Final Report Summary - ORGANICDATANETWORK (Data network for better European organic market information)
Executive Summary:
The OrganicDataNetwork project aimed to increase the transparency of the European market for organic food through better availability of market intelligence about the European organic sector in order to meet the needs of policy makers and market actors involved in organic markets. The project was a major effort to establish a long-term permanent network of stakeholders engaged in organic market data collection and analysis.
To achieve its aims, the project team brought together stakeholders and bodies from 11 countries that collected, published and analysed data on the sector. It was collecting and classifying the data, as well as investigating methodologies to evaluate data consistency, with particular focus on trade flow information.
More specifically, the project provided an overview of all relevant public and private organic data collectors; established a multi-stakeholder organic market data network of public and private bodies in the EU and Associated Countries; collected currently available data on organic markets in Europe, and produced a European database after having checked their reliability and consistency; improved the availability and the quality of published market report on the organic sector in a number of case study countries; organised two European stakeholders workshop on the topic and initiated an electronic forum (Organic Data Forum) for information exchange among stakeholders through the project's website; laid the foundations for a long-term collaboration on organic market data collection; developed a set of practical recommendations on data collection and dissemination and produced a Manual and Code of Practice for the initiation and maintenance of good organic market data collection and publication procedures (OrMaCode: ORganic Market data MAnual and CODE of Practice); closely co-operated with the European Commission and statistical offices of Member States on all levels.
OrganicDataNetwork provided an effective coordination Centre between private and public bodies and key stakeholder from across Europe who collectively worked together to meet the needs of policy makers, farmers, processors wholesalers and other actors involved in organic markets. This multi-stakeholder integration and coordination Centre aims at initiating a learning process between stakeholders in order to improve the data quality as well as the stakeholder’s commitment to a European organic market database.
The project results show that a network for better European organic market information is an ongoing, long-term permanent venture between all stakeholders who are interested in organic market statistics, rather than a one-time, three-year research project.
Enhancing the availability and quality of organic market statistics requires greater collaboration among stakeholders, which is required for better decision making at both the micro level (i.e. the firms) and the macro level (i.e. the governments).
Detailed recommendations for significant improvements in the availability and quality of statistical information on the organic market resulting from the work carried out in the OrganicDataNetwork project have been set out.
By harmonising data collection, facilitating access to relevant information and developing tools for new data collection systems, the project provided invaluable support for the organic food market across and beyond Europe.
Project Context and Objectives:
In the rapidly changing global environment, the organic sector has now developed to the point where the need for improvements to statistical data is becoming particularly pressing. Market intelligence and other forms of information are a matter of primary importance for the organic sector, and it is necessary to guarantee its independence, correctness and transparency. The consequences of failing to address this are potentially significant, in both political and financial terms.
Currently in Europe:
• consumers are spending more than 20 billion Euros annually on organic food, and demand is still growing at a higher rate than in other food sectors, even in the context of an economic slowdown;
• policy makers are investing millions of Euros annually in organic farming support payments and other rural development policies that benefit the organic sector;
• more than 300,000 production businesses are engaged with the organic sector in Europe. In addition to these, there are at least 40,000 processors and importers, as well as further players, such as retailers, wholesalers, inspection bodies, and consultants.
Therefore, the consequences linked to the risks of making incorrect decisions on the basis of poor statistical information can no longer be ignored. Also, the potential for future expansion, particularly in the emerging economies of central and eastern Europe, must be taken into account.
The importance of better data
In the world of ‘Big Data’, where increasing amounts of data are needed to make sound private and public decisions, data quality problems can create significant economic and political inefficiencies. Data quality should not be considered as only a problem of reducing sampling errors and other measurement errors. Recently, statistical data quality has been interpreted as continuous improvements to the data production process, by introducing the concept of Current Best Method (Filippucci et al., 2000). In general, however, as Karr et al. (2005) pointed out, "Data quality merits more attention from the statistical community, especially among academics. Faculty engagement in the problem has been virtually nil."
An attempt to introduce data quality issues with respect to organic market data was made by Feldmann and Hamm (2013, 2014). Indeed, a broader concept of data quality is needed to put more attention on the whole process, from data collection to data processing and analysis.
According to the European Statistics Code of Practice (Eurostat, 2011), market data need to be: accurate and reliable, timely and punctual, coherent and comparable, and easily accessible. At the same time, the resources allocated to data collection need to be adequate. Organic market data does not yet fulfil any of these criteria.
Improvement is possible, although the organisations involved in developing, producing and disseminating organic market data need to invest more resources. In general, data quality need more networking and funding at national and EU levels.
The principles set out in the “OrMaCode Code of Practice” are intended to help in the achievement of a higher level of data quality in developing, producing and disseminating organic market data.
Quality issues and quality checks
Many stakeholders appear to have the wrong impression: that organic market data are relatively available and of good quality. There are a discrete number of data collectors, and organic market data reports are published in some countries, using national or international data. These might give the false impression that the current state-of-the-art of organic market data production and dissemination is relatively advanced.
Indeed, although data are indeed produced and disseminated, there are too many data gaps. Also, as described below, the overall reliability and quality of these data remain relatively poor.
Organic market data availability and quality are still poor
Despite the growth of the organic market, we still have little information about it.
Reliable market data and official statistics of the organic market are available for only in few European countries. Data are collected and published by various bodies, including national authorities, private companies and research institutions, and different methodological approaches are applied. The results often show contradictory trends, which can lead to very different interpretations of the market situation. At the same time, the majority of potential end users have limited access to reliable market-related information. In some cases, this can lead to incorrect entrepreneurial decisions, and this carries the risk of operators leaving the organic sector because they are not aware of opportunities in the market.
Organic market data quality is also relatively poor. Data quality is defined as "the capability of data to be used effectively, economically, and rapidly to inform and evaluate decisions" (Karr et al., 2005). Data of poor quality can lead to incorrect or inefficient decisions, at both the governmental (e.g. policy-making) and enterprise (e.g. investment, supply or sales strategies) levels. In academic research and policy evaluation, the use of poor quality data can result in incorrect theories or other biased scientific outcomes.
Data quality is highly context specific: a database can be adequate for one purpose, but not for another, which renders it even more difficult to evaluate the data quality. One of the key principles of data quality management is user orientation (Eurostat, 2002). The types of users are, however, manifold, and the relationships between the data users and data producers are very complex. It is probably impossible to make the data adequate for all purposes, but bearing in mind which stakeholders are the most relevant data users for any specific data type can help to address this problem.
Also, data quality can be assessed according to various dimensions and metrics. The OrganicDataNetwork project did not explore this issue in detail, although it is useful to report the following attributes of data quality (Karr at al., 2005):
• Objectivity: whether disseminated information is accurate, reliable, and unbiased.
• Utility: usefulness of the information for anticipated purposes of the intended audience.
• Integrity: protection of information from unauthorised, unanticipated, or unintentional falsification or corruption.
In what follows, the various challenges that are currently experienced when collecting, processing and disseminating organic market data, are listed.
Lack of data and incomplete data
In most countries, only very basic data are reported, such as the data for certified organic farms, land areas, and livestock numbers. Currently, reliable detailed market data do not exist in most European countries; e.g. production volumes, and data on the domestic market, international trade and consumer prices. In some European countries, there are only rough estimates of the levels of production and consumption. When there are survey data available, the coverage is often incomplete, and this can result in biased statistics.
Lack of common definitions and classification/aggregation rules across countries
There is a lack of standardised and harmonised procedures to ensure higher data quality. Almost every country uses different definitions, nomenclature and classification, and only few use the international classification (Denmark uses the UN’s Standard International Trade Classification [SITC]; the Czech Republic uses the CPA codes of EUROSTAT). As a consequence, country-to-country data comparisons are very difficult. In countries, where the domestic market data are collected from panel data, usually the nomenclature and classification of the major market research companies are used, and these vary between countries and can change from one year to the next; thus comparisons here are also difficult.
Data is often aggregated, and a lot of the detail within the data gets lost in this aggregation. In many cases, only an incomplete breakdown by crop or product is available, and this can make the data of little use for some purposes (e.g. farmer decisions). What makes things worse is that there is no harmonised way of aggregating these data. For example, in Switzerland, Bio Suisse groups breakfast cereals with pet food. In addition, for retail scanner data, the aggregation can change from one year to the next, so that meaningful times series comparisons become impossible.
With reference to non-standardised definitions, a good example is that of livestock data. The indicator used is “the head count”, which has been interpreted in different countries as “average stock per year”, “livestock at a given day” (e.g. 1 May in some German Laender), “number of places” (in stables), or “animals slaughtered”. These differences in the definition make country-to-country comparisons for livestock more or less impossible.
Other issues
Exchange rate fluctuations can make country-to-country data comparisons very difficult. Some data are based on expert estimates, but often there are no checks to validate these data by other sources.
Previous and running EU projects involved in improving organic market data collection system
EU research projects like Organic Farming and the CAP (FAIR3-CT96-1794), OMIaRD (QLK5-2000-01124), EU-CEE-OFP (QLK5-2002-00917) and CERTCOST (KBBE-2007-207727) have shown that in many countries, regional or national data gathering takes place. The FP5 Concerted Action ‘European Information System for Organic Markets’ (EISfOM - QLK5-2002-02400) was fully devoted to the building of a framework for reporting valid and reliable data for the European organic sector, to meet the needs of all of the stakeholders involved in organic markets. EISfOM concluded with a list of 24 recommendation that addressed: (i) improvements in the current situation of data collecting and processing systems; (ii) innovations in data collection and processing systems; and (iii) integration of conventional and organic data collection and processing systems.
Building on the outcomes of these projects, OrganicDataNetwork (FP7-KBBE-2011-5) aims to enhance the transparency of the European organic food market, through better availability of market statistics in the sector, while also considering the needs of policymakers and key players in organic markets.
This overall objective has been broken up into key objectives:
1. Bring together stakeholders and bodies actively involved in organic market data collection and publication and review the needs of end-users with respect to organic market data
2. Provide an inventory of relevant private and public bodies that are involved with the collection, processing and dissemination of organic market data in Europe
3. Classify existing methods of organic market data collection and develop criteria for quality improvement of available data
4. Collect, store in a common format and provide access to currently available data on organic markets in Europe
5. Develop and test common methodologies to assess the consistency of national data, with special reference to available data on trade flows
6. Test innovative approaches to improve the data collection and market reporting in six case study regions
7. Disseminate project results and develop recommendations including a code of practice for organic market data collection and network beyond the conclusion of the project
The project brought together stakeholders and bodies from 11 countries that collect, publish and use data in the sector. For the first time, existing secondary sources of data on European organic markets were collated and cross-checked; limited data collection was attempted, to improve the current organic market data reporting in six case studies.
References
Eurostat (2002). Quality in the European statistical system – The way forward. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities.
Eurostat (2011). European Statistics Code of Practice. Luxembourg: Eurostat. Aavailable at: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_OFFPUB/KS-32-11-955/EN/KS-32-11-955-EN.PDF
Feldmann, C. and Hamm, U. (2013). Report on collection methods: Classification of data collection methods. Deliverable 3.1 of the OrganicDataNetwork project. Available at: http://orgprints.org/23010/
Feldmann, C. and Hamm, U. (2014). Report on the methodologies for data quality improvement along the whole supply chain. Deliverable 5.1 of the OrganicDataNetwork project. Available at: http://orgprints.org/27940/
Filippucci, C., Buldo, B. and Napoli, V. (2000). La valutazione della qualità nella fase di rilevazione. Proceedings of XL Riunione scientifica della Società Italiana di Statistica. Firenze 26-28 Aprile 2000. Roma: Centro Stampa Istat.
Karr A.F. Sanil A.P. Banks D.L. (2005). Data Quality: A Statistical Perspective. NISS Technical Report Nr. 151. Research Triangle Park, NC: National Institute of Statistical Sciences.
Project Results:
1 - Introduction
The objective of this report is to provide an overview of the results that are emerging from the studies carried out in the OrganicDataNetwork project. The OrganicDataNetwork project was a major effort that involved 15 institutes from 10 countries, and it was aimed at creating a data network for better European organic market information. In this report, we present the selected important results from this project, which we believe will be of interest to stakeholders involved in organic data collection and dissemination.
This report aggregates information from the single study package reports, to provide an overall synthesis of the results. Therefore, we have freely made use of sentences, paragraphs and text passages of the published OrganicDataNetwork reports. In some cases the text has been revised and adapted to serve the purpose of this report, while in others it is reproduced in full here. To achieve greater readability, we have not referenced these texts and these changes in detail.
In addition, specific recommendations based on these facts, figures and interpretations have been developed. Those recommendations carry the lessons learned during the OrganicDataNetwork project. The aim is to set out the detailed recommendations for significant improvements in the availability and quality of statistical information on the organic market resulting from the work carried out in the OrganicDataNetwork Project.
This synthesis report is structured as follows: after this short Introduction, Chapter 2 covers the inventory of organic market data collectors that was performed at the beginning of the project; Chapter 3 deals with the different existing organic market data collection methods in Europe; Chapter 4 focuses on the needs and the demand for information by end users of organic market data; Chapter 5 summarises the key challenges that need to be considered when presenting European market data in a common database; Chapter 6 provides a discussion of the methodologies for data quality improvement; Chapter 7 summarises the lessons learned from the stakeholder involvement throughout the project; Chapter 8 summarises the results of the case studies performed during the project, which were aimed at improving upon the current data collection systems; Chapter 9 gives our final conclusions and recommendations.
2 - Inventory of organic market data collectors
Authors: C. Feldmann , C.L. Gerrard, U. Hamm, S. Padel, A. Vievjeger
Despite the growth of the organic market in Europe, in most countries only very basic statistics about this sector exist. Individual country governments collect data on the number of certified organic holdings, organic and in-conversion land areas, livestock numbers, production volumes and numbers of operators (producers, processors, importers). These are published nationally and by Eurostat. Market statistics such as data on consumption, retail sales, international trade and prices are lacking in most countries. Data and market information are needed by members of the organic supply-chain to inform investment decisions, and by policy makers to calibrate measures targeted to the sector.
To understand the availability of data on the organic market and to assist in improving data quality and availability, it is necessary to be aware of the organisations that currently collect, analyse and/or disseminate such data across Europe and the methods that they use. Results of a survey carried out within the EU27, EFTA, the rest of Europe and the Mediterranean are reported in this section. 600 organisations were contacted with a response rate of just under 30%. In addition, 14 responses were collected in a second round telephone survey among additional key data collectors.
Based on an overview of all relevant public and private bodies and stakeholders that are involved with the collection, processing and dissemination of organic market data in Europe, the market data collection effort seems to be very varied across Europe and it was found that not all data that are collected are also published.
According to the OrganicDataNetwork survey on data collectors (Gerrard et al., 2012), the data types most commonly collected are data on land area, followed by production volume; whereas production value is much less commonly collected. This emphasis on area and production volume data is not surprising within the EU, as it is a legal requirement of the organic regulations to collect such data and provide them to Eurostat. However, even with the legal requirement to collect data on production volume and detailed area and livestock data, there are many countries that do not fulfil this requirement in full. Price data and retail data are much less commonly collected than area and production volume data. Export data are more commonly collected in non-European countries than in the EU, perhaps reflecting a higher importance to their economies. Import data particularly with regard to import into the EU and trade within the EU are rare within data collection. The product categories most often represented in the surveyed market data collections are meat, milk and dairy products, fruit and vegetables. Data on non-food products are not often collected.
The main focus of most of the organizations involved in market data collection and publishing, covered under the OrganicDataNetwork survey on market data collectors, is data analysis, followed by collection and dissemination. Some organizations, however, may also have more than one focus.
According to the OrganicDataNetwork survey of market data collectors, data collection methods show a varied picture (Feldmann and Hamm 2012). Surveys are a commonly used method across all data types, but, in general, methods vary with the type of data collected. Respondents report that censuses are often used to collect production data and, in a few instances, other types of data such as international trade data. For retail data and consumer price data, consumer/household panels or retail panels (scanner data) are likely to be used, whereas catering sales data are collected by surveys. Import and export data are generally collected using surveys and sometimes censuses but some reliance is also placed on expert estimates. Expert estimates are also used across most of the country categories: many organisations compile their data through expert estimates.
The data analysis carried out in the different countries (across all of the categories) tends to be either just compilation or basic statistical analyses (such as averages, and ranges). However, types of analyses vary with the type of data collected. Other more advanced methods include time-series analysis, comparison to averages or totals, and checking for plausibility against other data.
