As Liechtenstein is a small country there are only a few institutions, which collect and process data: the Landwirtschaftsamt (Office of Agriculture), the Amt für Lebensmittelkontrolle und Veterinärwesen (Office of Food Control and Veterinary), the Vereinigung bäuerlicher Organisationen (Association of Rural Organisations), the Liechtensteiner Milchverband (Union of Liechtenstein`s Dairy Farmers) and the Hilcona AG. Hilcona AG is a processor for convenience food and ready meals.
Three of these institutions answered and send back the introductory questionnaire. The Amt für Lebensmittelkontrolle und Veterinärwesen (Office for Food Control and Veterinary) as well as the Hilcona AG only collect data for in-house purposes and therefore did not answer Q1.
17.3 Information about the surveyed institutions
The Vereinigung Bäuerlicher Organisationen (Association of Rural Organisations) and the Landwirtschaftsamt (Office of Agriculture) collect data on farm level about the agricultural volumes, accountancies, prices, etc. The Liechtensteiner Milchverband (Union of Liechtenstein`s Dairy Farmers) as well as the Vereinigung Bäuerlicher Organisationen collects data on processer level, especially on milk. There are only DCPSs on farm and processor level. Data collection on retail, import/export and consumer level and policy-relevant indicators are missing.
17.3.1 Vereinigung Bäuerlicher Organisationen
The Vereinigung Bäuerlicher Organisationen (VBO) (Association of Rural Organisations) represents the interests of organic and conventional farmers in Liechtenstein and certifies organic farms for the special brand programme “BIO- Ländle”. The VBO is a non-governmental organisation with partly public financiation by taxes, voluntary subscriptions and user-paid services. It collects data on farm level and processor level (milk), especially about farm structure and income, but data collection is only a marginal purpose of the institution. Organic data is integrated in each department. The VBO is probably the most important data provider in Liechtenstein.
17.3.2 Landwirtschaftsamt
The Office for Agriculture in Liechtenstein is a governmental, tax financed organisation with the main purpose of public administration. Nevertheless data collection on farm level (agricultural area, crops) is an important task. Hereby organic data is integrated in each department. The results are disseminated by reports as status report about the agriculture in Liechtenstein.
17.3.3 Liechtensteiner Milchverband
The Union of Liechtenstein`s Dairy Farmers is synonymic with the dairy Schaan, which processes 99% of all milk, both organic and conventional in Liechtenstein. Therefore data collection is only a by-product of the main purpose of processing and trading milk and only for the company-intern statistics. As processing company, the the organisation is financed by trading. Organic products are integrated within each department.
17.4 Institutions which run ‘Organic DCPS’
The Vereinigung Bäuerlicher Organisationen, the Landwirtschaftsamt and the Liechtensteiner Milchverband run DCPSs, in which organic data are collected in special and distinguishable from total one.
17.5 Results of the second stage inquiry
The three institutions, which answered the first questionnaire have been contacted to give detailled information about their data collection and processing system by a second questionnaire. The Liechtensteiner Milchverband did not answer Q2, as data collection and processing is not a main purpose of the organisation. Both the Vereinigung Bäuerlicher Organisationen and the Landwirtschaftsamt sent back the questionnaire on farm level. DCPSs on other levels does not seem to exist in Liechtenstein.
17.5.1 Farm Level Landwirtschaftsamt
The DCPS of the Landwirtschaftsamt (agricultural office) is called Lawis and collects data both on total and organic production. Organic data is integrated within the DCPS and distinguishable from total data since 2002. Therefore the DCPS offers a total overview about the production sector in Liechtenstein. Accountings of individual farms (e.g. income), the farm structure (hectares, animals), the physical quantities (output) are surveyed. A segmentation of data is possible according the size of the farm and product groups (relevant products). The data are collected at least one time per year by a census by registration and therefore a direct comparision of organic data with total data is possible. The quality of data is controlled by a computerized plausibility checks and by experts. All data are confidential but the information is disseminated by the annual report of the government. The DCPS is not awarely harmonized to an international DCPS. There are national data supply networks, the cantons also use this DCPS. The DCPS has several strengths: it is user-friendly, easy to handle and manifold printouts are possible. There are plans for the development of the DCPS, but details are not mentioned. Regarding the advantages of the DCPS (representativeness, quality management, user-friendly, …) it could be a case study example, but regarding the number of farms and the size of Liechtenstein it is not reasonable to choose it as case study.
Vereinigung Bäuerlicher Organisationen
The DCPS of the Vereinigung Bäuerlicher Organisationen (association of rural organisations) is an accountancy system both for organic and total data. Organic data is integrated in the DCPS and distinguishable since 2000. The accounting of individual farms (e.g. income), the farm structure (number, hectares, animals, labour) and the prices (input for total and organic products; output only for organic products) are registered. The data can be segmented according the size of the farm and the farm type. The method of data collection is a census for statistical purposes, at least once per year. It is a representative approach. A comparision between organic products / production and the total production is possible. Some information are confidential, but the most data are available freely and are disseminated in reports. The quality of data is controlled by a computerized plausibility check. The DCPS is not harmonized to an international DCPS because there is no demand of an international system and the organizational effort is too big. Further a national data supply network does not exist. The strength of the DCPS is the representativeness, the weakness is the number of farms which are covered: as Liechtenstein is a very small country and there are not many (organic) farms, only 125 conventional and 35 organic farms are covered in the DCPS. There are not any plans for a further development of the DCPS. This weakness – the small number of farms – makes the DCPS not suited as case study.
17.6 Conclusion
The availability of data on the organic market is limited. The production sector is covered well and information on organic and total agriculture is available. Regarding the processing sector, only milk is covered adequate. Other processing sectors are not respected by any data collection. On wholesale level, import/export, retail level, consumer level and policy-relevant indicators no DCPS exist. The quality of the existing data collection and processing systems on farm level is good. The method of data collection is representative (census) and the quality of data is controlled. Both DCPSs deliver valid information both on organic and total agriculture. The problem is of both is no own fault, it is more the small size of the country Liechtenstein. And this could also be the reason why other DCPSs on other levels do not exist. But for a holistic illustration of the organic sector in Liechtenstein except data on production, also data on trade, consume and retailing should be gathered. Here is room for improvement.