Performance of organic farming in developing countries: a case of organic tomato value chain in Lebanon

Abstract

The future of food value chains has increasingly been reliant on the wider adoption of sustainable farming practices that include organic agriculture. Organic farming in developed countries is standardized and occupies a niche in agro-food systems. However, such a standard model, when transferred to developing countries, faces difficulty in implementation. This study aims to investigate the factors affecting the expansion of organic agriculture in Lebanon, a Middle Eastern context, and analyzes the economic performance of organic tomato among smallholder farmers. Accordingly, the study was able to determine the production costs, map the organic value chain and assess the profitability of organic tomato by comparing it with the conventional tomato in the same value chain. The study finds organic farming being increasingly expensive primarily due to the inherently high cost of production in Lebanon and the inefficient organization of the organic value chain. As a result, we suggest a blended approach of organic farming with other models, in particular agro-tourism, as a local solution to the sustainability of organic farming in developing countries with limited resources (land and labor) and characterized by long marketing channels. In countries such as Lebanon, a country endowed with rich cultural heritage and natural and beautiful landscapes, the agro-tourism model can harness organic farming and tourism activities. We also propose the adoption of local collective guarantee systems for organic production as a way to alleviate the costs of third-party auditing in Lebanon.

Sustainable production and distribution practices in Atlantic Canadian short food supply chains: Explorative study

“…Likewise, price received and overall profitability of SFSCs are judged "good" by most of the farm businesses in the study context (Figure 1). The findings are generally consistent with the empirical evidence elsewhere (Malak-Rawlikowska et al, 2019;Vittersø et al, 2019;Abebe et al, 2022).…”

Opportunities and Challenges for Lebanese Horticultural Producers Linked to Corporate Buyers

“…As shown in Table 3, all the horticultural producers in the study are family-owned. Several studies also reported that Lebanon has a predominantly family-based agrarian structure [40][41][42]. The first challenge for Lebanese horticultural producers relates to meeting the quality requirements of corporate buyers.…”

“…Other promising alternative systems for small producers in Lebanon include the agrotourism model and participatory guarantee systems (PGSs). Recently, Abebe et al [41] suggested the agro-tourism model to enhance the position of organic farmers in Lebanon. PGSs have become popular in many countries, including Mexico and Brazil, as reliable alternatives to conventional third-party certifications [55][56][57].…”

“…In Lebanon (and even in the wider Middle East region), the traditional quality level (balade) could be an excellent fit for the PGS scheme and the agro-tourism approach by providing "socially acceptable" quality levels. Lebanon has only a few foreign-owned certification agencies [41]. Due to the ongoing financial crisis (and currency fluctuations) and lack of credit facilities, the cost of certification has become increasingly expensive for small and medium farmers [48].…”

Economic Study of Effect of Different Organic Fertilizers on Yield of Off-Season Organic Tomato Production in a Semi-Controlled Environment in Kathmandu

“…According to the survey by Bhatta et al (2010), the willingness to pay for organic products was found to be 78% for the price of the products, which is 20-30% higher than the inorganic products, and also found that people seek certification of the products as there are many fraud cases reported. Organic tomato farming is profitable in many developing countries (Abebe et al, 2022). In contrast, the benefit-cost ratio (B: C) was higher in Kathmandu organic farms than in conventional farms (Shrestha et al, 2014).…”