Here’s an insightful examination of the dizzyingly complex processes and practices on organic seed certification worldwide. its a bit of a long read but worthwhile nonetheless. Btw, there’s also a PDF version you can download over at the Grain website.
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GRAIN
The vision behind organic agriculture is one in which care for the environment and health are central, and farmers get a fair deal for their efforts. But organic agriculture is also becoming serious business – with marketing tools, like certification, occupying more and more space and influence. More than 30 million hectares of certified organic farmland worldwide already produce goods for a global market worth €30 billion.2 This market, moreover, is growing fast, much faster than the global market for conventional food products. The main markets for certified organic foods are still very much in the North, but organic production for export is steadily increasing in the South, as are new strategies at the grassroots to develop local organic food and farming systems – most of which reject the business approach to certification.
read the full article here…