With respect to publication, respondents reported that data other than areas, livestock numbers and production volumes are rarely published. Of all the data types, area, livestock numbers and operator data are most likely to be freely available. Other data may be available at a cost but, if so, are usually available to data providers for free or at lower cost. The largest proportion of European organic market data is collected annually and published annually, with the exception of consumer and farm level price data, which are collected more often and often published on a weekly basis. This reflects the great importance of timeliness, with regard to price data. The most common way of publishing the data is via the internet, through reports or in statistical tables.
3 - Classification and evaluation of existing organic market data collection methods in Europe
Authors: C. Feldmann, U. Hamm
High quality organic market data, which is desirable and important for both economic and societal reasons, depends on the quality of statistical processes. Without a proper approach to data quality assessment, institutions involved in data collection cannot improve their process further. At the same time, data quality assessment is an important prerequisite when there is a need to inform the end users about the potential use of data. Despite the growth of the organic market, the availability of good quality data on this market is still problematic. Until now the comparability and consistency of organic market data in some countries has been problematic, because data collection methods are not harmonised. In some cases, this can lead to incorrect entrepreneurial decisions, which in turn might result in lower market efficiency.
To improve the organic market data collection practice in Europe, it is of primary importance to deal with the definition of quality criteria for data collection and compilation methods, the evaluation of existing data collection methods, and the relative assessment of data quality. In addition, guidelines for statistical work in the organic market sector are required to establish a common basis for the collation of comprehensive European statistics for this growing sector.
Data quality dimensions (relevance, accuracy, comparability, coherence, accessibility and clarity, timeliness and punctuality), as defined by the European Statistical System (ESS), were adapted to the research objective for the evaluation of organisations’ statistical work. Factors determining the performance in each data quality dimension were identified and evaluated to assess existing data collection methods in Europe and to identify “best practice” examples.
Examples for “best practice” identified among European organic market data collectors can function as a reference system for those organisations that see the need to improve their data collection and processing approaches. An overview of the “best practice” examples, described by quality dimension, are summarised as follows. The following organisations were chosen: the German Agricultural Market Information Company (AMI) and the French Agence Bio that collect and publish a wide range of data, the Bio Suisse and UK’s Soil Association that collect and publish data on retail sales, Statistics Denmark that collects and publishes data on retail sales, exports and imports and Eurostat that compiles data from the Member States on areas, livestock numbers, production volumes, and operator numbers and publishes them in its online database and in regular reports. Most of these organisations receive public funding for their data production activities.
Relevance. Both, the AMI and Agence Bio, follow an approach in which the focus of the organisation and its statistical work correspond to the purpose for which the data is collected and the data use. The sources from which they receive their data are consistent with regard to the type of data the organisations require and the data sources are appropriate for the data uses. The samples sizes are large enough to ensure a solid basis for the type of analysis applied by the organisations. Furthermore, the AMI has long-term experience in organic data collection and has thus gathered substantial knowhow in terms of interaction among all the parameters relevant for consistent data collection and processing. Both organisations applied advanced statistics to achieve results that are useful for the end users of their data. Altogether, their approaches rank highly on the parameters associated to relevance.
Accuracy. As explained above the approaches followed by AMI and Agence Bio are both very consistent with regard to ‘data source’ and ‘type of analysis’. The data collection methods used comply with the data sources used by AMI and Agence Bio and lay the foundation for accurate analyses. Due to the successful interplay of data sources, collection methods, and the types of data analyses the performance of both organisations is ranked high for the quality dimension accuracy. Furthermore, both, AMI and Agence Bio, apply quality checks to search for inconsistencies and errors in their datasets. Thereby they ensure accurate results for the end users of their statistical outputs.
Comparability. Once again the performances of AMI and Agence Bio offer examples of best practice. While the data collection methods comply with the choice and size of the sample, the data of these two organisations are also disaggregated by certain regions within the country to allow for comparisons on a national level.
Coherence. Soil Association, Agence Bio, and AMI reveal a good performance in this dimension, which is very closely related to the dimension of comparability. A coherent approach is characterised by the use of a data collection method, which is wisely chosen to meet the requirements of the data sources, the sample, the data use, and the final analyses. Thereby the organisations achieve a comprehensive approach, which leads to comparable and consistent results.
Accessibility/clarity. Eurostat, Statistics Denmark, Soil Association and Agence Bio all represent “best practice” examples for this data quality dimension. The “best practice” examples are characterised by a good availability of data which is easy to understand and user-friendly. Due to the different formats of publication offered by the organisations the accessibility is enhanced for the data users. Furthermore, most of the data is publicly available without any charges and the conditions of data provision may be reflected in the clarity of the data that is available to the end user.
Timeliness/punctuality. The organisations, AMI and Bio Suisse, both follow approaches in which the frequency of publication and the frequency of collection happen in the same time intervals. The timely and punctual collection and publication of data improve its quality and the satisfaction of the end user concerning the statistical output.
4 - The market data end-users’ needs and demand
Authors: R. Home, M. Lošťák , M. Stolze
The prioritisation of the areas to be targeted for data improvements requires an understanding of the demands of end-users of organic market data. The wishes of these end users are particularly important since they are also the potential end-users of any future organic market information system.
An evaluation, from the end users’ perspective, of the current available data in Europe was undertaken to identify their needs and demands of organic market data, and to find areas of information asymmetry. Results based on end users’ demand for various data types in four European countries (France, Germany, Italy, and Spain) are reported and compared with the mean responses from European end users. There is an almost universal expression of feeling at a competitive disadvantage because of lack of available data for all data types (Home et al. 2013).
Looking at quality criteria in more detail, relevance seems to be always the main quality criteria for existing data that end-users rate as most important, with other quality indicators rated about equally important: that data should be affordable, available as often as needed, accurate, up to date, easily accessible, comparable with other data that respondents use, of high quality, and sufficient for the respondents’ needs. The most common criticisms of organic market data were with regard to accessibility, availability as often as needed, and whether it is up to date. Data on organic import volumes were also criticised for their lack of accuracy and comparability with other used data, while retail consumer price data for organic food and organic sales data at retail level are both criticised for their reduced accessibility if not at a cost. The main reason why available data are not used is the lack of relevance. Cost of data access and comparability were rarely the reason, and lack of punctuality and accuracy were almost never the reason that data are not used.
Using the same means of comparison, import volume and value data, and commercial/public organic procurement price and volume data were found to be evaluated as being very similar in quality. These data types are all considered to be quite different from the data collection perspective, but seem to be bundled from the end user perspective.
In analysing the mean quality ratings of all data types in the four study countries and in Europe it has to be kept in mind that the scope of this analysis was to identify and describe possible shortcoming in the system, and not to compare the data collectors in each country or the data collection methods that they employ. Although results show that some data types in some countries are better than others, the overall quality of all data types is around neutral, which suggests that quality of European organic market data is considered to be generally poor.
The number of users of each data type were compared, at the European level, with the number of people who report that the respective data type does not exist. As expected, the fewer people using the data type, the more people think the data don't exist. This result probably reflects the variability of data availability within Europe with data of a specific type available in one country but not in another.
5 - Challenges associated with developing and producing a European database of organic market data
Authors: H. Willer, D. Schaack
The comparability of the existing organic market data is low. Lack of standardisation of classifications of products, definitions of indicators, and harmonisation in data collection methods renders data comparisons between countries over time or even within one country problematic. Therefore merging different national datasets into one set of European statistics is very challenging. Albeit Eurostat is publishing data on area, livestock umbers and production volumes as well as numbers of operators, it does not collect data on production values, retail sale/import/ export values and volumes, and catering sales.
Therefore a database was produced as part of the OrganicDataNetwork, in order to store in a common format and provide access to, currently available data on organic markets in Europe.
In this database, the OrganicDataNetwork has made available, for the first time, the European organic market data by product groups and sales channels. Data for 2011 and 2012 are accessible at the OrganicDataNetwork website (www.organicdatanetwork.net/odn-statistics.html).
The OrganicDataNetwork database shows that a wide range of data is now available, in particular in relation to retail sales data. This includes organic market data that were not easily accessible before that have now been collected and collated and made available centrally. The data collected show – over countries - what products do best within the organic segment and how certain products and product groups perform in comparison with all other products sold. For example, organic eggs reach high shares of the overall egg market in many countries. As regards international trade data, there is a major lack of such data and conclusions regarding the European situation cannot be drawn.
The following classifications were used in developing the database:
• Eurostat Handbook for Annual Crop Statistics for organic agricultural land and crops,
• Eurostat CPA 2008 - Statistical Classification of Products by Activity for products.
From the experience, a number of challenges have been identified that need to be tackled in the near future. These challenges include (Willer and Schaack 2014):
Lack of data and incomplete data
In most countries, only very basic data such as data on certified organic farms, land areas and livestock numbers are reported. Currently, reliable detailed market data, e.g. production volumes, data on domestic market, international trade and consumer prices do not exist in most European countries. In some European countries, there are only rough estimates of the levels of production and consumption. When survey or panel data exist, often coverage is incomplete, and this may result in biased statistics.
Lack of common definitions and classifications/aggregation rules across countries
There is a lack of standardised and harmonised procedures to ensure higher data quality. Almost every country uses different definitions, nomenclature and classifications, only few use international classifications (Denmark uses the UN’s Standard International Trade Classification – SITC; Czech Republic the CPA codes – EUROSTAT). As a consequence, country-to-country data comparisons are very difficult. In countries, where the domestic market data are collected from panel data, usually the nomenclature and classifications of the major market research companies are used, and these vary between countries and may change from one year to another; comparisons appear also quite difficult.
Data is often aggregated and a lot of details get lost in the aggregation. In many cases only incomplete breakdown by crop or product is available and this may make data of little use for some purposes (e.g. farmers’ decisions). What makes things worse is that there is no harmonized way of aggregating these data. For example, in Switzerland, Bio Suisse groups breakfast cereals, with pet food. In addition, aggregation may change from one year to another so that times-series comparison becomes impossible.
With reference to non-standardised definitions of indicators/data types, a good example is that of livestock data. The indicator is “number of heads”, which is interpreted as “average stock per year”, “livestock at a given day” (e.g. the 1st of May in some German Laender), the “number of places” (in stables), or “animals slaughtered” in different countries. These differences in the definition make country-to-country comparisons for livestock impossible.
Inconsistent data
The plausibility checks carried out (such as year on year comparisons, comparisons with neighbouring countries) showed a lot of inconsistent data, some of which could be explained by the data providers or better data were found. However, this could not be resolved in all cases, and there were figures that were clearly implausible if compared with a country’s total or with data from the previous year or from neighbouring countries. Simple quality checks are often not performed by the data providers: basic plausibility checks often allow inconsistencies to be identified. Some data are based on expert estimates, but often no checks are performed to validate these data by other sources.
Other issues
Exchange rate fluctuations may make country-to-country data comparisons very difficult.
6 - Methodologies for data quality improvement
Authors: C. Feldmann, U. Hamm
Previous studies related to data collection, processing, and analysis of the organic market have revealed a lack of consistency and harmonisation across Europe. However, it is not only the lack of consistency and harmonisation in organic market data that is problematic, but there are also some concerns about the accuracy of the data. Up to now, organic market data collection has been inconsistent throughout European countries; data from different organisations and from different countries are hard to compare, because very different methods, product categories, and nomenclatures are used. Interpretations based on incomplete and inconsistent data might lead to wrong decisions by companies and policy makers.
The identification of inconsistencies in organic market data requires knowledge on specific quality and consistency checks. These should be standardised among the data collectors in order to lead to a harmonisation of the process. For the implementation of these checks, however, it is necessary to have reliable data for comparisons or to have sufficient data to establish supply-balance equations. More extensive and thorough data collection is needed to fill gaps in organic market data.
Quality dimensions were defined by Eurostat to establish a framework for the analysis and evaluation of the quality of statistical data and its sources: relevance, accuracy, timeliness and punctuality, accessibility and clarity, comparability, and coherence. The improvement of accuracy, comparability, and coherence in organic market data is the main objective when performing ex-post data quality checks.
As part of the OrganicDataNetwork, a guideline for the application of consistency checks for organic market data was established. The guideline explains the different types of data quality checks and how they should be carried out. The choice of consistency check depends on the data types that are available. However, data used for comparisons as well as the sources of these data have to be checked for reliability and validity.
An example for a consistency check is the comparison of organic area, production, and yield data with conventional/total data. Organic areas or production volumes that show an implausible high share of total areas/volumes should be flagged for inconsistency and checked further. Organic yield data that are larger than conventional ones, suggest an inconsistency, because organic production is in general less productive than conventional production.
The comparison of an organic market statistic over years is used to check for obvious inconsistencies, which are revealed through noticeable outliers in the data. To verify that these outliers are actual anomalies in the data, it is necessary to compare the trend of the statistic in the organic sector with the trend in the conventional sector. Strong fluctuations take place simultaneously in both sectors, because they usually depend on weather conditions, which equally influence both farming systems (i.e. very cold vs. very hot or very wet vs. very dry season). Depending on the type of product and the production conditions during the respective year, there might be particular reasons for extreme values.
In most cases, typing or unit errors are the reasons for organic numbers that are reported to be larger than total numbers. These errors can often be detected through comparisons of organic with total data or comparisons with data from previous years or countries with similar farming conditions. In addition, it is very helpful to get data checked by third persons as well as to get feedback from market experts which might help to identify inconsistent information in data sets.
The availability of data is a limiting factor concerning more advanced data checks, which can be used to get better insights into the market structure of one’s country. To date, organic market data collection in Europe is still fragmentary. Hence, more advanced approaches, such as supply balance equations are only applicable in very few cases.
Another valuable approach to data quality checking is the crosschecking of one country’s import data with another country’s export data. Thereby, data errors as well as fraud could be identified. However, due to confidentiality restrictions and the sensitivity of these data, it is almost impossible to carry out these comparisons.
7 - Lessons learned from stakeholders involvement
Authors: R. Home, D. Vairo, R. Zanoli, M. Stolze
The OrganicDataNetwork project initiated such a European organic market data network of public and private bodies bringing together active, relevant stakeholders concerned with organic market data collection, analysis and publication. This data network established a platform to allow for adequate communication and interaction among all stakeholders involved in organic market data development, production and dissemination as well as in data analysis and usage. The core principles of this network are social learning processes and co-creation of knowledge to remove barriers to a European organic market data information system, which will facilitate the development of shared visions. Multi-stakeholder dialogue has been organized at a European level and two workshops have been held to bring together stakeholders in the organic market data sector, to discuss ideas and experiences, to provide a unique opportunity for networking with other experts on European market data and to set the basis for an ongoing organic data network platform for information exchange:
The first workshop was held at the Organic Research Centre, Elm Farm, Newbury, UK on March 13, 2013 and had the main aim to identify organic market data problems from the stakeholders’ point of view. Twenty-seven stakeholders from 17 European countries and from Morocco and Tunisia attended the workshop. Participants identified problems in data collection (insufficient data collection; poor data quality; differing collection methods, differing classifications leading to harmonisation problems; insufficient analysis and timely dissemination; institutional self-interest and unwillingness to cooperate; financial resources; fraud and data manipulation; risk of losing market confidence), improvement opportunities and ease of implementation and also the main areas for which good organic market data are difficult to obtain (availability and quality): retail sales, international trade and price data.
The second workshop concentrated on the current situation of data collection methods to identify areas where improvements are needed, such as data quality improvement measures and the development of model pathways for the implementation of organic market data collection procedures in EU27, EU Candidate and EFTA countries. The workshop was held at the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Bari (CIHEAM-IAMB), in Valenzano Italy on 10-11 July 2014. Thirty stakeholders from 20 countries attended the second workshop. The primary aim of the workshop was to develop and refine the Organic market data Manual and Code of Practice (OrMaCode) intended for data collectors and to discuss how networking and information exchange between data collectors could continue after the end of the OrganicDataNetwork project.
Three main themes arising from OrMaCode were addressed:
Institutional Setting:
• Guidelines are needed to avoid misuse of organic market data, to ensure cooperation among bodies and a long-term collaboration/network, and to achieve institutional commitment to the collection of a wide range of organic market data.
• However, guidelines such as OrMaCode and top-down regulations (e.g. mandatory data collection) need to be supplemented by cooperation and bottom-up networking strategies to motivate individuals and agencies to cooperate.
Statistical Methodologies:
• Networks promoting cooperation among stakeholders and creating tools that enable harmonisation of definitions and classifications are considered to be promising to align data collection methods and analyses across Europe, to improve data quality and quantity for each data category, and to implement more consistency checks to validate the data.
• Various tools may be developed to help data collectors to improve the quality of data. These include a common electronic platform to collect and validate data, guidelines such as OrMaCode, template for questionnaires, conversion and correspondence tables for data harmonisation.
• Training in using these tools and other services like help desks are highly recommended by stakeholders.
