The multidimensional nature of food security includes food availability, access, stability and utilisation. For each dimension, organic agriculture offers benefits and experiences constraints, as summarised below It is important to keep in mind that, for each of the food security dimensions, the benefits and challenges described will not apply evenly to all organic farming systems, which range from non-certified production destined for local consumption to market-oriented certified systems seeking price premiums.
In all cases, synergies are possible; either by better linking good agro-ecological practitioners to markets or ensuring that specialised organic systems (mono-cultures) do not compromise environmental and social benefits.
Food Availability:
Availability refers to having sufficient quantities of food of appropriate quality, supplied through domestic production or inputs, food aid and net imports.
In addition to the decades-long challenge of sustainably intensifying food production to meet increasing population and limited natural resources goods and services, the world is today confronted with new challenges, mainly:
1. Water scarcity and fossil-fuel crises, posing questions on the feasibility of sustaining productivity with high external agricultural inputs;
2. Rural depopulation (world’s urban population exceeded rural population in 2006), posing questions on availability of food;
3. Globalised food systems that erode local food systems, posing questions on the ability of small holders to produce food for themselves.
a. Global Supply:
Recent models of a hypothetical global food supply grown organically indicates that organic agriculture could produce enough food on OFS/2007/5 5 a global per capita basis for the current world population – 2640 and 4380 kcal/person/day, depending on the model used.
The lower value is based on the adult 2650 kcal daily caloric requirement, while the higher value is based on expectations of a 57 per cent increase in food availability, especially in developing countries, giving it the potential of supporting even a larger human population.
These results considered the average organic yield ratio of different food categories with no further increase in the current agricultural land base. Also, the model was based on substituting synthetic fertilizers currently in use with nitrogen fixation of leguminous cover crops in temperate and tropical agro-ecosystems. These models suggest that organic agriculture has the potential to secure a global food supply, just as conventional agriculture today, but with reduced environmental impacts.
b. Yields:
Productivity in organic production systems is management specific. Studies suggest that switching to organic management commonly results in yield reduction in perennial crops (up to 50 per cent) and during the conversion period for high external input systems in areas with favourable crop growth conditions (up to 40 per cent).
But in regions with medium growth conditions and moderate use of synthetic inputs, organic productivity is comparable to conventional systems (92 per cent) and in subsistence agricultural systems, it results in increased yields up to 180 per cent. Overall, the world average organic yields are calculated to be 132 per cent more than current food production levels.
Energy Use:
Inputs in organic management replace fossil fuel elements (e.g. highly soluble fertilizers, pesticides, machines) with lower impact, often locally accessed inputs and management skills. Higher labour input decreases expenses on purchased inputs by some 40 per cent but labour costs increase by 10 to15 per cent.
The main benefit of organic systems is energy efficiency in natural resource use, 33 per cent less energy per ha in organic maize and 56 per cent in biodynamic systems in temperate areas, as well as reduced irrigation requirements.
c. Nutrient Inputs:
Closing the nutrient cycle on organic farms necessitates using environmental services (e.g. nitrogen fixation, soil water holding capacity) as inputs and reducing nutrient losses to the extent possible. Challenges include nutrient availability, mainly timing of nitrogen supply and making phosphorus (P) available in inherently P-deficient soils. Delays in soil fertility improvements are due to slow buildup of soil organic matter in areas with long dry seasons and farmers’ willingness to invest in land.
Major constraints include land tenure issues, labour availability and, in spite of a wide availability of technologies (e.g. leguminous seeds, low-impact biocides, mineral fertilizers), location specific technologies remain difficult to apply when scaling-up.
d. Urban Food Supply:
Urban agriculture increases fresh food availability for city dwellers. A large part the organic food supplies is linked with short supply chains, for example through organic urban gardens and rural-urban networks for direct food supply. This type of food delivery has direct positive impacts on rural economies, regional food systems and overall local food availability.
e. Food Import:
Most certified organic food production in developing countries is exported, potentially encroaching on local food needs. However, when organic cash crops systems lead to agro-ecological improvements and better incomes for poor small holders, they also lead to improved food self-reliance.
