FFTC, the National Ilan University (NIU) and Taiwan’s Council of Agriculture (COA) join hands to organize a workshop on organic agriculture with special focus on its business opportunity. This will be held on May 23-24, 2017 at the National Ilan University.

Organic agriculture is a holistic production management system which promotes and enhances agroecosystem health, including biodiversity, biological cycles, and soil biological activity. It provides several benefits, as it reduces many of the environmental impacts of conventional agriculture, reduces reliance on costly inputs, guarantees food safety, and increases price premiums. Organic farmers also benefit from organizing in farmer cooperatives and the building of social networks, which give them with better access to new technologies, training and credit. Organic agriculture generally reduces the vulnerability of farmers as the higher organic prices act as buffer against the low prices and price volatility of conventional markets, as organic systems are often more resilient against extreme weather events, and as the often diverse organic crop-livestock systems offer a diverse set of outputs.

The global organic food market is growing and consumer demand increasing, global organic food market is approximately 75 billion euros and Asia market is 6 billion euros. In 2015, there are 2.4 million organic agriculture producers, 1/3 of them are in Asia, and it has been a 10 times increase in the number since 1999. There is growing public awareness of the health and environmental benefits of organic food, and an increasing demand for local and organic agricultural products in recent years. Some communities in USA, European, and Asian countries had begun to build locally-supported systems to meet emerging market demands, and consumers were gaining more exposure to the concept of local food at their grocery stores and neighborhood farmers market. Today, farmers can sell organic products into local markets, from farmers markets and Community Supported Agriculture to local restaurants, grocery stores and institutions (hospital, elementary school lunch, public offices and etc.), generating huge returns for local communities. Organic farming increasing diversity in agriculture, from local to global and from conventional to organic, it not only creates new business opportunities for enterprises but also for the small-scale farmers.

The Food and Fertilizer Technology Center (FFTC) for the Asian and Pacific Region and the National Ilan University (NIU) in Taiwan join hands to organize the proposed workshop to share the current organic agriculture related issues as well as different approaches implemented by different groups toward green agriculture. The workshop is also showing the successful business models in Taiwan and deliberating the direction of future research and ways to strengthen collaboration to face the challenges of climate change on small-scale organic cultivation systems in the Asian and Pacific Region.

Workshop themes:

1. Current Status of Organic Agriculture in the Asian and Pacific Region
2. Organic Certification and Accreditation
3. Assisting SSFs in Organic Agriculture: Roles of Government, Universities and Industries
4. Successful Business Models in Marketing Organic Products

Workshop objective:

To collate, collect, and share current development of organic farming, organic farming systems, practical organic experiences, and successful business models in marketing organic products in the Asian and Pacific region.

Expected outputs:

• Experiences shared/exchanged about organic practices, certification programs, and eco-friendly agriculture
• Knowledge and experiences relating to successful business models in marketing organic products
• Hardcopy and electronic versions of seminar proceedings circulated to a wider audience

Expected participants:

• Organic agriculture research professionals from both government and the academic
• Representatives from regional organizations
• Local farmers and private sectors

Venue:

Ilan University:

No. 1, Section 1, Shennong Road, Yilan City, Yilan County, 260

Workshop activities:

The workshop will consist of paper presentations and group discussion.

23 May:       Workshop oral presentation

24 May:       Workshop oral presentation and general discussion

Registration

• Registration is open until the 5^th of May 2017
• Authors’ registration includes all events in the workshop, field studies, breaks, and lunch, welcome and farewell dinners
• Listeners' registration includes the workshop, breaks, and lunches
• To register, please register in our website 

Co-organizers of the workshop

• National Ilan University (NIU): Dr. Chang-Ju Huang-Tzeng
• Food and Fertilizer Technology Center (FFTC):  Dr. Wan-Tien Tsai at < wantientsai@fftc.org.tw>
• Yilan Irrigation Association

Reference

1. The FAO Glossary on Organic Agriculture, 2009
2. The World of Organic Agriculture, 2017
    

Workshop on Developing Organic Agriculture as New Business Opportunity for Small-scale Farmers

23-24 MAY, 2017

National Ilan University: No. 1, Section 1, Shennong Road, Yilan City, Yilan County, Taiwan

Program

23 May 2017 (Tuesday)

24 May 2017 (Wednesday)

Note: The schedule may be subjected to change if necessary