Statistical Results:
• Both positive and negative lessons could be learned from existing practices on how to improve timeliness, punctuality and accessibility of data (incl. business models), and how to balance quality and availability of data. Learning from best practices can improve the various stages of data collection from development to dissemination.
• The OrganicDataNetwork database should be continued and maintained after the project life since it can help to ensure higher accessibility, timeliness and punctuality of organic market data at the European level.
• Adequate funding should be ensured at the EU and national level to continue and enhance the publication of high quality statistical data on the organic market.
8 - Examples of improving data collection systems
Authors: C.L. Gerrard and S. Padel.
Procedures and methods for collection and publication of organic market data across Europe vary widely, with a growing number of countries publishing market estimates, but several problems with data collection are reported. Even in countries with relatively well-developed organic markets, data are not nearly as detailed and reliable as in general agricultural and food industry statistics, leading to a lack of transparency in the organic market.
To overcome some of the problems with national organic market data and to test approaches in a practical situation, there is a need to facilitate networking, learning and collaboration among all organisations publishing the national reports.
A number of problems with organic market data have been confirmed for a variety of European countries in several project activities. Consultation with different national stakeholders has resulted in identifying a number of areas for improvement. The six case studies of the OrganicDataNetwork project have produced new/improved organic market reports through close collaboration between different partners, by using quality checks developed in the project and by carrying out additional data collection and analysis where possible.
The experience from these case studies suggests a number of common steps to start or improve data collection and identifies some possible issues.
• Identify key organisation
o Identify the key organisations involve in the organic sector that may collect or hold market data
• Encourage and maintain dialogue
o In this way, key data holders, data collectors, the ministry of agriculture and/or the statistical office as well as other stakeholders who would want to use the data will be aware of each other.
• Data handling and statistical processes
o Obtain clear and detailed description of the data collection and analysis methods at source;
o Be clear about the subsequent collection and analysis for publication;
o Assess coverage and representativeness of the sample obtained;
o Carry out quality checks (e.g through cross-checking over time and with other sources)
• Working with other organisations
o Collaboration with a trusted third party who will collect and collate data may help in reassuring potential data providers that their data will be kept confidential and will only be used in an amalgamated format
• Aim for a national platform
o A national platform with a sufficient budget to facilitate continued dialogue at national and international level should imrpove quality and encourage other data providers to participate.
A continual dialogue and discussion is seen as a vital feature in initiating data collection within a country. Across borders, networks of data collectors from a range of countries, like the OrganicDataNetwork, can support this through sharing experience and advice between countries and by providing a forum to discuss organic data collection. For instance, the case studies in countries of the Mediterranean Organic Agriculture Network (MOAN) conducted in close collaboration with the national statistical authorities (e.g. Turkey) had the effect of raising awareness of organic data collection procedures in those institutions.
The new/improved market reports are summarised below, broken down by the different case study countries.
UK ORGANIC MARKET REPORT
An English producer survey was carried out as part of the case study, asking about retail sales of organic produce as conventional and producers’ future intentions with regards to both production levels and remaining in organic production. Also, production data from control bodies have been better harmonized. With regards to estimating the total annual value of retail sales, the 2014 report used data from a retail sales panel (rather than a household panel), as well as from surveys of multiple retailers and Soil Association certified businesses. This has improved the reliability of the total market estimate compared with previous years.
The 2014 Organic Market Report by the Soil Association is available at
https://www.soilassociation.org/marketreport
GERMAN ORGANIC MARKET REPORT
Within the German case study, AMI has improved the estimate of the total annual market value through better collaboration between panel institutions and scientists. Greater coverage of sales through non-multiple channels (bakeries, butchers, box schemes, farmers’ markets and farm shops) should be aimed for in future and national funds will be sought. Also the methods used in collecting producer price data were compared with other European countries that will inform future data collection procedures. A supply-balance for carrots and milk was attempted but data gaps for import/export data remain.
CZECH REPUBLIC -ORGANIC MARKET REPORT
The Czech University of Life Sciences (CULS) worked closely with the Institute of Agricultural Economics and Information (IAEI) on the improvement of the organic market reports. Retail price data from supermarkets from previous periods (2009-2013) were published in spring 2014. These consisted of data for about 2900 organic products from 12 retail chains (hypermarkets, supermarkets, discount chains and drugstore chains). Part of the analysis is also a price comparison with conventional food in the category of “milk and dairy products”. Data from declarations of trade with non-EU member countries were also included in the report following data checking.
ITALIAN ORGANIC MARKET REPORT
The main aim of the Italian case study on behalf of the 2014 Italian market report was to improve international and domestic market data. The Ministerial and customs datasets of imports are integrated into one common database. An expert assessment for each crop at regional level has been carried out to estimate production volume. Finally, a cross checking was carried out of ISMEA/GFK-Eurisko household panel data with the ASSOBIO data to improve the estimate of the retail sales value in non-specialized shops.
FRENCH ORGANIC MARKET REPORT
Agence Bio’s 2014 French market report includes production and consumption volume data, a more detailed breakdown of domestic sales data, as well as the import and export volumes by products and in total. In some sectors where production volume data were lacking, methodologies for estimating the production volume and total balances were set up and data included in the 2014 yearbook when relevant. An assessment was conducted together with the Ministry of Agriculture and the French customs of import volumes from third countries, intra-EU exchanges and exports. Due to the diversity of sales in France, a channel based survey approach was proposed for collecting consumption data specifying when possible more detailed categories of products.
ORGANIC MARKET REPORT of the Mediterranean Organic Agriculture Network (MOAN)
For the first time in many years, the Institute of Agronomic Research (CIHEAM-IAMB), in close collaboration with the respective MOAN representatives, published the 2014 Mediterranean organic agriculture report. The report, reveals the latest available data on organic area and operators in the Mediterranean region with interesting insights into the key features, the recent facts and the most up-to-date figures on the national organic sector of six countries of the Network, namely three south Eastern Mediterranean countries (Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia) and three EU Candidate and Potential Candidate countries (Albania, Serbia and Turkey).
Collaboration among researchers and national bodies who publish market data has resulted in the implementation of additional or improved data collection methods and quality checks within the case studies. The following list summarises the experience in relation to lessons learned from the case studies; which are relevant to other stakeholders involved with, or planning to set up, data collection of organic market data.
Production data
• Private bodies may develop their own data categories; dialogue is often required to achieve harmonisation with Eurostat categories.
• FADN data can provide additional information about production (e.g. yield, farm-level prices).
• Producer surveys can also supplement production data, targeting specific data gaps and providing more up-to-date insights.
• Estimating yields to calculate volume and value of production should make use of a combination of different approaches such as scientific studies, previous projects and expert estimates.
Domestic retail sales data
• A combination of different sources and approaches is necessary to develop an estimate of the value of the total organic market and of the proportion of sales through different channels, such as multiple retail, independent retail, mail order and home-delivery (box schemes) and sales through farm shops and farmers markets.
• Users of household or retail panel’s data should be aware of the likely coverage and advantages and limitations of the methods.
• Market research companies use their own product classification, which hampers cross checking and comparisons between different sources, over time and between countries.
• Surveys among members of umbrella organisations, collaboration with trade/sector bodies or specialist panels for organic shops may be an alternative approach for estimating sales through specialised organic retail and other sales channels.
Farm level and retail price data
• When comparing different methods for farm-level price data collection, it is necessary to consider: where in the supply chain the data is collected, publication dates and frequencies, VAT inclusion/exclusion, transport costs, packaging, level of processing, product categorisation.
• Access to non-up-to-date data collected by private companies can be very useful in providing information on price trends and market development and may be available at lower costs or for free.
• When comparing retail price data (e.g. organic with conventional), it is necessary to compare products of similar quality and packaging.
International trade data (import/export)
• This category covers both trade between EU countries and with non-EU countries, which represents an important part of domestically consumed organic products in most Member States.
• Special customs provisions are made for import of organic products from outside the EU as part of the organic import regime (Box 44 of the SAD is already used for this purpose in some countries).
• There is no special requirement to monitor intra-EU trade as part of the organic control regime, so it is most difficult to obtain such data.
• Other collection methods to gather export and intra EU trade data include dedicated surveys of exporters and other operators.
• The full picture of all import/export into one country can only be obtained if all three types of trade (with countries on the compliance list, with countries that are not on the compliance list and intra EU trade) are considered.
• The easiest way to get international trade data would be the differentiation between organic and conventional items in the national foreign trade statistics
General conclusions all data categories
• Data are often collected by many different organisations, including commercial bodies, governments and researchers, but organic data collection is not necessarily an explicit task for all of them.
• Close collaboration with specific government departments that are not directly involved with organic farming (e.g. customs authorities, national statistics authorities) has improved the availability of data in several cases. Taking part in the case studies has also raised awareness of the need to identify and address problems and the need to increase efforts in organic market data collection.
• Sharing of organic data between organisations can prevent over-sampling of organic producers and operators, but this only works if common classification systems are used. Also, there is a tension between market transparency and the need to protect commercially sensitive data.
• Efficiently collating data from different sources also requires harmonisation of classifications and methods, but different data types require different solutions to improve the data collection.
9 - Conclusion and Recommendations
These results show that a network for better European organic market information is an ongoing, long-term permanent venture between all stakeholders who are interested in organic market statistics, rather than a one-time, three-year research project.
Enhancing the availability and quality of organic market statistics requires greater collaboration among stakeholders, which is required for better decision making at both the micro level (i.e. the firms) and the macro level (i.e. the governments).
In what follows, specific recommendations based on previous results and interpretations are listed.
The recommendations are outlined in a short sentence followed by specific bullet points identifying areas of improvements.
The recommendations of the previous EU-funded project “European Information System for Organic Markets” (EISfOM) (QLK5-2002-02400) have formed the starting point of the development of this new set of recommendations.
In addition, two stakeholder workshops and the electronic forum debates on the OrganicDataNetwork website have contributed in drafting the list of issues that need further attention from both policymakers and data collectors.
In order to develop recommendations from the project results, the principles of a desirable organic market data development, production and dissemination in Europe have been considered. These have been defined in the organic market data Code of Practice that we have developed as part of OrMaCode (ORganic market data MAnual and CODE of Practice: http://www.ormacode.organicdatanetwork.net) and which is derived from the European Statistical Code of Practice (Eurostat, 2011).
Recommendation 1: Extend the mandate for statistical data collection on the organic market
The European Commission should extend the mandate for statistical data collection on the organic market, specifically
• by increasing the number of statistical data types collected,
• by collecting statistical information on prices and volume and value of production, domestic market, and international trade by defined product or product groups,
• by collecting import/export data by including organic imports/exports to national foreign trade statistics and by specific provision on the TARIC code (for third country imports),
• by specifying a legal mandate to provide statistical information not just by Member States, but also by control authorities, control bodies, customs authorities and, where relevant, individual companies.
Recommendation 2: Develop better statistical processes to increase accuracy of data collection on the organic market
Data providers should develop better statistical processes to increase accuracy of data collection on the organic market, specifically
• by paying more attention to coverage,
• by adopting better sampling procedures,
• by crosschecking expert estimates against other sources
• by implementing the OrMaCode.
Recommendation 3: Harmonise the statistical processes for data collection on the organic market to increase coherence and comparability
National statistical institutes and national authorities should harmonise statistical processes for data collection on the organic market to increase coherence and comparability, specifically
• by harmonising national definitions, nomenclature and classification of statistical outputs to the Eurostat Statistical Classification of Products by Activity (CPA),
• by harmonising aggregation rules for raw data,
• by implementing a unique and permanent identifier for each inspected operator ensuring the portability of such identifiers when changing control body/control authority.
• by providing an electronic data collection tool to the control bodies
Data providers other than official national statistical institutes should comply with this recommendation in order to ensure smooth data sharing and aggregation across different data providers.
Recommendation 4: Establish a system of routine quality checks for organic market statistical data
Data providers (including national statistical institutes) should establish a system of routine quality checks for organic market statistical data, specifically
• by applying data quality indicators,
• by balancing data accuracy vs. timeliness in data publication and dissemination,
• by data editing,
• by regularly applying plausibility checks,
• by comparing and cross-checking non-official statistical data from at least two independent sources, to increase accuracy and consistency.
Recommendation 5: Strengthen the institutional framework for statistical data collection on the organic market
The European Commission, in cooperation with Member States, should strengthen the institutional framework for statistical data collection on the organic market, specifically
• by increased data collection efforts of EUROSTAT and national statistical offices,
• by establishing and funding permanent, long-term networks of data providers and users at European and national level,
• by developing training initiatives to improve the quality of organic market data collection.
Recommendation 6: Use measures of the Rural Development Programme to provide incentives to increase the availability and the quality of organic market data
The European Commission and the Member States should use measures of the Rural Development Programme to provide incentives to increase the availability and the quality of organic market data, specifically
• by providing specific funding to a permanent, long-term European network as detailed in Recommendation 5,
• by implementing specific national networks to drive innovation and quality enhancement in organic market data as part of the European Innovation Partnership Agriculture productivity and sustainability (EIP-AGRI) (http://ec.europa.eu/eip/agriculture/)
References
Feldmann, C. and Hamm, U. (2013). Report on collection methods: Classification of data collection methods. Deliverable 3.1 of the OrganicDataNetwork project. Available at: http://orgprints.org/23010/
Feldmann, C. and Hamm, U. (2014). Report on the methodologies for data quality improvement along the whole supply chain. Deliverable 5.1 of the OrganicDataNetwork project. Available at: http://orgprints.org/27940/
Gerrard, C.L. Vieweger, A., Padel, S. (2012). Report on data collectors: Inventory of data collecting and publishing institutions. Deliverable 2.1 of the OrganicDataNetwork project. Available at: http://orgprints.org/23009/
Gerrard, C.L. Vieweger, A., Alisir, L., Bteich, M.-R. Cottingham, M., Feldman, C., Flechet, D., Husak, J., Losták, M., Moreau, C., Pugliese, P.,Rison, N., Schaack, D., Solfanelli, F., Willer, H., Padel, S. (2014). Report on the experience of conducting the case studies. Deliverable 6.7 of the OrganicDataNetwork project. Available at: http://orgprints.org/27937/
Home, R., Lošťák, M., Stolze, M. (2013a). Report on collection methods: Survey of the organic market data needs of end user. Deliverable 1.1 of the OrganicDataNetwork project. Available at: http://orgprints.org/23193/
Home, R., Vairo, D., Zanoli, R., Stolze, M. (2013b). Proceedings of workshop 1. Deliverable 1.2 of the OrganicDataNetwork project. Unpublished report of the OrganicDataNetwork project.
Home, R., Vairo, D., Zanoli, R., Stolze, M. (2014). Proceedings of workshop 2. Deliverable 1.3 of the OrganicDataNetwork project. Unpublished report of the OrganicDataNetwork project
Willer, H. and Schaack, D. (2014). Final report on compilation of key organic market data. Deliverable 4.3 of the OrganicDataNetwork project. Available at: http://orgprints.org/27939/
Soil Association (2014). Organic Market Report 2014. Bristol: Soil Association. Available at: https://www.soilassociation.org/marketreport
AMI (2014). Markt Bilanz. Öko-Landbau 2014. Bonn: AMI.
Sinab (2014). Bio in cifre 2014. Roma: Del Gallo Editori. Available at: http://www.sinab.it/sites/default/files/share/bio%20in%20cifre%202014.pdf
Agence Bio (2014). La Bio en France. De la production a la consummation. Chapter 4 of “L’agriculture biologique : ses acteurs, ses produits, ses territoires”. Montreui-sous-Bois : Agence Bio. Available at : http://www.agencebio.org/sites/default/files/upload/documents/4_Chiffres/BrochureCC/CC2014_chap4_France.pdf
UZEI (2014). Statistická šetření ekologického zemědělství – Zpráva o trhu s biopotravinami (Statistical surveys of organic farming – A report on the organic food market). Brno, brazen: Uzei. Available at: http://eagri.cz/public/web/file/306458/Zprava_o_trhu_s_biopotravinami_za_rok_2012_final.pdf/
Pugliese, P., Bteich, M.R. Al-Bitar, L. (eds.) (2014). MEDITERRANEAN ORGANIC AGRICULTURE Key Features, recent Facts, latest Figure. Report 2014. Valenzano: MOAN, CIHEAM Bari. ISBN: 2-85352-537-6. Available at: http://moan.iamb.it/index.php?option=com_phocadownload&view=category&id=8&Itemid=94
Potential Impact:
Potential impact and use
The strategy of OrganicDataNetwork was to increase the transparency of the European market for organic food by facilitating the development of better data and information on organic markets and by establishing a long-term, permanent network collaborating on statistical issues regarding organic farming markets.