Diversified and productive agricultural systems reduce household market dependency and import requirements. However, domestic market development in developing countries is a precondition for a healthy organic sector, although higher prices may be a constraint to poor urban dwellers.
Food Access:
The food access dimension of food security refers to the access, by individuals, to adequate resources and entitlements for acquiring appropriate foods for a nutritious diet. Entitlements are defined as the set of all commodity bundles over which a person can establish command given the legal, political, economic and social arrangements of the community in which he or she lives (including traditional rights such as access to common resources). At national level, food accessibility is computed from food import price levels and the ratio of food imports to total export earnings.
It is clear today that assuming that growth will trickle down and improve the conditions of the poor is not realistic. The poor face increasing challenges to their ability to produce or acquire food.
Inadequate accessibility to food by marginalised small producers and poor households continues to be a challenge confounded by the facts that:
1. National food security does not result in the equitable distribution of food or food production;
2. Assets to the hungry and poor living in remote and market-marginalised areas;
3. Production inputs, when available, are not affordable to the poor and appropriate extension systems are considerably downsized; and
4. Agriculture can no longer develop in isolation as environmental services from the rural space are increasingly known to be essential for global ecosystem health (e.g. biodiversity, the water cycle, the carbon cycle) and rural landscapes are increasingly used for tourism purposes.
a. Agricultural Inputs:
The strongest feature of organic agriculture is its reliance on locally available production assets and, thus, its relative independence from crude oil availability and increasing input prices. Working with natural processes increases cost effectiveness and resilience of food production.
By managing biodiversity in time (rotations) and space (mixed cropping), organic farmers use their labour (the most readily available capital they have) and environmental services (e.g. predation, pollination, soil nutrient cycling) to intensify production sustainability. These low cost farming practices reduce cash needs and, thus, credit dependence.
Although organic enterprises increase returns on labour inputs and offer rural employment opportunities, organic management remains (as in conventional agriculture) a constraint if labour is scarce (e.g. HIV/AID areas) or where women already have heavy work burdens.
b. Farming Viability:
In well-endowed areas where small holders lack capital (e.g. one third of the poor in Asia), organic agriculture breaks the vicious circle of indebtedness (due to agricultural input purchases) which causes an alarming number of farmer suicides. In contrast, organic agriculture attracts new entrepreneurial entrants into farming who have more optimism about their future due to the value of their jobs in local economies. It is a fact that European organic agriculture, characterized by smaller and mixed farms, is leading the revival of the status of farming with the entry of younger farmers and workers.
c. Knowledge:
Organic management is a knowledge-based approach requiring understanding of agro-ecological processes. Access to knowledge is the major bottleneck when converting to organic management. Inexperience and lack of adequate extension and training for knowledge-intensive management systems and location-specific science require long-term investments in capacity building.
With the objective of creating a critical mass and the necessity to strive in settings with limited opportunities, many organic communities have responded by establishing collective learning mechanisms and have become innovators or ecological entrepreneurs.
The necessity of group organisation (e.g. to cut down on certification costs) and planning farm rotation usually has resulted in improved performance and co-determination, community ownership of seeds/breeds, valorisation of indigenous knowledge and overall control of agriculture and food systems.
Quality on the market, production of certified organic products can lead to higher incomes, which again improves household access to food. Access to certified organic markets, especially in a large metropolis, requires product differentiation through verifiable quality labels. Organic producers have established internal control and auditing systems that are recognised through organic labelling.
While providing access to new market opportunities, organic conversion entails non-cash phases in crop rotation that create temporary constraints. Also, third party certification can be too expensive. Growers’ groups and participatory guarantee systems have developed worldwide, from New York to the Nilgiris tribal forests in India, but their recognition in organic regulations remains a bottleneck.
Multifunctional farms, in some countries, organic farms preserve cultural landscapes with a highly rated economic potential. Increasingly, urban dwellers are coming back to the countryside for leisure and re-discovery of regionality and traditional food cultures Organic labels are increasingly found next to labels of geographical denomination of origin, specialty foods or protected areas.
Furthermore, organic farms within or near protected areas offer ecotourism and rural hospitality activities. More and more organic farmers are becoming involved in agri-tourism or local catering of specialty food.
