Fifth international conference on organic sector development in Kiev

The 5th international conference on the organic sector development in Central / Eastern European and Central Asian countries will be held in Kiev, Ukraine, on 16 – 17 April 2015. Conference languages are Russian and English, with simultaneous translation. An excursion to organic producers and processors is organised on 18 April 2015.

The conference will be opened on 16 April by Dr. Eugene Milovanov, President of Organic Federation of Ukraine as the local organiser, Asad Naqvi, UNEP, Oleksiy Pavlenko and Igor Shevchenko, both ministers in Ukraine, Andre Leu, president IFOAM Organics as well as Gerald A. Herrmann, Director Organic Services. Keynote speeches will follow as well as a plenary session. Sessions will follow on organic markets for grain and oilseeds, as well as on organic agriculture and green economy. A further session will focus on quality and integrity.

On 17 April, Prof. Gerold Rahmann, Director Thuenen-Institute of Organic Farming, President of ISOFAR, World Board IFOAM, will speak on the contribution of organic farming to sustainability and economic development. Tobias Bandel, Director Soil and More, will talk about a holistic and practical approach for assessing sustainability criteria in farming and along supply chains. Sessions will take place on EU legislation, local market development and products, and will be followed by a panel discussion, moderated by Gerald A. Herrmann and with Marco Schlueter, director IFOAM EU, Michal Rzytki, Head of Organic Department, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Poland, Michel Reynaud, President European Organic Certifiers Council, Vice President Ecocert, and Hanspeter Schmidt, Attorney at Law. The full programme can be found here and more information on the conference is available here.