OrganicDataNetwork provided an effective coordination Centre between private and public bodies and key stakeholder from across Europe who collectively work together to meet the needs of policy makers, farmers, processors wholesalers and other actors involved in organic markets. This multi-stakeholder integration and coordination Centre aims at initiating a learning process between stakeholders in order to improve the data quality as well as the stakeholder’s commitment to a European organic market database.
Specifically, the expected impacts of the project have been contributed to:
1. increase availability of market information and assess the feasibility of national data.
2. increase transparency of the European market for organic food and
3. better coordinate and support data collection on organic production.
The project contributed to increase availability and assess feasibility of national data by
• providing an overview of all relevant public and private bodies and stakeholders involved with the collection, processing and the dissemination of organic market data (WP2);
• reviewing existing systems of data collection and processing for organic markets (WP3).
The project contributed to increase transparency of the European market for organic food by developing proposals for harmonizing data collection and processing methods. The aim was to provide tools for the development of new data collection systems. This was based on
• collecting currently available data on organic markets in Europe and establishing an internal database for data storage and making the data available electronically (WP4)
• developing recommendations for improvement of common methodologies and quality criteria on how to collect and publish organic market data aiming at market transparency and prevention of frauds (WP5).
The project contributed to better coordinate and support data collection by providing relevant recommendations to the EU. These recommendations were based on
• establishing a multi-stakeholders network and dialogue of organic market data actors on EU level (WP1)
• Improving availability and quality of published market report on the organic sector in a number of case study countries (WP6);
• circulating of information to farmers, processors, wholesalers, policy makers, public institutions, market research institutes and other firms and institutions in order to stimulate willingness to participate in future data collection (WP7);
• producing of a Manual and Code of Practice for the initiation and maintenance of good organic market data collection and publication procedures (OrMaCode: ORganic Market data MAnual and CODE of Practice) (WP7).
Main dissemination activities and exploitation of the results
Efficient and dynamic communication and dissemination of the project results to relevant stakeholders and the public is a prerequisite of ensuring an impact in the cohort of relevant recipients. P1, P2, P9 and P13 (UPM, FiBL, BMI and IFOAM EU) organised the communication cycle with many groups of news and information recipients. These groups include media, stakeholders, policy makers, authorities, the European Commission, governments, organic market data collectors, and the scientific community.
It is clear to the OrganicDataNetwork partners that target groups and reception groups are not necessary the same. Target groups are the intended groups of receivers; whilst reception groups are the people that actually receive the information. It takes an effort to attempt making the two groups overlap. One means is viewing and treating the dissemination process as a communication cycle rather than a one-way propagation of information, and this is being undertaken in WP8.
The proliferation and communication of OrganicDataNetwork project results to – and with – the scientific community, and through selected relevant media, is a natural part of the general dissemination effort.
This includes presentations and papers at relevant conferences and publications in conference proceedings, in periodic publications and stakeholder relevant magazines. The project partners have
undertaken a large part of this dissemination effort through a normal part of their academic profession.
In order to ensure that the results of the project are communicated to the public, the relevant stakeholders and the Commission, an efficient and dynamical communication and dissemination of the project results to all relevant stakeholders and the public was undertaken.
Different dissemination and communication tools have been adopted
• project website
• newsletter and press releases
• downloadable project leaflet
• power point presentation
• multimedia presentations
The following activities have been undertaken:
The project website:
• The open part of the website includes general information about the project, and has a variety of target groups ranging from the existing project members and partners, integrated and otherwise interested stakeholders, the news media and other information and communication actors, and the organic data collectors.
• FiBL has adapted the online open-source database Organic Eprints to accommodate project-specific contributions. In the Organic Eprints database, the OrganicDataNetwork project has also been affiliated with the staging of the European Union, and can thus be found by browsing through the browse tree via Country/Organization/Project/European Union/OrganicDataNetwork. Specific attention is given to inform organic data collectors. This is done through brief and concise summaries of important project results. Attention to organic data collectors is also given via the two workshops playing the role as stakeholders.
• The website for external and internal communication, dissemination and project management has served as an archive for project information, such as programmes for public workshops/conferences and press releases.
• Both the internal OrganicDataNetwork workspace (project intranet: The project intranet is open to the members of the OrganicDataNetwork consortium) and the external OrganicDataNetwork website (public website) can be accessed at http://www.organicdatanetwork.net/odn-home.html .
• All OrganicDataNetwork partners has been registered to be able to access the project intranet. Details of how to register have been circulated via email since the site is live.
• The internal OrganicDataNetwork workspace is designed to allow partners to store information, enable collaboration between partners and to disseminate results amongst partners.
• The project website has been used primarily to disseminate OrganicDataNetwork findings to the stakeholders involved with OrganicDataNetwork and to a wider audience.
• A part of the webpage has been used for communication and consultation of the stakeholder panel by means of an electronic meeting room. More specifically, in order to facilitate a discussion on relevant issues and consultation processes an electronic tool for discussions has been set up. This forum is part of the project’s webpage.
Running information and communication with the stakeholders and the public on project issues and results has been ensured by means of newsletters in connection with the publication of deliverables on the public part of the website.
• A database on relevant dissemination events has been produced
• OrganicDataNetwork newsletter: subscription to the newsletter is free.
o The OrganicDataNetwork newsletter is published every six months in English. The OrganicDataNetwork newsletter contains the latest news from the project and includes reports from the progress in the project's work packages.
o The first newsletter has been published in November 2012, the second in June 2013, the third has been published in December 2013, the fourth in September 2014 and the fifth in December 2014.
• IFOAM EU Newsletter: Nine newsletter in IFOAM newsletter have been produced.
o “Forum for discussion and networking on organic market data” IFOAM EU Group newsletter no. 61 March 2013.
o “Organic market data collection in the EU debated”, IFOAM EU Group newsletter no. 62 March 2013 “CAP Special Edition”.
o “Spotlight on the OrganicDataNetwork: interview to Raffaele Zanoli”, IFOAM EU Group newsletter no. 65 July 2013.
o “OrganicDataNetwork”, IFOAM EU Group newsletter no. 66 September 2013.
o "European organic data to be harmonised by OrganicDataNetwork", IFOAM EU Group newsletter no. 68 November 2013.
o "OrganicDataNetwork at BioFach", IFOAM EU Group newsletter no. 71 March 2014.
o "OrganicDataNetwork presents results for better organic data", IFOAM EU Group newsletter no. 74 June 2014.
o "OrganicDataNetwork: manual for better information exchange", IFOAM EU newsletter no. 76 September 2014.
o "OrganicDataNetwork presents results at Organic World Congress", IFOAM EU newsletter no. 78 November 2014.
• ISOFAR newsletter: "Collecting Market Data", ISOFAR newsletter no. 18 July 2014.
Press release
• A complete media list with current list of contact in order to centralize the issuing of press release has built. Press release are translated in 4 languages: Italian, German, French and English. Press releases have been sent to over 100 addresses of specialised press magazines in Europe.
o 1st press release, March 2012 (Launch of OrganicDataNetwork project).
o 2nd press release, April 2013 ((Better organic data for Europe: project launches discussion forum on the problems of compiling organic market data ).
o 3rd press release, October 2013 (Fourth workshop of the EU project OrganicDataNetwork in Montpellier).
o 4th press release, June 2014 (OrganicDataNetwork presents results).
o 5th press release, November 2014 (OrganicDataNetwork: workshop at the Organic World Congress in Istanbul and final project meeting).
The project leaflet has been used for promoting OrganicDataNetwork in different contexts
• two different formats have been realized presented (the final version has been formatted by a professional graphic designer) and can be found in the public web site and in the intranet.
• The project leaflet has been used for promoting OrganicDataNetwork in different contexts:
o 6th European Congress of the IFOAM EU Group (P 13) – Coopenhagen (DK) 17-18/04/2012;
o Meeting at the Organic Research Centre (P 3) which involved a lot of organisations from the UK that collect data (on production but also on the market) - Newbury (UK) 18/07/2012
o Green Week – Berlin (DE) 18/01/2013 (IFOAM EU)
o Sustainable Energy Week – Brussels (BE) 24-28/06/2013 (IFOAM EU)
o Biofach – Nűrnberg (DE) – 13-16/02/2013 (IFOAM EU)
o Natexpo fair – Paris (FR) 20/10/2013 (IFOAM EU)
o Biofach – Nűrnberg (DE) – 12-15/02/2014 (IFOAM EU)
o 8th Organic Congress – Bari (IT) 10-12 September 2014
o 3rd IFOAM EU Organic Processing Conference – Paris (FR) 17-18 November 2014
o 18th IFOAM Organic World Congress – Istanbul (TR) 13-15 October 2014
o Biofach – Nűrnberg (DE) – 11-14/02/2015 (IFOAM EU)
A Powerpoint presentation of the overall project has been produced and is available on the Intranet.
Nine articles (in English, German and French) have been published in the Organic-Market.info online magazine after the project meetings:
• 1st Project meeting in Ancona, March 2012
o Publication in English: 29.03.2012 http://www.organic-market.info/web/Europe/Italy/Data/220/233/0/12085.html
o Publication in German: 30.03.2012 http://www.bio-markt.info/web/Europa/Allgemeines/Europaeisches_Bio-Daten-Projekt_gestartet/84/110/0/12135.html
o Publication in French: 4.4.2012 http://www.bio-marche.info/web/Savoir-faire/projet/362/0/0/12181.html
• 2nd Project workshop at FiBL, Switzerland in October 2012
o Publication in English: 12.11.2012 http://www.organic-market.info/web/Know_How/OrganicDataNetwork/219/0/0/13506.html
o Publication in German: 12.11.2012 http://www.bio-markt.info/web/Europa/Schweiz/OrganicDataNetwork/84/103/0/13531.html
o Publication in French: http://www.bio-marche.info/web/Divers/OrganicDataNetwork_present_les_premi+egrave;res_r+eacute;sultats/393/0/0/15115.html
• 3rd Project workshop at ORC and 1st stakeholder workshop, Great Britain, in March 2013
o Publication in English: 24.04.2013 http://www.organic-market.info/web/Europe/Great_Britain/OrganicDataNetwork/220/230/0/14365.html
o Publication in German: 1.5.2013 http://www.bio-markt.info/web/Fachwissen/Allgemeines/Marktdaten/72/83/0/14504.html
o Publication in French: 3.5.2013 http://www.bio-marche.info/web/Savoir-faire/OrganicDataNetwork/362/0/0/14528.html
• Organic Days Conference in Larnaca, Cyprus (24-26.09.2012)
o Publication in English: 8.10.2012 http://www.organic-market.info/web/Know_How/Conference/219/0/0/13296.html
o Publication in German: 4.10.2012 http://www.bio-markt.info/web/Europa/Allgemeines/Konferenz/84/110/0/13266.html
o Publication in French: 9.10.2012 http://www.bio-marche.info/web/Savoir-faire/Chypre/362/0/0/13299.html
• 4th Project meeting in Montpellier, France, in October 2013
o Publication in English: 21.10.2013 OrganicDataNetwork Develops Methodology for Collecting Organic Data. http://www.organic-market.info/web/Know_How/OrganicDataNetwork/219/0/0/15576.html
o Publication in German: 16.10.2013 OrganicDataNetwork entwickelt Arbeitsmethodik zur Bio-Datenerhebung http://www.bio-markt.info/web/Europa/Frankreich/OrganicDataNetwork/84/89/0/15538.html
o Publication in French: 5.11.2013 OrganicDataNetwork met au point une méthodologie de recueil des données4thProject meeting in Montpellier, in October 2013 http://www.bio-marche.info/web/Savoir-faire/OrganicDataNetwork/362/0/0/15607.html
• 5th Project meeting in Tallinn, Estonia, in May 2014
o Publication in English: 27.6.2014 OrganicDataNetwork presents results http://www.organic-market.info/web/News_in_brief/Studies/OrganicDataNetwork/176/197/0/17027.html
o Publication in German: 26.6.2014 OrganicDataNetwork präsentiert Ergebnisse http://www.bio-markt.info/web/Aktuelle_Kurzmeldungen/Studien/OrganicDataNetwork/15/36/0/17038.html
o Publication in French: 3.7.2014 OrganicDataNetwork: présentation des résultats des travaux http://www.bio-marche.info/web/Nouvelles_en_bref/Salons_+_conferences/OrganicDataNetwork/356/289/0/17028.html
• 6th Project meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, in October 2014
o Publication in English: 20.11.2014 OrganicDataNetwork: workshop at the Organic World Congress in Istanbul and final project meeting http://www.organic-market.info/web/Know_How/OrganicDataNetwork/219/0/0/17830.html
o Publication in German: 26.11.2014 OrganicDataNetwork: Handbuch erscheint in Kürze http://www.bio-markt.info/web/Fachwissen/Allgemeines/OrganicDataNetwork:_Handbuch/72/83/0/17862.html
o Publication in French: 20.11.2014 OrganicDataNetwork: Ultime réunion de travail au Congrès Mondial sur l'agriculture biologique à Istanbul http://www.bio-marche.info/web/Savoir-faire/OrganicDataNetwork/362/0/0/17824.html
• 2nd stakeholder workshop in Bari, Italy, in July 2014
o Publication in English: 6.8.2014 OrganicDataNetwork: discussion with market researchers and representatives of official agencies http://www.organic-market.info/web/Fairs_+_Conferences/General/OrganicDataNetwork/214/313/0/17236.html
o Publication in German: 31.7.2014 OrganicDataNetwork: Diskussion mit Marktforschern und Behördenvertretern http://www.bio-markt.info/web/Europa/Allgemeines/OrganicDataNetwork:_Diskussion_mit_Marktforschern_und_Behoerdenvertretern/84/110/0/17187.html
o Publication in French: 11.8.2014 OrganicDataNetwork : instances administratives et instituts d'études de marché ont débattu à Bari en Italie http://www.bio-marche.info/web/Savoir-faire/OrganicDataNetwork/362/0/0/17256.html
• Final project presentation in Brussels, Belgium, in December 2014
o Publication in English: 12.8.2014 OrganicDataNetwork: Successful presentation in Brussels http://www.organic-market.info/web/News_in_brief/Statistics/Brussels/176/196/0/17984.html
A statement on mandatory data requirements and the revision of the EU Regulation including proposed recommendations, has been made on the results of the 1st European stakeholder workshop. The aim was to provide DG Agri with some input on the revision of the EU Regulation. The OrganicDataNetwork consortium believed that an improvement of current mandatory data provision of the Member States will contribute to both the inspection system and market transparency. Finally, the OrganicDataNetwork consortium recommended that improving data collection should be one action point of a new European Organic Action Plan.
Multimedia presentation have been realized:
• D8.2 Multimedia presentation on Comprehensiveness compatibility of organic market data collection methods has been produced. http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/25742801.