Food Stability:
To be food secure, a population, household or individual must have access to adequate food at all times. They should not risk loosing access to food as a consequence of sudden shocks (e.g. an economic or climatic crisis) or cyclical events (e.g. seasonal food insecurity).
In addition to the old debate on environmental carrying capacity to support global food needs, new factors influencing the stability of the food supply include:
1. Climate change and inter-annual variability and, thus, adverse impacts on yield stability and increased vulnerability of the food insecure;
2. Alarming erosion of environmental services and, thus, agro-ecosystem and global ecosystem resilience;
3. Trade reform impacts on development and seasonality of both prices and quantities, with adverse impact on rural food security if it unduly reduces real prices received by domestic farmers.
a. Resilience:
Resilience well-managed organic agriculture uses a number of preventive approaches that can greatly reduce the risk of severe yield fluctuations due to climatic and other uncontrolled incidents, contributing to the resilience of the food supply. Due to its agro-ecological approach, organic agriculture is an effective means to restore environmental services.
This factor is much more important than individual practices (e.g. use of drought-resistant crops) in preventing system imbalances such as new pest and disease outbreaks. It is organic management’s self-correcting process that gives a climate-related value to the agro-ecosystem.
b. Soil Stability:
Organic soil management has been reported to increase soil aggregate stability due to increased soil organic matter and macro-fauna that builds soil structure. Soil organic carbon is 14 per cent higher in organic soils and the labile fraction is 30 to 40 per cent higher, with important positive implications on plant nutrition. Enhanced microbial biomass improves soil physiological functions, such as faster phosphorus supply for plant growth.
c. Water-Use Efficiency:
Building active soils with high content of organic matter has positive effects on soil drainage and water-holding capacity (20 to 40 per cent more for heavy loess soils in temperate climate), including groundwater recharge and decreased run-offs (water capture in USA organic plots was 100 per cent during torrential rains).
In Pennsylvania, organic corn yields were 28 to 34 per cent higher than conventional in years of drought. In India, biodynamic soils have been reported to decrease irrigation needs by 30 to 50 per cent. Water-use efficiency is assumed to further improve through minimum tillage but no comparative studies are available on this subject.
d. Agro Biodiversity:
Organic farms have greater diversity due to mandatory crop rotations and preference for seeds and breeds with high tolerance to complex abiotic and biotic factors such as climate extremes, pests and diseases. Although some organic systems can be relatively genetically limited, diversity is an economic strategy to control pests and diseases.
Organic farmers search for resistance and robustness to environmental stresses through in situ selection, breeding and growing of heirloom varieties adapted to stress, including varieties improved with heirloom crosses.
Through intercropping and other practices, organic farms establish systems of functional biodiversity that stabilise the agro-ecosystem. More knowledge is required to improve management of semi-natural landscape elements without loosing farm economic efficiency.
e. Climate Change:
Organic agriculture systems contribute to reduced consumption of fossil fuel energy (especially nitrogen fertilizers), reduced carbon dioxide emissions (48 to 60 per cent less, except for very intensive crops), reduced nitrous dioxide (due to less mobile nitrogen concentrations and good soil structure), reduced soil erosion and increased carbon stocks, especially in already degraded soils.
Energy consumption in organic systems is reduced by 10 to 70 per cent in European countries and 28 to 32 per cent in the USA as compared to high-input systems, except for difficult crops such as potatoes or apples where energy use is equal or even higher. Greenhouse warming potential in organic systems is 29 to 37 per cent lower, on a per ha basis, because of omission of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides as well as less use of high energy feed.
Methane emissions of organic rice and ruminants are equal to conventional systems but the increased longevity of organic cattle is favourable on methane emissions. Carbon sequestration efficiency of organic systems in temperate climates is almost double (575-700 kg carbon per ha per year) as compared to conventional soils, mainly due to use of grass Clovers for feed and of cover crops in organic rotations.
f. Risk Mitigation:
The production and processing diversity re-introduced by organic systems brings back traditional food provisioning strategies to secure food at all times, especially in times of crisis. Diversification of production, storage and processing of organic foods builds on traditional practices but more knowledge is needed to enhance the management of such “decentralized” food stocks and safety nets.
