is growing around the world, leading to possible opportunities to combat food insecurity and hunger. However, the development of GM crops has been a matter of considerable interest and worldwide public controversy. So far, no one has comprehensively analyzed whether a widespread shift to OF or GM would be the sole solution for both food security and safety. Using a literature review from databases of peer-reviewed scientific publications, books, and official publications, this study aims to address this issue. Results indicate that OF and GM, to different extents, are able to ensure food security and safety. In developed countries, given that there are relatively few farmers and that their productivity, even without GMOs, is relatively high, OF could be more a viable option. However, OF is significantly less efficient in land-use terms and may lead to more land being used for agriculture due to its lower yield. In developing countries, where many small-scale farmers have low agricultural productivity and limited access to agricultural technologies and information, an approach with both GM and OF might be a more realistic approach to ensure food security and safety.

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Organic Agriculture and Undernourishment in Developing Countries: Main Potentials and Challenges

Cited by 24 publications

References 86 publications

Lower average yields but similar yield variability in organic versus conventional horticulture. A meta-analysis

Lower average yields but similar yield variability in organic versus conventional horticulture. A meta-analysis

Organic agriculture in Iran: Farmers' barriers to and factors influencing adoption

A World without Hunger: Organic or GM Crops?

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