Further progress in Organic Standards in East Africa

The second draft of an East African Organic Standard has just been presented in Nairobi, Kenya. The Kenyan Agriculture Secretary opened the forum, which was part of a week-long series of events focusing on organic agriculture in East Africa. Policy workshops and a Regional Standard Technical Working Group meeting of the IFOAM Standards Committee and a meeting of the IFOAM Africa Advisory Group were, among others, important events during that week. The East African Organic Standard is being developed by a public-private partnership of East African businesses, government bureaus, organic movements and certification bodies in co-operation with the UN Conference on Trade and Development, the UN Environment Program and IFOAM. Public work also takes place at regional and national levels among members of an “East African Organic Team”, open to everybody who is interested.

IFOAM project leader Gunnar Rundgren stated this would be a powerful tool to promote organic agriculture in the region and bring benefits to the people of East Africa. The work on the East African Organic Standards was made possible by financial support from the European Commission, the Swedish International Agency for Development Cooperation and the Government of Norway. Domestic markets are growing rapidly, partly because of the efforts of East African networks and movements. Governments of the involved countries have been supporting these efforts to expand the sector.

The draft and other documents are available
http://www.ifoam.org/partners/projects/osea.html
http://www.unep-unctad.org/cbtf/projecteastafrica.asp