Local Marketing of Organic Products in Developing Countries

This manual is about local marketing of organic agricultural products. By organic we do not necessarily mean certified organic by international standards but rather as defined by the local group.

The manual discusses the important issues one should be thinking about when developing or improving one’s local marketing of organic products.

What is this manual for?

The manual is intended for use in the field. It should provide those who are involved in the facilitation of local marketing improvement with the necessary background and tools they may need. It offers hands-on help and is not a scholarly book intended for classroom use at universities.

Who is this manual for?

The manual has been designed for groups or people involved in the promotion of local marketing of agricultural products with special focus on organic products:

• Farmers’ groups involved in collective marketing

• NGOs involved in the promotion of local marketing

• Development workers involved in rural development

• Government organisations supporting local and regional marketing initia-tives

• Processors and traders involved in local marketing initiatives

• Representatives of regional marketing boards

How is this manual organized?

The manual consists of two main parts:

A. The main chapters

B. The checklist

In the main chapters you will find the basics of marketing such as product planning, pricing or promotion. Special focus is on local marketing and organic products.

The checklist is intended to provide a reference guide to cross-check your marketing project.

Comments please!

We consider this manual work in progress. Based on people’s experiences with local marketing, its promotion and improvement will rely on your feedback.

For any comments, critique, additions or ideas, please contact Thomas Becker: thomas.becker@agrecol.de

Bilder

Why local marketing of organic products?

Today there is a growing interest in organic farming and organic products all around the globe. Although the North tends to view its market actors as a driving force in the growing demand for organic products, this is only part of the truth.

In many places, present day interest in organic farming is rooted in much older local traditions. Unfortunately, for more than 3 decades, agri-cultural policies in many countries have de-valued such traditions and have instead promoted so-called modern farming in collaboration with development organisations and with big agribusiness. The negative side-effects of these policies were usually an excessive use of mineral fertilizers and of pesticides, high pesticide residues in products, a decline in product quality, a dramatic increase of rural unemployment and of migration into cities which is one of the causes for the emergence of the mega-cities of the South.

It is only recently that a number of actors are re-thinking their policies vis-à-vis agricultural production and are promoting organic farming also in the South. However, their main emphasis is the promotion of export production. This is quite understandable for organic manufacturers seeking raw materials around the world. It is less so for development organisations who, through their experience with rural development during the past 30 years, know about the crucial role of local anchorage and adaptedness of solutions.

In many places, farmers and farmer groups, for various reasons, start or re-start a kind of organic agricultural production. We should support them in their quest to re-define their own way of sustainable living and livelihood. A locally defined and adapted organic production needs local marketing.

Global rules for production and quality not only ignore local peculiarities, they are actually levelling them so as to obtain products that comply with world-wide standards.

Another aspect is that the international marketing system excludes most farmers in developing countries. It is only a small minority who are able to produce the quantities and the quality required for export, while quantities are often too small or too variable, the margins are too small or the whole export system is too complicated for them to be able to cope with.

Bilder

This manual wishes to support local organic agriculture initiatives by providing the information and experience on how to promote local marketing of organic products. We hope that the manual will prove to be useful for your work in the field. We also hope that more organisations will realise the importance of locally and regionally adapted solutions and join hands with those actors who are already active in this field.