An increase in the incidence of food self-sufficient households could be expected to decrease the dependency of least-developed countries on imported foods.
Food Utilisation:
The food utilisation aspect of food security refers to ways in which food contributes to an adequate diet, clean water, sanitation and health care, and in turn, to a state of nutritional well-being where all physiological needs are met.
This highlights the impact that non-food inputs can have on food security.
New challenges include:
1. Rapid urbanisation and resulting dietary transition away from staples and towards more livestock products, fats and sugar, and related health concerns;
2. Consumer demands for quality food, income growth and rapidly changing buying patterns;
3. Global trans-boundary diseases and higher incidence of contaminated food.
a. Diversifying Diets:
Successful diversification of smallholder farming systems can lead to improved nutrition in poor households due to more secure and diverse food intake with a more varied combination of minerals, vitamins, etc.
b. Quality:
Consumer perception of the high quality of organic food quality (due to its prohibition of synthetic input use, genetically modified organisms and irradiation) is the main driver of the organic market surge. In fact, pesticides residues are about four times lower than conventional products and food additives are reduced.
Food taste can be enhanced by higher physiological maturation (e.g. organic broilers) and preference for traditional varieties. Organic consumers adopt a precautionary approach that favours natural production methods and lowers environmental impact of their consumerism. However, insufficient technical advice can lead to inconsistent quality due to poor management.
c. Nutrition:
The nutritional adequacy of organic foods, as compared to food produced with high external inputs, includes generally higher vitamin C, less nitrates, higher zinc/phytate ratio, higher plant secondary metabolites and conjugated fatty acids in milk. Organic milk contains 0.34 per cent of conjugated linoleic acids versus 0.25 per cent for conventional, suggesting higher protection against cardiovascular disease and cancer.
Essential amino acids are found in higher proportion while total protein content is decreased. More than individual food content per se, the primary nutritional benefit of organic diets stems from increased diversity.
d. Safety:
Organic food is subject to the same food safety regulations as all other foods. Organic practices result in higher animal immunity, reduced resistance to antibiotics in zoonotic pathogens (e.g. salmonella) and 50 per cent fewer mycotoxins in crops. However, on contaminated soils, dioxin pollution is higher in eggs of free-range hens, a problem which can be prevented by certified production, which involves soil testing.
e. Health:
Sanitation and health in organic food systems make major contributions to reducing occupational pesticide poisoning. Conventional agriculture reports 20000 deaths per year related to pesticide use which also can cause widespread illness including Parkinson’s disease.
However, no data exists on health risks for producers using permitted organic pesticides such as copper chloride or plant extracts. For organic consumers, benefits include a lower incidence of allergies and improved human health due to the above mentioned nutritional advantages.
f. Water Quality:
Organic production systems contribute to the availability of clean water. Eutrophication of surface waters is reduced by less phosphate leaching and groundwater quality is enhanced by up to four times less nitrate leaching. Outdoor pig production, however, remains a concern with regards to nutrient leaching.
g. Handling:
Post-harvest handling of organic foods capitalizes on traditional practices and reduces storage and transportation losses. The longer shelf-life is due to increased resistance of plants. However, mandatory segregation of organic commodities and inadequate transport infrastructure keep costs relatively high.
h. Biosecurity:
Trans-boundary movements of organic live plants (e.g. seedlings) and animals is better monitored through the traceability and accountability provided by organic labels. Organic standards for animal welfare (during transportation) and slaughtering help keep risks under check but constraints on plant disinfection on borders may pose biosecurity concerns.
Trade-Offs and Synergies among the Different Food Security Dimensions:
Organic agriculture is not homogeneous. Its multiple expressions range from subsistence producers committed to health and environmental values to input-substitution entrepreneurs attracted by lucrative markets. Whatever the case, common questions that have consistently underlined each of the four food security dimensions above require careful evaluation in decision-making.
Performance of the organic system can only be evaluated by considering more than one food security dimension. For example, organic food availability may be judged negatively when yields are reduced. However, looking at return on labour or higher income would change the valuation of the organic system performance – or farmer’s decision.
Similarly, lower yields may be offset by higher system resilience to weather vagaries. Export revenue and availability in urban markets, while raising incomes, may adversely impact rural access to healthy food.