• D8.3 Multimedia presentation on Methodologies for data quality improvement along the whole supply chain http://www.organicdatanetwork.net/1723.html
• D8.4 Multimedia presentation on data collection experiences: case study results http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVgfJZ07Dh8&list=PL1dOum9RiVPguEk5JU6fCFj0b7g6JBsBY
• D8.5 Multimedia presentation on tutorial on the use of the Code of Practice (OrMaCode) http://www.organicdatanetwork.net/odn-videos.html
Other multimedia actions have been undertaken:
• Interactive statistics table
o Statistics collected by the OrganicDataNetwork http://www.organicdatanetwrok.net/odn-statistics.html
• Videos:
o OrganicDataNetwork: Project Overview and main achievemnts http://www.organicdatanetwork.net/odn-videos.html - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hH1sTjuS3XA&list=PL1dOum9RiVPguEk5JU6fCFj0b7g6JBsBY
o OrganicDataNetwork: 2nd stakeholder workshop in Bari – Italy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zny0cmS2TDA&list=PL1dOum9RiVPguEk5JU6fCFj0b7g6JBsBY
o D8.4 Multimedia presentation on data collection experiences: case study results http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVgfJZ07Dh8&list=PL1dOum9RiVPguEk5JU6fCFj0b7g6JBsBY
o D8.5 Multimedia presentation on tutorial on the use of the Code of Practice (OrMaCode) http://www.organicdatanetwork.net/odn-videos.html
Different dissemination activities have been carried out:
• Oral presentation
o In April 18., 2012 an opening presentation on the OrganicDataNetwork project has been presented in the framework of the 6th European Congress of the IFOAM EU Group “Smart change - towards a sustainable CAP. Organic and high nature value farming shaping future food systems” in Copenhagen, Denmark 17.04.2012 to 18.04.2012
o In September 25., 2012 in the framework of Organic Days Conference in Larnaca, Cyprus (24-26.09.2012) one of the conference days was dedicated to organic farming research, and Raffaele Zanoli, coordinator of the OrganicDataNetwork presented the OrganicDataNetwork project.
o In February 13, 2013: Session on Organic Market Data Networks at the BioFachCongress, 2013 in Nuremberg, Germany (13-16 February 2013). The session Organic Market Data Networks is organised by the European-funded SOLINSA project. In the workshop, Raffaele Zanoli, presented an overview of the European situation and the importance of functioning networks to contributing to solving Europe’s organic market data challenges.
o Presentation of FiBL/IFOAM “The organic market in Europe and worldwide” at Tuttofood Fieramilano – Milano (IT) 20/05/2013
o SANA fair 7-10 September 2013, Bologna (Italy) oral presentation of the OrganicDataNetwork project of Università Politecnica delle Marche
o Key note speech: 8th European Organic Congress, 10-12 September 2014, Bari (Italy). Key note speech: Organic market & trade: what current figures don’t say. Università Politecnica delle Marche.
o Organic farming statistics China - Opening Ceremony of the Organic Farming Week in China, 2014. Presentation: Organic Agriculture in Europe: Data and Statistics. FiBL
• Workshop/meeting
o UK organic production and market statistics meeting at ORC – Elm Farm, Newbury (UK) 18 July 2012
o In Feb. 13, 2013 a session has been organised in the framework of the BioFach and BioFach Congress 2013 in Nuremberg, Germany (13-16 February 2013). Title of the session “The European Market for Organic Food - Recent statistics and how to improve data quality”. Location: Nuremburg, Germany. Speakers of the session:
§ Camille Moreau “The French organic sector - Recent data and Methodologies”
§ Susanne Padel “The organic sector in the UK recent trends & Results of a survey of market data collection in Europe”
§ Diana Schaack “News about the organic market in Germany 2012”
§ Corinna Feldmann “The European Market for Organic Food – Assessment of data quality”
§ Burkhard Schaer “A glimpse on organic markets in Eastern Europe”
§ Marco Schlűter
§ Helga Willer “The European Market for Organic Food 2011”
§ Raffaele Zanoli (presenter)
http://orgprints.org/22345/
• 1st Stakeholder workshop on the current situation of data collection methods – Elm Farm, Newbury (UK), 13 March 2013
• Workshop: Tracking the UK organic market, 14-16 November 2013, Cardiff Builth Wells Ruthin (UK), Organic Research Centre and Soil Association.
• Workshop: BioFach and BioFach Congress 2014, 12-15 February 2014, Feb. 13, 2014 a session has been organised “How to improve market data quality? Case study on improved data collection methods in selected countries (DE, CZ, FR, IT, Mediterranean countries, UK)”. Location: Nuremburg, Germany. Speakers of the session:
o UK: Anja Viehweger, ORC, UK
o DE: Diana Schaack, AMI, Germany
o CZ: Michal Lošťák, CULS, Czech Rep.
o FR: Dorian Flechet, Agence Bio, France
o IT: Francesco Solfanelli, UNIVPM, Italy
o Mediterranean: Patrizia Pugliese, CIHEAM-IAMB, Italy
o Raffaele Zanoli (presenter)
• 2nd Stakeholder workshop on finding practical solutions to current organic market data problems – IAMB Bari (IT), 10-11 July 2014
• 18th IFOAM Organic World Congress, 13-15 October 2014, Istanbul (Turkey): Workshop: Università Politecnica delle Marche, workshop on Organic market data collection and publication procedures: the Code of Practice of the OrganicDataNetwork (OrMaCode)
o Introduction to the workshop (Raffaele Zanoli - OrganicDatanetwork coordinator)
o The OrganicDataNetwork online database and the challenge of presenting European market data in a common database (Helga Willer, FiBL - Switzerland- Diana Schaack, AMI - Germany)
o Improving organic market data: results of six case studies (Susanne Padel, ORC - UK)
o OrMaCode: the Code of Practice and the future of the organic market data collection network (Raffaele Zanoli, Università Politecnica delle Marche - Italy)
• Workshop: ORC Producer’s Conference – 26 November 2014, Birmingham (UK), organization of a workshop “Tracking the UK organic market”.
• Brussel Workshop: The workshop presents the results and recommendations from OrganicDataNetwork project, 3 December 2014, Brussels (Belgium), How to improve the organic data collection system:
o How to improve the organic data collection system - Results of the OrganicDataNetwork project, Raffaele Zanoli, Università Politecnica delle Marche, UPM, Italy
o The Case Studies of the OrganicDataNetwork, Susanne Padel, Organic Research Centre, ORC, United Kingdom
o Joint OrganicDataNetwork project database to collate organic market data, Helga Willer, Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL, Switzerland
o Presentation of the OrganicDataNetwork's Code of Good Practice for the collection of Organic Market Data (OrMaCode):
§ OrMaCode Organic market data Manual & Code of Practice - Manual and code of practice for the initiation and maintenance of good organic market data collection and publication procedures, Raffaele Zanoli (Università Politecnica delle Marche, UPM, Italy)
§ OrMaCode – different data collection approaches, Diana Schaack (Agricultural Market Information Company, AMI, Germany)
§ Quality and consistency in organic data, Ulrich Hamm (University of Kassel, UKS, Germany)
§ How to improve the organic data collection system - Final Project Recommendation, Raffaele Zanoli, Università Politecnica delle Marche, UPM, Italy
• BioFach Congress 2015, 11-14 February 2015, Feb. 12, 2015 a session has been organised “The European market for organic food”. Location: Nuremburg, Germany. Speakers of the session:
o Prof. Raffaele Zanoli, DIIGA - Università Politecnica delle Marche, Italy: Moderator
o Dr. Helga Willer, Forschungsinstitut für biologischen Landbau (FiBL), Switzerland: European market data
o Diana Schaack, Agrarmarkt Informations-Gesellschaft mbH (AMI), Germany: The German market
o Dr. Susanne Padel, The Organic Research Centre, UK: The UK market
o Nathalie Rison Alabert, L'Agence Bio, France: The French market
• Paper in proceedings
o Schaack D. and Willer H. (2014). The organic market in Europe results of a survey of the OrganicDataNetwork project, in Rahmann G & Aksoy U (Eds.) Proceedings of the 4th ISOFAR Scientific Conference. Building Organic Bridges, at the Organic World Congress 2014, 13-15 Oct., Istanbul, TR; Thuenen Report nr 20, vol 2. Heinrich Von Thünen-Institut: Braunschweig (DE).1015-1018.
o Feldmann C. and Hamm U. (2014). Searching for inconsistencies in organic market data – a guide on how to apply quality checks for statistics (poster), in Rahmann G & Aksoy U (Eds.) Proceedings of the 4th ISOFAR Scientific Conference. Building Organic Bridges, at the Organic World Congress 2014, 13-15 Oct., Istanbul, TR; Thuenen Report nr 20, vol 1. Heinrich Von Thünen-Institut: Braunschweig (DE).359-362.
o Gerrard C. et al. (2014). Results of surveys of organic market data collectors and end users in Europe (poster), in Rahmann G & Aksoy U (Eds.) Proceedings of the 4th ISOFAR Scientific Conference. Building Organic Bridges, at the Organic World Congress 2014, 13-15 Oct., Istanbul, TR; Thuenen Report nr 20, vol 4. Heinrich Von Thünen-Institut: Braunschweig (DE).1139-1142.
o Schaack D. and Willer H. (2015). Erhebung zu Bio-Marktdaten in Europa Datenlücken, Klassifizierungen, Definitionen und Qualitätschecks, in 13. Wissenschaftstagung Ökologischer Landbau, 17.-20.3.2015 Eberswalde, Germany. Hochschule für nachhaltige Entwicklung in Eberswalde: Eberswalde (DE). In press
• Article in books
o The 14th edition of "The World of Organic Agriculture" was launched at BioFach Congress 2013 in Nürnberg, Germany (13-16 February 2013). Willer, Helga; Lernoud, Julia and Kilcher, Lukas (Eds.) The World of Organic Agriculture - Statistics and Emerging Trends 2013. Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) and International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), Frick and Bonn.
A number of project members of the OrganicDataNetwork have contributed to the book with results and findings from the project:
§ Willer Helga (2013). Organic farming in Europe 2012, in Willer Helga, Lernoud Julia and Lukas Kilcher (eds). The World of Organic Agriculture. Statistics and Emerging Trends 2013. FiBL and IFOAM, Frick and Bonn, 208-214
§ Schaack, Diana; Lernoud, Julia; Padel, Susanne and Willer, Helga (2013) The Organic Market in Europe 2011 - Nine Percent Increase Compared with 2010. In: Willer, Helga; Lernoud, Julia and Kilcher, Lukas (Eds.) The World of Organic Agriculture - Statistics and Emerging Trends 2013. Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) and International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), Frick and Bonn, pp. 224-229. http://orgprints.org/23194/
§ Zanoli, Raffaele (2013) Improving European Organic Market Information - The OrganicDataNetwork Project. In: Willer, Helga; Lernoud, Julia and Kilcher, Lukas (Eds.) The World of Organic Agriculture - Statistics and Emerging Trends 2013. Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) and International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), Frick and Bonn, pp. 230-321. http://orgprints.org/23195/
§ Home, Robert; Stolze, Matthias and Losták, Michal (2013) Survey of the Demands of End Users in Europe for Organic Market Data. In: Willer, Helga; Lernoud, Julia and Kilcher, Lukas (Eds.) The World of Organic Agriculture - Statistics and Emerging Trends 2013. FiBL-IFOAM Report. Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) and International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), Frick and Bonn, pp. 232-233. http://orgprints.org/23193/
o The 15th edition of "The World of Organic Agriculture – Statistics and Emerging trends 2014" was launched at BioFach 2014 (February 2014) at Nürnberg Messe, Nuremberg, Germany (Willer, Helga; Lernoud, Julia (Eds.) The World of Organic Agriculture - Statistics and Emerging Trends 2014. Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) and International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), Frick and Bonn). A number of project members of the OrganicDataNetwork have contributed to the book with results and findings from the project:
§ Willer Helga (2014). Organic farming in Europe, in Willer Helga and Lenoud Julia (eds). The World of Organic Agriculture. Statistics and Emerging Trends 2014. FiBL and IFOAM, Frick and Bonn, 193-199
§ Willer Helga, Schaack Diana, Schlatter Bernanrd and Lernoud Julia (2014). Europe: current statistics, in Willer Helga and Lernoud Julia (eds). The World of Organic Agriculture. Statistics and Emerging Trends 2014. FiBL and IFOAM, Frick and Bonn, 200-207
§ Schaack Diana, Lernoud Julia, Schlatter Bernanrd and Willer Helga, (2014). The Organic Market in Europe 2012, in Willer Helga and Lenoud Julia (eds). The World of Organic Agriculture. Statistics and Emerging Trends 2014. FiBL and IFOAM, Frick and Bonn, 207-214
o The 16th edition of "The World of Organic Agriculture – Statistics and Emerging trends 2015" was launched at BioFach 2015 (11 February 2015) at Nürnberg Messe, Nuremberg, Germany (Willer, Helga; Lernoud, Julia (Eds.) The World of Organic Agriculture - Statistics and Emerging Trends 2015. Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) and International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), Frick and Bonn). A number of project members of the OrganicDataNetwork have contributed to the book with results and findings from the project:
§ Willer Helga and Schaack Diana (2015). Organic Farming and Market Development in Europe, in Willer Helga and Lenoud Julia (eds). The World of Organic Agriculture. Statistics and Emerging Trends 2015. FiBL and IFOAM, Frick and Bonn, 181-214
§ Pugliese Patrizia, Bteich Marie Reine and Al-Bitar Lina (2015). Organic Agriculture in the Mediterranean Region: updates, in Willer Helga and Lenoud Julia (eds). The World of Organic Agriculture. Statistics and Emerging Trends 2015. FiBL and IFOAM, Frick and Bonn, 216-224
o Willer H., Schaack D., Bteich M.R. (2014). Growth Trends in European Organic Food and Agriculture, in Meredith Stephen, Willer Helga (Eds.). Organic in Europe, Prospects and Developments. (Chapter 5), IFOAM EU Group: Brussels (BE). 56-95.
o Willer H. (2015). Organic agriculture in Europe – current status with a focus on feed crops and livestock numbers, in Früh, Barbara; Schlatter, Bernhard; Isensee, Anne; Maurer, Veronika and Willer, Helga (2014) Report on organic protein availability and demand in Europe = D1.2 of the CORE Organic project (ICOPP). FiBL: Frick (CH). 14-27.
• Scientific Monographs
o Willer, Helga; Lernoud, Julia and Kilcher, Lukas (Eds.) The World of Organic Agriculture - Statistics and Emerging Trends 2013. 14th Edition. Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) and International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), Frick and Bonn.
o Willer, Helga; Lernoud, Julia (Eds.) The World of Organic Agriculture - Statistics and Emerging Trends 2015. 16th Edition. Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) and International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), Frick and Bonn
o Willer, Helga; Lernoud, Julia (Eds.) The World of Organic Agriculture - Statistics and Emerging Trends 2014. 15th Edition. Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) and International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), Frick and Bonn
o Soil Association (2014). Organic Market Report 2014, Soil Association, Bristol, UK
o AMI (2014). AMI Markt Bilanz, Oko-Landbau 2014, AMI GmbH, Bonn, DE
o Hrabalova Andrea, Wollmuthova Pavla (2014). Statistická aetYení ekologického zemdlství Zpráva o trhu s biopotravinami, UZEI, Brno, CZ
o De Matthaeis Teresa, Del Bravo Fabio, Raeli Maurizio, Giardina Francesco, Romeo Marta, Crescenzi Fabiana, De Ruvo Enrico, Maria Ferrari Giovanna, Giuliano Antonella, Solfanelli Francesco (2014). Bio in cifre 2014, Del Gallo Editori D.G.E. Roma, IT
o Agence Bio (2014). La Bio en France – de la production a la consommation, Carnet 4 de l’Agricolture biologique: ses acteurs, ses produits, ses territorires (Chiffres Clés), Agence Bio, Montreuil-Sous-Bois, FR
o Pugliese Patrizia, Bteich Marie Reine, Al-Bitar Lina (eds) (2014). Mediterranean organic agriculture – Key Features, recent Facts, latest Figures, Report 2014, MOAN, CIHEAM Bari, Valenzano (Bari), IT
o Feldmann Corinna, Gerrard Catherine, Hamm Ulrich, Home Robert, Losták Michal, Padel Susanne, Schaack Diana, Stolze Matthias, Vairo Daniela, Vieweger Anja, Willer Helga, Zanoli Raffaele (2014). Data Network for better European market information – Synthesis report . OrganicDataNetwork, Ancona (IT)
o Zanoli Raffaele (2014). Improving European organic market information – Recommendations from the OrganicDataNetwork project. OrganicDataNetwork, Ancona (IT)
o Gerrard L. Catherine, Padel Susanne, Lampkin Nic (2014). English Organic Producer Survey 2013. Report no. 2/2014. The Organic Research Centre: Newbury (UK).
• Posters
o Feldmann, Corinna and Hamm, Ulrich (2013) Organic data network: Harmonising organic market data collection in Europe. Poster at: 53. Jahrestagung der Gesellschaft für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften des Landbau (Gewisola 53rd annual conference) 25-27 September 2013, Berlin (Germany). 369-371
o Feldmann Corinna and Hamm Ulrich (2014). Searching for inconsistencies in organic market data – a guide on how to apply quality checks for statistics (poster), in Rahmann G & Aksoy U (Eds.) Proceedings of the 4th ISOFAR Scientific Conference. Building Organic Bridge, at the Organic World Congress 2014, 13-15 Oct., Istanbul, TR; Thuenen Report nr 20, vol. 1.
o Gerrard Catherine L., Home Robert, Vieweger Anja, Stolze Matthias, Padel Susanne (2014). Results of surveys of organic market data collectors and end users in Europe (poster), in Rahmann G & Aksoy U (Eds.) Proceedings of the 4th ISOFAR Scientific Conference. Building Organic Bridge, at the Organic World Congress 2014, 13-15 Oct., Istanbul, TR; Thuenen Report nr 20, vol. 4.
