Encuesta aplicada a los jefes de cada área

In the tables above, the relative importance of organic food in the domestic markets is presented. No pattern can be discerned such as consistently high market shares of organic products in some countries and low in others. In this section, it is discussed whether there is a relationship between size of domestic production and of domestic markets. A direct relationship should not be expected, because the degree of food self-sufficiency is very different between countries. For example, Denmark and the Netherlands are in general main exporters of food, while Germany and the United Kingdom are main importers. However, keeping in mind the history of the development of organic farming, which involved consumers and others outside agriculture, this development might have occurred simultaneously with, or possibly have influenced, the development of the domestic market for organic food. Therefore, in table 2-8, a summary of the findings shown in tables 2-4 to 2-7 is compared with the size of organic farming relative to all domestic farming – the organic sector size.

The table includes information about the relative size of the organic sector in terms of the total agriculture area. It is, however, worth noting that the average size of organic and non-organic farms varies much between countries. In Austria, Finland, and Italy, organic farms appear larger than the national average while organic farms are clearly smaller than the national average in Sweden and Norway.

In the table, the countries are ordered according to the relative size of the organic sector to facilitate the search for correspondence between market shares and organic sector size. As in the case of market shares of product groups, the size of the organic sector also varies substantially between countries, from 5-9 percent of domestic agriculture in Austria and Switzerland to less than 0.5 percent in nine of the eighteen countries. Countries where the organic sector is over 1 percent of the total

agricultural sector also report the largest shares in the domestic markets of the five most important product groups. Furthermore, market shares for at least one product group exceed 3 percent in all countries with organic sectors above 1 percent with the exception of Italy where no information is available.

For some products, market shares do not vary with organic sector size. For example, cereals make up between 1.5 percent and 5 percent of the total domestic market in countries with very different organic sector sizes. Market shares for some other products, such as milk products, vary considerably between countries with similar sector sizes. In countries with organic sectors above 2 percent, market shares vary from approximately 0.2 percent in Finland via 2 percent in Sweden and Switzerland to 10 percent in Austria. Denmark has the largest market share for milk products (14 percent) and a sector size less than 2 percent. A pattern similar to milk is found for vegetables with a high market share and high sector size in Switzerland and low market share combined with large sector size in Sweden and Germany. Only fruits covers small

The table also illustrates whether there is a correlation between market growth and sector size. It appears that market growth (which is reported more frequently than market share) of a substantial size (more than 50 percent) is concentrated among the six countries with the largest organic sector size. It points to the likelihood that, in general, a minimum domestic production is a prerequisite for market development.

To sum up table 2-8 shows some relationship – however weak – between domestic organic production of some importance on the one hand and the development of organic food markets on the other hand. Among the five main product groups, cereals appear to be a basic product group in the markets of all countries with an organic sector of some importance. For potatoes, the market share varies positively with sector size while vegetables and milk products appear important products in some countries and not in others, independent of the organic sector size. Fruits are of little importance irrespective of sector size.

Table 2-8: Organic farming: share of total farming and market shares for most important products. Percentages

Share of

UAA 19961

Vegetables Cereals Milk products Potatoes Fruits

AT 8.96 nd 2 8-10 5-6 nd CH 5.42 10 2.9 1.8 4 2 SE 4.72 3-4 1.5 2-3 4 <0.5 FI 3.25 nd 5 0.2-0.3 nd nd DE 2.73 1.7 3.4 0.5 2.2 1.3 IT 1.93 nd nd nd nd nd DK 1.66 6-10 3.5 14.2 2.9 nd NO 0.79 0.3 nd <1.5. 0.5 1.5 NL2 _{0.63 nd <1.2 1 <1 nd} LU 0.47 4-5 nd 1-2 nd 3-5 IE 0.46 nd nd nd nd nd FR 0.45 nd nd nd nd nd ES 0.41 nd nd nd nd nd CZ 0.41 nd nd nd nd nd GB 0.31 2.3 0.2 0.35 0.6 1 BE 0.31 nd nd nd nd nd PT 0.23 nd nd nd nd <0.1 GR 0.15 nd nd nd nd nd

Sources: Foster and Lampkin 1999 and own data

Note: Bold indicates that the annual growth rate of the organic market is 50 percent or more.

1 _{UAA = total utilisable agricultural area.}

2 _{NL: for cereals the annual growth rate of the organic market 1993-97 was negative.}

2.4

Summary

Measured against the total agriculture area in the 18 European countries studied here, organic farming covers only a marginal part. This

influences the general characteristics of the markets. Minimum requirements for the proper functioning of a market are met in a majority of countries with problems associated to the free setting of prices and a corresponding flow of goods within countries. Furthermore, problems are detected concerning market transparency and market efficiency. The problems vary strongly according to the national circumstances and may be seen as a matter of both maturity and size of the market.

Across countries 5 product groups appear clearly more important than others. They are vegetables, cereals, milk products, potatoes, and fruits – i.e. four groups based on plant production and one based on animal production. These five were ranked among the five most important organic food product groups by informants in 12-16 countries and most information was available for them. The analysis in the following chapters will therefore mainly be based on them. For each product group, however, large variations occur between countries. Market shares vary from less than one percent for many products in many countries to up to about ten percent for milk products and vegetables in individual countries. Market growth also varies considerably. At the one end is the Netherlands which recently experienced decreasing markets for organic food. At the other end are several countries (Austria, Denmark, Sweden, the Czech Republic) with annual growth rates above 70-100 percent for several products.

The relationship between sector size and market development is weak. However, a minimum domestic production seems a necessary

prerequisite for market development. Among the product groups, cereals appears basic in all countries with organic sectors of some importance, while vegetables and milk products are important in some countries but not in others, independent of the size of the organic sector.

The huge variation between national markets is explained by differences in national agriculture and food consumption. Nevertheless, the

variation suggests that major market potentials are at hand for a further development of organic farming. In the chapters that follow, main aspects of the variation will be described and form the basis for considering the conditions under which the expansion of organic farming was integrated into the general food market.