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Introduction:

<div style="text-align: justify;">The agribusiness and industrial farmers have for years expressed that organic farming is unprofitable, maybe OK as a tiny niche for those who are willing to pay high prices, but certainly not anything that would ever feed the world.</div>

<div style="text-align: justify;">The view of agribusiness is probably not changing much, since they earn their money on selling their products to industrial farmers and their profits depend on the amount of products - hybrid and genetically modified seeds, pesticides of all kinds and chemical fertilizers.</div>

<div style="text-align: justify;">But as many smaller farmers show that it is actually profitable to farm organically and as more and more customers ask for organically grown products, and as the crop varieties for organic farming are developed, even some of the industrial farmers become interested in this.</div>

<div style="text-align: justify;">There are examples of industrial strawberry farmers in Mexico, who have hundreds of hectare under production who have seen some of their neighbors produce organic strawberries on a much smaller scale, and can see that the profit per hectare is actually higher. Not just because there is a better price, but most of all because there are much smaller expenses of spraying chemicals.</div>

<div style="text-align: justify;">The extra file connected to this task tells of some long-term trials to compare organic farming with conventional methods. They have run for more than 30 years at the Rodale Institute in the USA. The conclusions of these tests are that:</div>

<ul>
	<li style="text-align:justify">organic yields match conventional yields.</li>
	<li style="text-align:justify">organic outperforms conventional in years of drought.</li>
	<li style="text-align:justify">organic farming systems build rather than deplete soil. organic matter, making it a more sustainable system.</li>
	<li style="text-align:justify">organic farming uses 45% less energy and is more efficient.</li>
	<li style="text-align:justify">conventional systems produce 40% more greenhouse gases.</li>
	<li style="text-align:justify">organic farming systems are more profitable than conventional. &nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<div style="text-align: justify;">This clearly shows that organic farming is better equipped to feed a growing population. But it also becomes clear that once again we have a situation of facing huge powers with other interests than feeding everyone on Earth in a sustainable way and with nutritious food - the interests of immediate profits.</div>

Directive:

<ol>
	<li>Read the file on organic agriculture.</li>
	<li>Decide on five main advantages of organic agriculture &ndash; and train yourself to to be able to explain these with concrete examples.</li>
	<li>Prepare a short speech, where you give your five examples and explain your position on organic agriculture, on why the world and people need this. Show it to a person who is interested in this issue to get possible comments in order to improve the speech.</li>
	<li>Make your speech to a group of colleagues, people from your project, at a school or a public event, followed by a discussion on whether organic farming can feed your area.</li>
	<li>Send your speech and a short description of your discussions to your tutor.</li>
</ol>
Files:<br />
<br />
F1. <u>Organic Agriculture: A Productive Means of Low-carbon and High Biodiversity Food Production,</u> by Urs Niggli, from UNCTAD Trade &amp; Environment Report, 2010, from http://archive.unctad.org<br />
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Extra reading:<br />
F2.<u>The Farming Systems Trials - Celebrating 30 years</u>, from Rodale Institute, 2011.<br />
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