• Lecture
o “Data collection on certified Organic Agriculture Worldwide”, lecture at the University of Hohenheim (DE) on May 14, 2013 by FiBL. Type of audience: scientific community
• Promotion of the project at the following events
o Advisory Group Organic Farming meeting – Brussels (BE) 11/04/2013
o Organic Marketing Forum – Warsaw (PL) 17/06/2013
o Sustainable rural development training days – Dublin (IE) 24/04/2013
o Specialist Group Organic Processing (SGOP) meeting – Warsaw (PL) 17/05/2013
o 4th International Conference on Organic Agriculture Sciences (ICAOS) – Eger (Hungary) 9 October 2013
o Natura Food Fair – Warsaw (PL) 12 October 2013
o 18th IFOAM Organic World Congress 2014 – Istanbul (TR), 13-15 October 2014
o BioFach Congress 2013 – Nueremberg (DE), 13-16 February 2013.
o BioFach Congress 2014 – Nueremberg (DE), 12-15 February 2014
o BioFach Congress 2015 – Nuerember (DE), 11-13 February 2015
• Article in Bullettin
o Organic Research Centre bulletin no. 113, Autumn 2013 - Survey of EU organic market data collectors
o Organic Research Centre bulletin no. 116, Summer 2014 - English producer survey
o Organic Grower magazine, summer 2014 - English producer survey (ORC)
• Online publications, presentations and deliverables of the OrganicDataNetwork project at OrganicEprints (http://www.orgprints.org/view/projects/eu-OrganicDataNetwork.html)
List of Websites:
Public website address:http://www.organicdatanetwork.net
Contact details:
Prof. Dr. Raffaele Zanoli
D3A - Università Politecnica delle Marche
Tel.: +39 071 2204929
Fax: +39 071 2204474
zanoli@agrecon.univpm.it
The OrganicDataNetwork project aimed to increase the transparency of the European market for organic food through better availability of market intelligence about the European organic sector in order to meet the needs of policy makers and market actors involved in organic markets. The project was a major effort to establish a long-term permanent network of stakeholders engaged in organic market data collection and analysis.
To achieve its aims, the project team brought together stakeholders and bodies from 11 countries that collected, published and analysed data on the sector. It was collecting and classifying the data, as well as investigating methodologies to evaluate data consistency, with particular focus on trade flow information.
More specifically, the project provided an overview of all relevant public and private organic data collectors; established a multi-stakeholder organic market data network of public and private bodies in the EU and Associated Countries; collected currently available data on organic markets in Europe, and produced a European database after having checked their reliability and consistency; improved the availability and the quality of published market report on the organic sector in a number of case study countries; organised two European stakeholders workshop on the topic and initiated an electronic forum (Organic Data Forum) for information exchange among stakeholders through the project's website; laid the foundations for a long-term collaboration on organic market data collection; developed a set of practical recommendations on data collection and dissemination and produced a Manual and Code of Practice for the initiation and maintenance of good organic market data collection and publication procedures (OrMaCode: ORganic Market data MAnual and CODE of Practice); closely co-operated with the European Commission and statistical offices of Member States on all levels.
OrganicDataNetwork provided an effective coordination Centre between private and public bodies and key stakeholder from across Europe who collectively worked together to meet the needs of policy makers, farmers, processors wholesalers and other actors involved in organic markets. This multi-stakeholder integration and coordination Centre aims at initiating a learning process between stakeholders in order to improve the data quality as well as the stakeholder’s commitment to a European organic market database.
The project results show that a network for better European organic market information is an ongoing, long-term permanent venture between all stakeholders who are interested in organic market statistics, rather than a one-time, three-year research project.
Enhancing the availability and quality of organic market statistics requires greater collaboration among stakeholders, which is required for better decision making at both the micro level (i.e. the firms) and the macro level (i.e. the governments).
Detailed recommendations for significant improvements in the availability and quality of statistical information on the organic market resulting from the work carried out in the OrganicDataNetwork project have been set out.
By harmonising data collection, facilitating access to relevant information and developing tools for new data collection systems, the project provided invaluable support for the organic food market across and beyond Europe.
Project Context and Objectives:
In the rapidly changing global environment, the organic sector has now developed to the point where the need for improvements to statistical data is becoming particularly pressing. Market intelligence and other forms of information are a matter of primary importance for the organic sector, and it is necessary to guarantee its independence, correctness and transparency. The consequences of failing to address this are potentially significant, in both political and financial terms.
Currently in Europe:
• consumers are spending more than 20 billion Euros annually on organic food, and demand is still growing at a higher rate than in other food sectors, even in the context of an economic slowdown;
• policy makers are investing millions of Euros annually in organic farming support payments and other rural development policies that benefit the organic sector;
• more than 300,000 production businesses are engaged with the organic sector in Europe. In addition to these, there are at least 40,000 processors and importers, as well as further players, such as retailers, wholesalers, inspection bodies, and consultants.
Therefore, the consequences linked to the risks of making incorrect decisions on the basis of poor statistical information can no longer be ignored. Also, the potential for future expansion, particularly in the emerging economies of central and eastern Europe, must be taken into account.
The importance of better data
In the world of ‘Big Data’, where increasing amounts of data are needed to make sound private and public decisions, data quality problems can create significant economic and political inefficiencies. Data quality should not be considered as only a problem of reducing sampling errors and other measurement errors. Recently, statistical data quality has been interpreted as continuous improvements to the data production process, by introducing the concept of Current Best Method (Filippucci et al., 2000). In general, however, as Karr et al. (2005) pointed out, "Data quality merits more attention from the statistical community, especially among academics. Faculty engagement in the problem has been virtually nil."
An attempt to introduce data quality issues with respect to organic market data was made by Feldmann and Hamm (2013, 2014). Indeed, a broader concept of data quality is needed to put more attention on the whole process, from data collection to data processing and analysis.
According to the European Statistics Code of Practice (Eurostat, 2011), market data need to be: accurate and reliable, timely and punctual, coherent and comparable, and easily accessible. At the same time, the resources allocated to data collection need to be adequate. Organic market data does not yet fulfil any of these criteria.
Improvement is possible, although the organisations involved in developing, producing and disseminating organic market data need to invest more resources. In general, data quality need more networking and funding at national and EU levels.
The principles set out in the “OrMaCode Code of Practice” are intended to help in the achievement of a higher level of data quality in developing, producing and disseminating organic market data.
Quality issues and quality checks
Many stakeholders appear to have the wrong impression: that organic market data are relatively available and of good quality. There are a discrete number of data collectors, and organic market data reports are published in some countries, using national or international data. These might give the false impression that the current state-of-the-art of organic market data production and dissemination is relatively advanced.
Indeed, although data are indeed produced and disseminated, there are too many data gaps. Also, as described below, the overall reliability and quality of these data remain relatively poor.
Organic market data availability and quality are still poor
Despite the growth of the organic market, we still have little information about it.
Reliable market data and official statistics of the organic market are available for only in few European countries. Data are collected and published by various bodies, including national authorities, private companies and research institutions, and different methodological approaches are applied. The results often show contradictory trends, which can lead to very different interpretations of the market situation. At the same time, the majority of potential end users have limited access to reliable market-related information. In some cases, this can lead to incorrect entrepreneurial decisions, and this carries the risk of operators leaving the organic sector because they are not aware of opportunities in the market.
Organic market data quality is also relatively poor. Data quality is defined as "the capability of data to be used effectively, economically, and rapidly to inform and evaluate decisions" (Karr et al., 2005). Data of poor quality can lead to incorrect or inefficient decisions, at both the governmental (e.g. policy-making) and enterprise (e.g. investment, supply or sales strategies) levels. In academic research and policy evaluation, the use of poor quality data can result in incorrect theories or other biased scientific outcomes.
Data quality is highly context specific: a database can be adequate for one purpose, but not for another, which renders it even more difficult to evaluate the data quality. One of the key principles of data quality management is user orientation (Eurostat, 2002). The types of users are, however, manifold, and the relationships between the data users and data producers are very complex. It is probably impossible to make the data adequate for all purposes, but bearing in mind which stakeholders are the most relevant data users for any specific data type can help to address this problem.
Also, data quality can be assessed according to various dimensions and metrics. The OrganicDataNetwork project did not explore this issue in detail, although it is useful to report the following attributes of data quality (Karr at al., 2005):
• Objectivity: whether disseminated information is accurate, reliable, and unbiased.
• Utility: usefulness of the information for anticipated purposes of the intended audience.
• Integrity: protection of information from unauthorised, unanticipated, or unintentional falsification or corruption.
In what follows, the various challenges that are currently experienced when collecting, processing and disseminating organic market data, are listed.
Lack of data and incomplete data
In most countries, only very basic data are reported, such as the data for certified organic farms, land areas, and livestock numbers. Currently, reliable detailed market data do not exist in most European countries; e.g. production volumes, and data on the domestic market, international trade and consumer prices. In some European countries, there are only rough estimates of the levels of production and consumption. When there are survey data available, the coverage is often incomplete, and this can result in biased statistics.
Lack of common definitions and classification/aggregation rules across countries
There is a lack of standardised and harmonised procedures to ensure higher data quality. Almost every country uses different definitions, nomenclature and classification, and only few use the international classification (Denmark uses the UN’s Standard International Trade Classification [SITC]; the Czech Republic uses the CPA codes of EUROSTAT). As a consequence, country-to-country data comparisons are very difficult. In countries, where the domestic market data are collected from panel data, usually the nomenclature and classification of the major market research companies are used, and these vary between countries and can change from one year to the next; thus comparisons here are also difficult.
Data is often aggregated, and a lot of the detail within the data gets lost in this aggregation. In many cases, only an incomplete breakdown by crop or product is available, and this can make the data of little use for some purposes (e.g. farmer decisions). What makes things worse is that there is no harmonised way of aggregating these data. For example, in Switzerland, Bio Suisse groups breakfast cereals with pet food. In addition, for retail scanner data, the aggregation can change from one year to the next, so that meaningful times series comparisons become impossible.
With reference to non-standardised definitions, a good example is that of livestock data. The indicator used is “the head count”, which has been interpreted in different countries as “average stock per year”, “livestock at a given day” (e.g. 1 May in some German Laender), “number of places” (in stables), or “animals slaughtered”. These differences in the definition make country-to-country comparisons for livestock more or less impossible.
Other issues
Exchange rate fluctuations can make country-to-country data comparisons very difficult. Some data are based on expert estimates, but often there are no checks to validate these data by other sources.
Previous and running EU projects involved in improving organic market data collection system
EU research projects like Organic Farming and the CAP (FAIR3-CT96-1794), OMIaRD (QLK5-2000-01124), EU-CEE-OFP (QLK5-2002-00917) and CERTCOST (KBBE-2007-207727) have shown that in many countries, regional or national data gathering takes place. The FP5 Concerted Action ‘European Information System for Organic Markets’ (EISfOM - QLK5-2002-02400) was fully devoted to the building of a framework for reporting valid and reliable data for the European organic sector, to meet the needs of all of the stakeholders involved in organic markets. EISfOM concluded with a list of 24 recommendation that addressed: (i) improvements in the current situation of data collecting and processing systems; (ii) innovations in data collection and processing systems; and (iii) integration of conventional and organic data collection and processing systems.
Building on the outcomes of these projects, OrganicDataNetwork (FP7-KBBE-2011-5) aims to enhance the transparency of the European organic food market, through better availability of market statistics in the sector, while also considering the needs of policymakers and key players in organic markets.
This overall objective has been broken up into key objectives:
1. Bring together stakeholders and bodies actively involved in organic market data collection and publication and review the needs of end-users with respect to organic market data
2. Provide an inventory of relevant private and public bodies that are involved with the collection, processing and dissemination of organic market data in Europe
3. Classify existing methods of organic market data collection and develop criteria for quality improvement of available data
4. Collect, store in a common format and provide access to currently available data on organic markets in Europe
5. Develop and test common methodologies to assess the consistency of national data, with special reference to available data on trade flows
6. Test innovative approaches to improve the data collection and market reporting in six case study regions
7. Disseminate project results and develop recommendations including a code of practice for organic market data collection and network beyond the conclusion of the project
The project brought together stakeholders and bodies from 11 countries that collect, publish and use data in the sector. For the first time, existing secondary sources of data on European organic markets were collated and cross-checked; limited data collection was attempted, to improve the current organic market data reporting in six case studies.
References
Eurostat (2002). Quality in the European statistical system – The way forward. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities.
Eurostat (2011). European Statistics Code of Practice. Luxembourg: Eurostat. Aavailable at: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_OFFPUB/KS-32-11-955/EN/KS-32-11-955-EN.PDF
Feldmann, C. and Hamm, U. (2013). Report on collection methods: Classification of data collection methods. Deliverable 3.1 of the OrganicDataNetwork project. Available at: http://orgprints.org/23010/
Feldmann, C. and Hamm, U. (2014). Report on the methodologies for data quality improvement along the whole supply chain. Deliverable 5.1 of the OrganicDataNetwork project. Available at: http://orgprints.org/27940/
Filippucci, C., Buldo, B. and Napoli, V. (2000). La valutazione della qualità nella fase di rilevazione. Proceedings of XL Riunione scientifica della Società Italiana di Statistica. Firenze 26-28 Aprile 2000. Roma: Centro Stampa Istat.
Karr A.F. Sanil A.P. Banks D.L. (2005). Data Quality: A Statistical Perspective. NISS Technical Report Nr. 151. Research Triangle Park, NC: National Institute of Statistical Sciences.
Project Results:
1 - Introduction
The objective of this report is to provide an overview of the results that are emerging from the studies carried out in the OrganicDataNetwork project. The OrganicDataNetwork project was a major effort that involved 15 institutes from 10 countries, and it was aimed at creating a data network for better European organic market information. In this report, we present the selected important results from this project, which we believe will be of interest to stakeholders involved in organic data collection and dissemination.
This report aggregates information from the single study package reports, to provide an overall synthesis of the results. Therefore, we have freely made use of sentences, paragraphs and text passages of the published OrganicDataNetwork reports. In some cases the text has been revised and adapted to serve the purpose of this report, while in others it is reproduced in full here. To achieve greater readability, we have not referenced these texts and these changes in detail.
In addition, specific recommendations based on these facts, figures and interpretations have been developed. Those recommendations carry the lessons learned during the OrganicDataNetwork project. The aim is to set out the detailed recommendations for significant improvements in the availability and quality of statistical information on the organic market resulting from the work carried out in the OrganicDataNetwork Project.
This synthesis report is structured as follows: after this short Introduction, Chapter 2 covers the inventory of organic market data collectors that was performed at the beginning of the project; Chapter 3 deals with the different existing organic market data collection methods in Europe; Chapter 4 focuses on the needs and the demand for information by end users of organic market data; Chapter 5 summarises the key challenges that need to be considered when presenting European market data in a common database; Chapter 6 provides a discussion of the methodologies for data quality improvement; Chapter 7 summarises the lessons learned from the stakeholder involvement throughout the project; Chapter 8 summarises the results of the case studies performed during the project, which were aimed at improving upon the current data collection systems; Chapter 9 gives our final conclusions and recommendations.
2 - Inventory of organic market data collectors
Authors: C. Feldmann , C.L. Gerrard, U. Hamm, S. Padel, A. Vievjeger
Despite the growth of the organic market in Europe, in most countries only very basic statistics about this sector exist. Individual country governments collect data on the number of certified organic holdings, organic and in-conversion land areas, livestock numbers, production volumes and numbers of operators (producers, processors, importers). These are published nationally and by Eurostat. Market statistics such as data on consumption, retail sales, international trade and prices are lacking in most countries. Data and market information are needed by members of the organic supply-chain to inform investment decisions, and by policy makers to calibrate measures targeted to the sector.
To understand the availability of data on the organic market and to assist in improving data quality and availability, it is necessary to be aware of the organisations that currently collect, analyse and/or disseminate such data across Europe and the methods that they use. Results of a survey carried out within the EU27, EFTA, the rest of Europe and the Mediterranean are reported in this section. 600 organisations were contacted with a response rate of just under 30%. In addition, 14 responses were collected in a second round telephone survey among additional key data collectors.
Based on an overview of all relevant public and private bodies and stakeholders that are involved with the collection, processing and dissemination of organic market data in Europe, the market data collection effort seems to be very varied across Europe and it was found that not all data that are collected are also published.
According to the OrganicDataNetwork survey on data collectors (Gerrard et al., 2012), the data types most commonly collected are data on land area, followed by production volume; whereas production value is much less commonly collected. This emphasis on area and production volume data is not surprising within the EU, as it is a legal requirement of the organic regulations to collect such data and provide them to Eurostat. However, even with the legal requirement to collect data on production volume and detailed area and livestock data, there are many countries that do not fulfil this requirement in full. Price data and retail data are much less commonly collected than area and production volume data. Export data are more commonly collected in non-European countries than in the EU, perhaps reflecting a higher importance to their economies. Import data particularly with regard to import into the EU and trade within the EU are rare within data collection. The product categories most often represented in the surveyed market data collections are meat, milk and dairy products, fruit and vegetables. Data on non-food products are not often collected.
The main focus of most of the organizations involved in market data collection and publishing, covered under the OrganicDataNetwork survey on market data collectors, is data analysis, followed by collection and dissemination. Some organizations, however, may also have more than one focus.
