Eastern Europe has favorable natural conditions for organic farming and a huge growth potential. The steeply growing demand on the Swiss and European market and a slowly emerging domestic market for healthy food provides interesting business opportunities and prospects for the rural population. However, to tap the potential, the countries in Eastern Europe need to tackle a number of challenges like weak sector institutions, underdeveloped local markets, poor marketing and branding know-how, low consumer awareness and underperforming advisory services.

To accelerate the market uptake of organic farming in Eastern Europe, Albania, Serbia and Ukraine, by fostering organic exports and a sustainable organic sector development in the beneficiary countries.

Increased and diversified organic exports through partnership with the Swiss organic sourcing industry.

Sustainable organic sector growth in line with IFOAM's vision 3.0 which aims at accelerating the global uptake of organic farming principles.

Erwartete Resultate:  

Capacities of sector organizations and service providers are developed (cooperation with SIPPO).

Market information systems are available, especially for exports (cooperation with SIPPO).

Quality standards and certification systems that are internationally accepted are available and implemented.

Company cooperations under the PPP facility are set up.

Sector convening events and platforms are established and improve national, international and regional networking.

Sector organization is improved and all necessary services to producers are provided.

Domestic consumers demand local organic food.

Market actors supply organic products at national and local outlets.

Governments apply best practice policies for sustainable sector development.

Resultate von früheren Phasen:  

This program is complementary to the program "Higher Value Added Trade from the Organic and Dairy Sector in Ukraine" and partially builds up on the successfully implemented project "Consolidation of Local Organic Certification Bodies in Eastern Europe and India". These local certification bodies play an important role in the development of the organic sector in Albania and Ukraine. Lessons learnt of previous organic market development projects have been integrated into this program, they include a) the cooperation with the international private sector to ensure market orientation and to enhance sustainability of the program, b) needs oriented, tailor-made and applied trainings, c) focus on the indirect approach: strengthening of business support organizations and service providers for a sustainable capacity development of producers and processors, and d) the importance of local markets for a successful export development and a sustainable sector growth.