Formabio in France

From a few teachers in agriculture schools and colleges involved in the organic movement during the 1980s, Formabio grew. The informal network began to develop the first courses in organic agriculture and enabled teachers to exchange. Now it is the official network for organic agriculture within educational and vocational schools and public and private institutes in France, covering around 60 schools and institutes at all levels, Ecology and Farming reports. An official memorandum from September 2011 requires every kind of agriculture course to take organic agriculture into account. It also sets out the minimum requirements for an official qualification to be described as having an “organic orientation”. Additionally, there are currently four qualifications specifically about organic agriculture. 
 

In 2007, France set an objective of having 6 % of its land converted to organic agriculture in 2012 and 20 % by 2020. but organic agriculture covers close to 4 % of the agricultural area today. More effort needs to be made to include organic agriculture in the curriculum and to establish an agro-ecological approach to farming. Training of trainers and teachers in France is still difficult, since there are only a few training sessions on organic farming for them at the national or regional level. However, each year sees a growth in organic farming courses and sessions and of e-learning resources for students, farmers and technicians. If France really wants to reach the 20 % target by 2020, this should start with an increase in education and training on organic food and farming, according to Ecology and Farming. The full article is available for subscribers of Ecology and Farming. Subscription can be ordered here.

Ecology and Farming