According to the OrganicDataNetwork survey of market data collectors, data collection methods show a varied picture (Feldmann and Hamm 2012). Surveys are a commonly used method across all data types, but, in general, methods vary with the type of data collected. Respondents report that censuses are often used to collect production data and, in a few instances, other types of data such as international trade data. For retail data and consumer price data, consumer/household panels or retail panels (scanner data) are likely to be used, whereas catering sales data are collected by surveys. Import and export data are generally collected using surveys and sometimes censuses but some reliance is also placed on expert estimates. Expert estimates are also used across most of the country categories: many organisations compile their data through expert estimates.
The data analysis carried out in the different countries (across all of the categories) tends to be either just compilation or basic statistical analyses (such as averages, and ranges). However, types of analyses vary with the type of data collected. Other more advanced methods include time-series analysis, comparison to averages or totals, and checking for plausibility against other data.
With respect to publication, respondents reported that data other than areas, livestock numbers and production volumes are rarely published. Of all the data types, area, livestock numbers and operator data are most likely to be freely available. Other data may be available at a cost but, if so, are usually available to data providers for free or at lower cost. The largest proportion of European organic market data is collected annually and published annually, with the exception of consumer and farm level price data, which are collected more often and often published on a weekly basis. This reflects the great importance of timeliness, with regard to price data. The most common way of publishing the data is via the internet, through reports or in statistical tables.
3 - Classification and evaluation of existing organic market data collection methods in Europe
Authors: C. Feldmann, U. Hamm
High quality organic market data, which is desirable and important for both economic and societal reasons, depends on the quality of statistical processes. Without a proper approach to data quality assessment, institutions involved in data collection cannot improve their process further. At the same time, data quality assessment is an important prerequisite when there is a need to inform the end users about the potential use of data. Despite the growth of the organic market, the availability of good quality data on this market is still problematic. Until now the comparability and consistency of organic market data in some countries has been problematic, because data collection methods are not harmonised. In some cases, this can lead to incorrect entrepreneurial decisions, which in turn might result in lower market efficiency.
To improve the organic market data collection practice in Europe, it is of primary importance to deal with the definition of quality criteria for data collection and compilation methods, the evaluation of existing data collection methods, and the relative assessment of data quality. In addition, guidelines for statistical work in the organic market sector are required to establish a common basis for the collation of comprehensive European statistics for this growing sector.
Data quality dimensions (relevance, accuracy, comparability, coherence, accessibility and clarity, timeliness and punctuality), as defined by the European Statistical System (ESS), were adapted to the research objective for the evaluation of organisations’ statistical work. Factors determining the performance in each data quality dimension were identified and evaluated to assess existing data collection methods in Europe and to identify “best practice” examples.
Examples for “best practice” identified among European organic market data collectors can function as a reference system for those organisations that see the need to improve their data collection and processing approaches. An overview of the “best practice” examples, described by quality dimension, are summarised as follows. The following organisations were chosen: the German Agricultural Market Information Company (AMI) and the French Agence Bio that collect and publish a wide range of data, the Bio Suisse and UK’s Soil Association that collect and publish data on retail sales, Statistics Denmark that collects and publishes data on retail sales, exports and imports and Eurostat that compiles data from the Member States on areas, livestock numbers, production volumes, and operator numbers and publishes them in its online database and in regular reports. Most of these organisations receive public funding for their data production activities.
Relevance. Both, the AMI and Agence Bio, follow an approach in which the focus of the organisation and its statistical work correspond to the purpose for which the data is collected and the data use. The sources from which they receive their data are consistent with regard to the type of data the organisations require and the data sources are appropriate for the data uses. The samples sizes are large enough to ensure a solid basis for the type of analysis applied by the organisations. Furthermore, the AMI has long-term experience in organic data collection and has thus gathered substantial knowhow in terms of interaction among all the parameters relevant for consistent data collection and processing. Both organisations applied advanced statistics to achieve results that are useful for the end users of their data. Altogether, their approaches rank highly on the parameters associated to relevance.
Accuracy. As explained above the approaches followed by AMI and Agence Bio are both very consistent with regard to ‘data source’ and ‘type of analysis’. The data collection methods used comply with the data sources used by AMI and Agence Bio and lay the foundation for accurate analyses. Due to the successful interplay of data sources, collection methods, and the types of data analyses the performance of both organisations is ranked high for the quality dimension accuracy. Furthermore, both, AMI and Agence Bio, apply quality checks to search for inconsistencies and errors in their datasets. Thereby they ensure accurate results for the end users of their statistical outputs.
Comparability. Once again the performances of AMI and Agence Bio offer examples of best practice. While the data collection methods comply with the choice and size of the sample, the data of these two organisations are also disaggregated by certain regions within the country to allow for comparisons on a national level.
Coherence. Soil Association, Agence Bio, and AMI reveal a good performance in this dimension, which is very closely related to the dimension of comparability. A coherent approach is characterised by the use of a data collection method, which is wisely chosen to meet the requirements of the data sources, the sample, the data use, and the final analyses. Thereby the organisations achieve a comprehensive approach, which leads to comparable and consistent results.
Accessibility/clarity. Eurostat, Statistics Denmark, Soil Association and Agence Bio all represent “best practice” examples for this data quality dimension. The “best practice” examples are characterised by a good availability of data which is easy to understand and user-friendly. Due to the different formats of publication offered by the organisations the accessibility is enhanced for the data users. Furthermore, most of the data is publicly available without any charges and the conditions of data provision may be reflected in the clarity of the data that is available to the end user.
Timeliness/punctuality. The organisations, AMI and Bio Suisse, both follow approaches in which the frequency of publication and the frequency of collection happen in the same time intervals. The timely and punctual collection and publication of data improve its quality and the satisfaction of the end user concerning the statistical output.
4 - The market data end-users’ needs and demand
Authors: R. Home, M. Lošťák , M. Stolze
The prioritisation of the areas to be targeted for data improvements requires an understanding of the demands of end-users of organic market data. The wishes of these end users are particularly important since they are also the potential end-users of any future organic market information system.
An evaluation, from the end users’ perspective, of the current available data in Europe was undertaken to identify their needs and demands of organic market data, and to find areas of information asymmetry. Results based on end users’ demand for various data types in four European countries (France, Germany, Italy, and Spain) are reported and compared with the mean responses from European end users. There is an almost universal expression of feeling at a competitive disadvantage because of lack of available data for all data types (Home et al. 2013).
Looking at quality criteria in more detail, relevance seems to be always the main quality criteria for existing data that end-users rate as most important, with other quality indicators rated about equally important: that data should be affordable, available as often as needed, accurate, up to date, easily accessible, comparable with other data that respondents use, of high quality, and sufficient for the respondents’ needs. The most common criticisms of organic market data were with regard to accessibility, availability as often as needed, and whether it is up to date. Data on organic import volumes were also criticised for their lack of accuracy and comparability with other used data, while retail consumer price data for organic food and organic sales data at retail level are both criticised for their reduced accessibility if not at a cost. The main reason why available data are not used is the lack of relevance. Cost of data access and comparability were rarely the reason, and lack of punctuality and accuracy were almost never the reason that data are not used.
Using the same means of comparison, import volume and value data, and commercial/public organic procurement price and volume data were found to be evaluated as being very similar in quality. These data types are all considered to be quite different from the data collection perspective, but seem to be bundled from the end user perspective.
In analysing the mean quality ratings of all data types in the four study countries and in Europe it has to be kept in mind that the scope of this analysis was to identify and describe possible shortcoming in the system, and not to compare the data collectors in each country or the data collection methods that they employ. Although results show that some data types in some countries are better than others, the overall quality of all data types is around neutral, which suggests that quality of European organic market data is considered to be generally poor.
The number of users of each data type were compared, at the European level, with the number of people who report that the respective data type does not exist. As expected, the fewer people using the data type, the more people think the data don't exist. This result probably reflects the variability of data availability within Europe with data of a specific type available in one country but not in another.
5 - Challenges associated with developing and producing a European database of organic market data
Authors: H. Willer, D. Schaack
The comparability of the existing organic market data is low. Lack of standardisation of classifications of products, definitions of indicators, and harmonisation in data collection methods renders data comparisons between countries over time or even within one country problematic. Therefore merging different national datasets into one set of European statistics is very challenging. Albeit Eurostat is publishing data on area, livestock umbers and production volumes as well as numbers of operators, it does not collect data on production values, retail sale/import/ export values and volumes, and catering sales.
Therefore a database was produced as part of the OrganicDataNetwork, in order to store in a common format and provide access to, currently available data on organic markets in Europe.
In this database, the OrganicDataNetwork has made available, for the first time, the European organic market data by product groups and sales channels. Data for 2011 and 2012 are accessible at the OrganicDataNetwork website (www.organicdatanetwork.net/odn-statistics.html).
The OrganicDataNetwork database shows that a wide range of data is now available, in particular in relation to retail sales data. This includes organic market data that were not easily accessible before that have now been collected and collated and made available centrally. The data collected show – over countries - what products do best within the organic segment and how certain products and product groups perform in comparison with all other products sold. For example, organic eggs reach high shares of the overall egg market in many countries. As regards international trade data, there is a major lack of such data and conclusions regarding the European situation cannot be drawn.
The following classifications were used in developing the database:
• Eurostat Handbook for Annual Crop Statistics for organic agricultural land and crops,
• Eurostat CPA 2008 - Statistical Classification of Products by Activity for products.
From the experience, a number of challenges have been identified that need to be tackled in the near future. These challenges include (Willer and Schaack 2014):
Lack of data and incomplete data
In most countries, only very basic data such as data on certified organic farms, land areas and livestock numbers are reported. Currently, reliable detailed market data, e.g. production volumes, data on domestic market, international trade and consumer prices do not exist in most European countries. In some European countries, there are only rough estimates of the levels of production and consumption. When survey or panel data exist, often coverage is incomplete, and this may result in biased statistics.
Lack of common definitions and classifications/aggregation rules across countries
There is a lack of standardised and harmonised procedures to ensure higher data quality. Almost every country uses different definitions, nomenclature and classifications, only few use international classifications (Denmark uses the UN’s Standard International Trade Classification – SITC; Czech Republic the CPA codes – EUROSTAT). As a consequence, country-to-country data comparisons are very difficult. In countries, where the domestic market data are collected from panel data, usually the nomenclature and classifications of the major market research companies are used, and these vary between countries and may change from one year to another; comparisons appear also quite difficult.
Data is often aggregated and a lot of details get lost in the aggregation. In many cases only incomplete breakdown by crop or product is available and this may make data of little use for some purposes (e.g. farmers’ decisions). What makes things worse is that there is no harmonized way of aggregating these data. For example, in Switzerland, Bio Suisse groups breakfast cereals, with pet food. In addition, aggregation may change from one year to another so that times-series comparison becomes impossible.
With reference to non-standardised definitions of indicators/data types, a good example is that of livestock data. The indicator is “number of heads”, which is interpreted as “average stock per year”, “livestock at a given day” (e.g. the 1st of May in some German Laender), the “number of places” (in stables), or “animals slaughtered” in different countries. These differences in the definition make country-to-country comparisons for livestock impossible.
Inconsistent data
The plausibility checks carried out (such as year on year comparisons, comparisons with neighbouring countries) showed a lot of inconsistent data, some of which could be explained by the data providers or better data were found. However, this could not be resolved in all cases, and there were figures that were clearly implausible if compared with a country’s total or with data from the previous year or from neighbouring countries. Simple quality checks are often not performed by the data providers: basic plausibility checks often allow inconsistencies to be identified. Some data are based on expert estimates, but often no checks are performed to validate these data by other sources.
Other issues
Exchange rate fluctuations may make country-to-country data comparisons very difficult.
6 - Methodologies for data quality improvement
Authors: C. Feldmann, U. Hamm
Previous studies related to data collection, processing, and analysis of the organic market have revealed a lack of consistency and harmonisation across Europe. However, it is not only the lack of consistency and harmonisation in organic market data that is problematic, but there are also some concerns about the accuracy of the data. Up to now, organic market data collection has been inconsistent throughout European countries; data from different organisations and from different countries are hard to compare, because very different methods, product categories, and nomenclatures are used. Interpretations based on incomplete and inconsistent data might lead to wrong decisions by companies and policy makers.
The identification of inconsistencies in organic market data requires knowledge on specific quality and consistency checks. These should be standardised among the data collectors in order to lead to a harmonisation of the process. For the implementation of these checks, however, it is necessary to have reliable data for comparisons or to have sufficient data to establish supply-balance equations. More extensive and thorough data collection is needed to fill gaps in organic market data.
Quality dimensions were defined by Eurostat to establish a framework for the analysis and evaluation of the quality of statistical data and its sources: relevance, accuracy, timeliness and punctuality, accessibility and clarity, comparability, and coherence. The improvement of accuracy, comparability, and coherence in organic market data is the main objective when performing ex-post data quality checks.
As part of the OrganicDataNetwork, a guideline for the application of consistency checks for organic market data was established. The guideline explains the different types of data quality checks and how they should be carried out. The choice of consistency check depends on the data types that are available. However, data used for comparisons as well as the sources of these data have to be checked for reliability and validity.
An example for a consistency check is the comparison of organic area, production, and yield data with conventional/total data. Organic areas or production volumes that show an implausible high share of total areas/volumes should be flagged for inconsistency and checked further. Organic yield data that are larger than conventional ones, suggest an inconsistency, because organic production is in general less productive than conventional production.
The comparison of an organic market statistic over years is used to check for obvious inconsistencies, which are revealed through noticeable outliers in the data. To verify that these outliers are actual anomalies in the data, it is necessary to compare the trend of the statistic in the organic sector with the trend in the conventional sector. Strong fluctuations take place simultaneously in both sectors, because they usually depend on weather conditions, which equally influence both farming systems (i.e. very cold vs. very hot or very wet vs. very dry season). Depending on the type of product and the production conditions during the respective year, there might be particular reasons for extreme values.
In most cases, typing or unit errors are the reasons for organic numbers that are reported to be larger than total numbers. These errors can often be detected through comparisons of organic with total data or comparisons with data from previous years or countries with similar farming conditions. In addition, it is very helpful to get data checked by third persons as well as to get feedback from market experts which might help to identify inconsistent information in data sets.
The availability of data is a limiting factor concerning more advanced data checks, which can be used to get better insights into the market structure of one’s country. To date, organic market data collection in Europe is still fragmentary. Hence, more advanced approaches, such as supply balance equations are only applicable in very few cases.
Another valuable approach to data quality checking is the crosschecking of one country’s import data with another country’s export data. Thereby, data errors as well as fraud could be identified. However, due to confidentiality restrictions and the sensitivity of these data, it is almost impossible to carry out these comparisons.
7 - Lessons learned from stakeholders involvement
Authors: R. Home, D. Vairo, R. Zanoli, M. Stolze
The OrganicDataNetwork project initiated such a European organic market data network of public and private bodies bringing together active, relevant stakeholders concerned with organic market data collection, analysis and publication. This data network established a platform to allow for adequate communication and interaction among all stakeholders involved in organic market data development, production and dissemination as well as in data analysis and usage. The core principles of this network are social learning processes and co-creation of knowledge to remove barriers to a European organic market data information system, which will facilitate the development of shared visions. Multi-stakeholder dialogue has been organized at a European level and two workshops have been held to bring together stakeholders in the organic market data sector, to discuss ideas and experiences, to provide a unique opportunity for networking with other experts on European market data and to set the basis for an ongoing organic data network platform for information exchange:
The first workshop was held at the Organic Research Centre, Elm Farm, Newbury, UK on March 13, 2013 and had the main aim to identify organic market data problems from the stakeholders’ point of view. Twenty-seven stakeholders from 17 European countries and from Morocco and Tunisia attended the workshop. Participants identified problems in data collection (insufficient data collection; poor data quality; differing collection methods, differing classifications leading to harmonisation problems; insufficient analysis and timely dissemination; institutional self-interest and unwillingness to cooperate; financial resources; fraud and data manipulation; risk of losing market confidence), improvement opportunities and ease of implementation and also the main areas for which good organic market data are difficult to obtain (availability and quality): retail sales, international trade and price data.
The second workshop concentrated on the current situation of data collection methods to identify areas where improvements are needed, such as data quality improvement measures and the development of model pathways for the implementation of organic market data collection procedures in EU27, EU Candidate and EFTA countries. The workshop was held at the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Bari (CIHEAM-IAMB), in Valenzano Italy on 10-11 July 2014. Thirty stakeholders from 20 countries attended the second workshop. The primary aim of the workshop was to develop and refine the Organic market data Manual and Code of Practice (OrMaCode) intended for data collectors and to discuss how networking and information exchange between data collectors could continue after the end of the OrganicDataNetwork project.
