Resources for organic farmers

Organic agriculture is concerned with the way you as a farmer manage soils, water, plants and animals in order to produce, process and distri-bute food and other goods. Organic farmers utilize natural resources in a way that they benefit while protecting these resources for future gene-rations.

Concerns are growing about long-term sustainability of agriculture. Fertile land and suffi cient water are vital for sustaining agriculture and livelihoods. In Africa productivity of land, however, has been decreasing with the increasing intensifi cation of agriculture due to land degradation. The major causes of land degradation are unsustainable agricultural practices like farming on steep slopes without suffi cient use of soil and water conservation measures, monocropping, excessive tillage, or declining use of fallow without appropriate replenishment of soil nutrients, burning of crop residues, conversion of forests, woodlands and bushlands to permanent agriculture, or their excessive exploitation through fuel wood and timber harvesting, overgrazing of rangelands, and lack of proper soil organic matter management.

From an ecological perspective all organisms are part of nature, irrespective of what they do. To a farmer, all organisms that reduce the yields of their crops are considered pests, diseases or weeds. Insects, birds or other animals are also pests whenever they cause damage to crops or stored produce. Fungi, bacteria and viruses are also recognized as disease causing organisms when they lead to conditions that interrupt or modify the vital functions of growing plants or stored produce. All unwanted plants that grow within crops and compete with them for nutrients, water and sunlight are considered weeds. Such plants can also be hosts for pests and diseases.

Organic animal husbandry implies keeping animals in a natural way and promoting their welfare and health. This does not mean that animals need to be kept in an entirely natural environment, but that they are offered enough opportunities to perform their natural behaviour and way of living.