Transformation scenarios for boosting organic farming and organic aquaculture towards the Farm-to-Fork targets

Project Information

OrganicTargets4EU

Grant agreement ID: 101060368

DOI

10.3030/101060368

Project closed

EC signature date 25 May 2022

Start date 1 September 2022

End date 28 February 2026

Funded under

• Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment

Total cost

€ 3 999 768,75

EU contribution

€ 3 999 768,75

Coordinated by

INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF ORGANIC AGRICULTURE MOVEMENTS EUROPEAN UNION REGIONAL GROUP
Sweden

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - OrganicTargets4EU (Transformation scenarios for boosting organic farming and organic aquaculture towards the Farm-to-Fork targets)

Reporting period: 2024-03-01 to 2025-02-28

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

With the European Green Deal, the Farm-To-Fork (F2F) Strategy, and the Biodiversity Strategy in place, the EU has set targets of at least 25% of the EU’s agricultural land under organic farming by 2030, along with a significant increase in organic aquaculture. As of 2019, the share of organic farmland stood at 8.5% in the EU-27. This implies that to reach the 25% EU target for organic agricultural land the current organic area must triple within the span of 11 years. Organic aquaculture was 2% of total aquaculture production (based on tonnes live weight) in 2019. While there is no specific F2F target for organic aquaculture, achieving a similar threefold growth rate as for farmland to reach 5% share would require substantial efforts. The ambitious targets require an upscaling of both production and consumption and a radical transformation in farm structures and value chains, ambitious R&I for organics, strong advisory services, knowledge exchange and training opportunities for all organic operators and related professionals. The overall objective of the OrganicTargets4EU project is to support the F2F targets for organic farming and organic aquaculture by setting possible scenarios for change.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

OrganicTargets4EU has assessed the key drivers and lock-ins affecting the development of the organic sector and drafted 4 scenarios for the organic agriculture and aquaculture sectors each. The project then developed transition pathways to achieve the 25% targets based on the EU scenarios. Project activities and outcomes have an EU-level scale while deepening in 8 EU countries, named focus countries. The eight focus countries are represented by project partners who have close connections with producers and value chain actors engaged throughout the project. 7 of the 8 focus countries (DE, HU, DK, IT, RO, AT, FR) cover organic agriculture while 2 of the 8 focus countries (GR, DE) cover organic aquaculture.

Achievements:
Assessment of the key drivers and lock-ins for the organic sector including:
1. Inventory of enabling and constraining factors on the development of the organic agriculture and aquaculture sector
2. Assessed agricultural and aquaculture AKIS including food processing and retailing covering all focus countries
3. Assessed agricultural and aquaculture policy responses to the organic F2F targets
4. Analysed the influence of key drivers for change on organic sector development including time series analysis of key events in the focus countries
5. Synthesised key drivers and lock-ins for organic sector development

Development of scenarios for reaching the organic F2F targets including:
6. Analysed Future Trends and Uncertainties and driving forces
7. Developed 4 scenario narratives for the organic agricultural and aquaculture sectors each
8. Developed transition pathways to achieve the 25% targets based on the 4 EU scenarios through national backcasting exercises in the focus countries
9. Developed current and future farm typologies

Knowledge exchange and build capacity of organic advisory services:
10. Initiated and concluded communities of Practice (CoP) in the 8 focus countries with groups of conventional producers willing to consider converting to organic.
11. Developed a business plan for the Organic Farm knowledge platform (organic-farmknowledge.org/) and uploaded tools available for practitioners
12. Identified 4 topics for building the new Strategic Research Innovation Agenda (SRIA)
13. Analysed barriers of conversion and recommendations for strengthening organic advisory services and capacity building
14. Widened the CORE Organic Pleiades network and published the CORE Organic Pleiades Network Roadmap to 2030 and EU-level recommendations for better alignment of transnational R&I investments

Policy challenges and options to deliver organic F2F targets
15. Initiated collating and reviewing earlier results and organising national and sectoral (for aquaculture) workshops to assess the feasibility of the organic F2F targets and identify policy actions that will enable their achievement

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The project advanced the analysis and validation of the causality between organic uptake and potential driving factors:
• Identified key drivers and barriers relevant to the uptake of organic agriculture and aquaculture in 29 countries (EU-27+CH+NO)
• Assessed the quality and performance of the current organic AKIS in 8 focus countries for agriculture and 3 for aquaculture.
• Early-stage analysis of the organic and F2F related policies in the 27 Member States
• Evaluated impacts and conditions for economic viability of farms at sector and country level

In the agricultural and organic farming sector various scenario analyses and foresights exercises have been done in the past. From here the project:
• Carried out participatory foresight exercise engaging relevant stakeholders about the future of the organic sector in Europe
• Built 4 scenarios for the development of the organic agriculture and aquaculture sectors each
• Developed transition pathways based on the 4 EU scenarios through national backcasting exercises in the focus countries
• Assessed land use, economic and production implications of the scenarios at EU level
• Developed current and future farm typologies and quantified project scenario narratives into quantitative targets for production modelling
• Developed a model simulator to analyse factors in organic processing

To stimulate the initiation of viable organic and conversion advisory services and foster online exchange of practical and scientific knowledge the project has:
• Initiated communities of Practice (CoP), in the 8 focus countries with groups of 5-10 conventional producers willing to consider converting to organic or advisers currently exploring the barriers to conversion
• Created a business plan for the Organic Farm knowledge
• Assessed knowledge needs and made recommendations for R&I investments in the organic sector to prepare a new Strategic Research Innovation Agenda (SRIA)
• Promoted alignment of national and regional regulations and structures for R&I investments

OrganicTargets4EU in a nutshell

Infographic showing the workflow and phases of the project