The demand for products from organic agriculture in France

Résumé du document

Last February, the Agence de Promotion pour l'Agriculture Biologique published its latest update of its annual opinion poll on organic agriculture produced by the CSA institute. According to this study, 77% of French people consider organic agriculture as one of the solutions to face environmental challenges and 84% hope that this type of production will be increasingly used. The popularity of organic agriculture has improved drastically in the last few years, with the gradual awareness of the disasters done by conventional agriculture in the environment as well as the potential dangers for health, which forced people to consider resorting to alternative solutions. Indeed, the poll shows that a majority of people voted for food and respect of the environment, sustainable development and local production. According to the results of the study, these growing concerns are taken into account by French consumers, more than two thirds of whom acknowledge favouring products that are at least in season or local, if not respectful of the environment and/or of the principles of sustainable development.

Extraits

[...] It seems however that the trend is accelerating with annual of in 2007, which is higher than the average annual increase over the period 2002-2007 in a context of decreasing total farmland. Conclusion Today, the total output of French organic farms is insufficient to meet the growing demand, which results in the importation of more than 50% of the products consumed. And these products are not only imported from neighbouring countries, but also from South America or Africa. The insufficiency of total organic farming results in serious prejudices for the environment due to the environmental cost of the transportation of the imported organic products. [...]

[...] The European market is estimated to be between 13 and 14 billion Euros (2005), growing at 10% average annual rate. The biggest market for organic products is Germany with an annual turnover of 3.9 billion Euros, followed by Italy ( 2.4 billion Euros) and by France ( 2.2 billion Euros). But the highest market share of organic products of the total market is in Switzerland with 4.5 percent, and the highest per capita consumption is also in that country with more than 100 Euros spent on organic food per year and citizen. [...]

[...] But, like France, other countries are currently experiencing a shortage of supply, like Germany or the UK. There is therefore room for improvement and further development of organic farming should be encouraged by public authorities. Bibliography Le monde n'est pas une marchandise [Texte imprimé] : des paysans contre la malbouffe Bové, José (1953- . ) / Éd. [...]

[...] This is mainly due to the fact that, as the trend kept growing, those products became available in almost any supermarket and not only in specialised shops as it used to be the case, which in return increases further their consumption. Interestingly, once they have converted to organic agriculture, consumers don't seem to go back to their previous habits and seem rather loyal, since they have been do so for an average 10 years with more than 50% for at least 5 years. Since 1999, the organic food market has increased at annual rate of much faster than the demand for conventional agriculture products which increased only by p.a. [...]

[...] The demand for products from organic agriculture in France I. Increasing demand for products from organic agriculture in France - Information about organic agriculture is better Last February, the ‘Agence de Promotion pour l'Agriculture Biologique' published its latest update of its annual opinion poll on organic agriculture produced by the CSA institute. According to this study of French people consider organic agriculture as one of the solutions to face environmental challenges and 84% hope that this type of production will be increasingly used. [...]