Three main themes arising from OrMaCode were addressed:
Institutional Setting:
• Guidelines are needed to avoid misuse of organic market data, to ensure cooperation among bodies and a long-term collaboration/network, and to achieve institutional commitment to the collection of a wide range of organic market data.
• However, guidelines such as OrMaCode and top-down regulations (e.g. mandatory data collection) need to be supplemented by cooperation and bottom-up networking strategies to motivate individuals and agencies to cooperate.
Statistical Methodologies:
• Networks promoting cooperation among stakeholders and creating tools that enable harmonisation of definitions and classifications are considered to be promising to align data collection methods and analyses across Europe, to improve data quality and quantity for each data category, and to implement more consistency checks to validate the data.
• Various tools may be developed to help data collectors to improve the quality of data. These include a common electronic platform to collect and validate data, guidelines such as OrMaCode, template for questionnaires, conversion and correspondence tables for data harmonisation.
• Training in using these tools and other services like help desks are highly recommended by stakeholders.
Statistical Results:
• Both positive and negative lessons could be learned from existing practices on how to improve timeliness, punctuality and accessibility of data (incl. business models), and how to balance quality and availability of data. Learning from best practices can improve the various stages of data collection from development to dissemination.
• The OrganicDataNetwork database should be continued and maintained after the project life since it can help to ensure higher accessibility, timeliness and punctuality of organic market data at the European level.
• Adequate funding should be ensured at the EU and national level to continue and enhance the publication of high quality statistical data on the organic market.
8 - Examples of improving data collection systems
Authors: C.L. Gerrard and S. Padel.
Procedures and methods for collection and publication of organic market data across Europe vary widely, with a growing number of countries publishing market estimates, but several problems with data collection are reported. Even in countries with relatively well-developed organic markets, data are not nearly as detailed and reliable as in general agricultural and food industry statistics, leading to a lack of transparency in the organic market.
To overcome some of the problems with national organic market data and to test approaches in a practical situation, there is a need to facilitate networking, learning and collaboration among all organisations publishing the national reports.
A number of problems with organic market data have been confirmed for a variety of European countries in several project activities. Consultation with different national stakeholders has resulted in identifying a number of areas for improvement. The six case studies of the OrganicDataNetwork project have produced new/improved organic market reports through close collaboration between different partners, by using quality checks developed in the project and by carrying out additional data collection and analysis where possible.
The experience from these case studies suggests a number of common steps to start or improve data collection and identifies some possible issues.
• Identify key organisation
o Identify the key organisations involve in the organic sector that may collect or hold market data
• Encourage and maintain dialogue
o In this way, key data holders, data collectors, the ministry of agriculture and/or the statistical office as well as other stakeholders who would want to use the data will be aware of each other.
• Data handling and statistical processes
o Obtain clear and detailed description of the data collection and analysis methods at source;
o Be clear about the subsequent collection and analysis for publication;
o Assess coverage and representativeness of the sample obtained;
o Carry out quality checks (e.g through cross-checking over time and with other sources)
• Working with other organisations
o Collaboration with a trusted third party who will collect and collate data may help in reassuring potential data providers that their data will be kept confidential and will only be used in an amalgamated format
• Aim for a national platform
o A national platform with a sufficient budget to facilitate continued dialogue at national and international level should imrpove quality and encourage other data providers to participate.
A continual dialogue and discussion is seen as a vital feature in initiating data collection within a country. Across borders, networks of data collectors from a range of countries, like the OrganicDataNetwork, can support this through sharing experience and advice between countries and by providing a forum to discuss organic data collection. For instance, the case studies in countries of the Mediterranean Organic Agriculture Network (MOAN) conducted in close collaboration with the national statistical authorities (e.g. Turkey) had the effect of raising awareness of organic data collection procedures in those institutions.
The new/improved market reports are summarised below, broken down by the different case study countries.
UK ORGANIC MARKET REPORT
An English producer survey was carried out as part of the case study, asking about retail sales of organic produce as conventional and producers’ future intentions with regards to both production levels and remaining in organic production. Also, production data from control bodies have been better harmonized. With regards to estimating the total annual value of retail sales, the 2014 report used data from a retail sales panel (rather than a household panel), as well as from surveys of multiple retailers and Soil Association certified businesses. This has improved the reliability of the total market estimate compared with previous years.
The 2014 Organic Market Report by the Soil Association is available at
https://www.soilassociation.org/marketreport
GERMAN ORGANIC MARKET REPORT
Within the German case study, AMI has improved the estimate of the total annual market value through better collaboration between panel institutions and scientists. Greater coverage of sales through non-multiple channels (bakeries, butchers, box schemes, farmers’ markets and farm shops) should be aimed for in future and national funds will be sought. Also the methods used in collecting producer price data were compared with other European countries that will inform future data collection procedures. A supply-balance for carrots and milk was attempted but data gaps for import/export data remain.
CZECH REPUBLIC -ORGANIC MARKET REPORT
The Czech University of Life Sciences (CULS) worked closely with the Institute of Agricultural Economics and Information (IAEI) on the improvement of the organic market reports. Retail price data from supermarkets from previous periods (2009-2013) were published in spring 2014. These consisted of data for about 2900 organic products from 12 retail chains (hypermarkets, supermarkets, discount chains and drugstore chains). Part of the analysis is also a price comparison with conventional food in the category of “milk and dairy products”. Data from declarations of trade with non-EU member countries were also included in the report following data checking.
ITALIAN ORGANIC MARKET REPORT
The main aim of the Italian case study on behalf of the 2014 Italian market report was to improve international and domestic market data. The Ministerial and customs datasets of imports are integrated into one common database. An expert assessment for each crop at regional level has been carried out to estimate production volume. Finally, a cross checking was carried out of ISMEA/GFK-Eurisko household panel data with the ASSOBIO data to improve the estimate of the retail sales value in non-specialized shops.
FRENCH ORGANIC MARKET REPORT
Agence Bio’s 2014 French market report includes production and consumption volume data, a more detailed breakdown of domestic sales data, as well as the import and export volumes by products and in total. In some sectors where production volume data were lacking, methodologies for estimating the production volume and total balances were set up and data included in the 2014 yearbook when relevant. An assessment was conducted together with the Ministry of Agriculture and the French customs of import volumes from third countries, intra-EU exchanges and exports. Due to the diversity of sales in France, a channel based survey approach was proposed for collecting consumption data specifying when possible more detailed categories of products.
ORGANIC MARKET REPORT of the Mediterranean Organic Agriculture Network (MOAN)
For the first time in many years, the Institute of Agronomic Research (CIHEAM-IAMB), in close collaboration with the respective MOAN representatives, published the 2014 Mediterranean organic agriculture report. The report, reveals the latest available data on organic area and operators in the Mediterranean region with interesting insights into the key features, the recent facts and the most up-to-date figures on the national organic sector of six countries of the Network, namely three south Eastern Mediterranean countries (Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia) and three EU Candidate and Potential Candidate countries (Albania, Serbia and Turkey).
Collaboration among researchers and national bodies who publish market data has resulted in the implementation of additional or improved data collection methods and quality checks within the case studies. The following list summarises the experience in relation to lessons learned from the case studies; which are relevant to other stakeholders involved with, or planning to set up, data collection of organic market data.
Production data
• Private bodies may develop their own data categories; dialogue is often required to achieve harmonisation with Eurostat categories.
• FADN data can provide additional information about production (e.g. yield, farm-level prices).
• Producer surveys can also supplement production data, targeting specific data gaps and providing more up-to-date insights.
• Estimating yields to calculate volume and value of production should make use of a combination of different approaches such as scientific studies, previous projects and expert estimates.
Domestic retail sales data
• A combination of different sources and approaches is necessary to develop an estimate of the value of the total organic market and of the proportion of sales through different channels, such as multiple retail, independent retail, mail order and home-delivery (box schemes) and sales through farm shops and farmers markets.
• Users of household or retail panel’s data should be aware of the likely coverage and advantages and limitations of the methods.
• Market research companies use their own product classification, which hampers cross checking and comparisons between different sources, over time and between countries.
• Surveys among members of umbrella organisations, collaboration with trade/sector bodies or specialist panels for organic shops may be an alternative approach for estimating sales through specialised organic retail and other sales channels.
Farm level and retail price data
• When comparing different methods for farm-level price data collection, it is necessary to consider: where in the supply chain the data is collected, publication dates and frequencies, VAT inclusion/exclusion, transport costs, packaging, level of processing, product categorisation.
• Access to non-up-to-date data collected by private companies can be very useful in providing information on price trends and market development and may be available at lower costs or for free.
• When comparing retail price data (e.g. organic with conventional), it is necessary to compare products of similar quality and packaging.
International trade data (import/export)
• This category covers both trade between EU countries and with non-EU countries, which represents an important part of domestically consumed organic products in most Member States.
• Special customs provisions are made for import of organic products from outside the EU as part of the organic import regime (Box 44 of the SAD is already used for this purpose in some countries).
• There is no special requirement to monitor intra-EU trade as part of the organic control regime, so it is most difficult to obtain such data.
• Other collection methods to gather export and intra EU trade data include dedicated surveys of exporters and other operators.
• The full picture of all import/export into one country can only be obtained if all three types of trade (with countries on the compliance list, with countries that are not on the compliance list and intra EU trade) are considered.
• The easiest way to get international trade data would be the differentiation between organic and conventional items in the national foreign trade statistics
General conclusions all data categories
• Data are often collected by many different organisations, including commercial bodies, governments and researchers, but organic data collection is not necessarily an explicit task for all of them.
• Close collaboration with specific government departments that are not directly involved with organic farming (e.g. customs authorities, national statistics authorities) has improved the availability of data in several cases. Taking part in the case studies has also raised awareness of the need to identify and address problems and the need to increase efforts in organic market data collection.
• Sharing of organic data between organisations can prevent over-sampling of organic producers and operators, but this only works if common classification systems are used. Also, there is a tension between market transparency and the need to protect commercially sensitive data.
• Efficiently collating data from different sources also requires harmonisation of classifications and methods, but different data types require different solutions to improve the data collection.
9 - Conclusion and Recommendations
These results show that a network for better European organic market information is an ongoing, long-term permanent venture between all stakeholders who are interested in organic market statistics, rather than a one-time, three-year research project.
Enhancing the availability and quality of organic market statistics requires greater collaboration among stakeholders, which is required for better decision making at both the micro level (i.e. the firms) and the macro level (i.e. the governments).
In what follows, specific recommendations based on previous results and interpretations are listed.
The recommendations are outlined in a short sentence followed by specific bullet points identifying areas of improvements.
The recommendations of the previous EU-funded project “European Information System for Organic Markets” (EISfOM) (QLK5-2002-02400) have formed the starting point of the development of this new set of recommendations.
In addition, two stakeholder workshops and the electronic forum debates on the OrganicDataNetwork website have contributed in drafting the list of issues that need further attention from both policymakers and data collectors.
In order to develop recommendations from the project results, the principles of a desirable organic market data development, production and dissemination in Europe have been considered. These have been defined in the organic market data Code of Practice that we have developed as part of OrMaCode (ORganic market data MAnual and CODE of Practice: http://www.ormacode.organicdatanetwork.net) and which is derived from the European Statistical Code of Practice (Eurostat, 2011).
Recommendation 1: Extend the mandate for statistical data collection on the organic market
The European Commission should extend the mandate for statistical data collection on the organic market, specifically
• by increasing the number of statistical data types collected,
• by collecting statistical information on prices and volume and value of production, domestic market, and international trade by defined product or product groups,
• by collecting import/export data by including organic imports/exports to national foreign trade statistics and by specific provision on the TARIC code (for third country imports),
• by specifying a legal mandate to provide statistical information not just by Member States, but also by control authorities, control bodies, customs authorities and, where relevant, individual companies.
Recommendation 2: Develop better statistical processes to increase accuracy of data collection on the organic market
Data providers should develop better statistical processes to increase accuracy of data collection on the organic market, specifically
• by paying more attention to coverage,
• by adopting better sampling procedures,
• by crosschecking expert estimates against other sources
• by implementing the OrMaCode.
Recommendation 3: Harmonise the statistical processes for data collection on the organic market to increase coherence and comparability
National statistical institutes and national authorities should harmonise statistical processes for data collection on the organic market to increase coherence and comparability, specifically
• by harmonising national definitions, nomenclature and classification of statistical outputs to the Eurostat Statistical Classification of Products by Activity (CPA),
• by harmonising aggregation rules for raw data,
• by implementing a unique and permanent identifier for each inspected operator ensuring the portability of such identifiers when changing control body/control authority.
• by providing an electronic data collection tool to the control bodies
Data providers other than official national statistical institutes should comply with this recommendation in order to ensure smooth data sharing and aggregation across different data providers.
Recommendation 4: Establish a system of routine quality checks for organic market statistical data
Data providers (including national statistical institutes) should establish a system of routine quality checks for organic market statistical data, specifically
• by applying data quality indicators,
• by balancing data accuracy vs. timeliness in data publication and dissemination,
• by data editing,
• by regularly applying plausibility checks,
• by comparing and cross-checking non-official statistical data from at least two independent sources, to increase accuracy and consistency.
Recommendation 5: Strengthen the institutional framework for statistical data collection on the organic market
The European Commission, in cooperation with Member States, should strengthen the institutional framework for statistical data collection on the organic market, specifically
• by increased data collection efforts of EUROSTAT and national statistical offices,
• by establishing and funding permanent, long-term networks of data providers and users at European and national level,
• by developing training initiatives to improve the quality of organic market data collection.
Recommendation 6: Use measures of the Rural Development Programme to provide incentives to increase the availability and the quality of organic market data
The European Commission and the Member States should use measures of the Rural Development Programme to provide incentives to increase the availability and the quality of organic market data, specifically
• by providing specific funding to a permanent, long-term European network as detailed in Recommendation 5,
• by implementing specific national networks to drive innovation and quality enhancement in organic market data as part of the European Innovation Partnership Agriculture productivity and sustainability (EIP-AGRI) (http://ec.europa.eu/eip/agriculture/)
References
Feldmann, C. and Hamm, U. (2013). Report on collection methods: Classification of data collection methods. Deliverable 3.1 of the OrganicDataNetwork project. Available at: http://orgprints.org/23010/
Feldmann, C. and Hamm, U. (2014). Report on the methodologies for data quality improvement along the whole supply chain. Deliverable 5.1 of the OrganicDataNetwork project. Available at: http://orgprints.org/27940/
Gerrard, C.L. Vieweger, A., Padel, S. (2012). Report on data collectors: Inventory of data collecting and publishing institutions. Deliverable 2.1 of the OrganicDataNetwork project. Available at: http://orgprints.org/23009/
Gerrard, C.L. Vieweger, A., Alisir, L., Bteich, M.-R. Cottingham, M., Feldman, C., Flechet, D., Husak, J., Losták, M., Moreau, C., Pugliese, P.,Rison, N., Schaack, D., Solfanelli, F., Willer, H., Padel, S. (2014). Report on the experience of conducting the case studies. Deliverable 6.7 of the OrganicDataNetwork project. Available at: http://orgprints.org/27937/
Home, R., Lošťák, M., Stolze, M. (2013a). Report on collection methods: Survey of the organic market data needs of end user. Deliverable 1.1 of the OrganicDataNetwork project. Available at: http://orgprints.org/23193/
Home, R., Vairo, D., Zanoli, R., Stolze, M. (2013b). Proceedings of workshop 1. Deliverable 1.2 of the OrganicDataNetwork project. Unpublished report of the OrganicDataNetwork project.
Home, R., Vairo, D., Zanoli, R., Stolze, M. (2014). Proceedings of workshop 2. Deliverable 1.3 of the OrganicDataNetwork project. Unpublished report of the OrganicDataNetwork project
Willer, H. and Schaack, D. (2014). Final report on compilation of key organic market data. Deliverable 4.3 of the OrganicDataNetwork project. Available at: http://orgprints.org/27939/
Soil Association (2014). Organic Market Report 2014. Bristol: Soil Association. Available at: https://www.soilassociation.org/marketreport
AMI (2014). Markt Bilanz. Öko-Landbau 2014. Bonn: AMI.
Sinab (2014). Bio in cifre 2014. Roma: Del Gallo Editori. Available at: http://www.sinab.it/sites/default/files/share/bio%20in%20cifre%202014.pdf
Agence Bio (2014). La Bio en France. De la production a la consummation. Chapter 4 of “L’agriculture biologique : ses acteurs, ses produits, ses territoires”. Montreui-sous-Bois : Agence Bio. Available at : http://www.agencebio.org/sites/default/files/upload/documents/4_Chiffres/BrochureCC/CC2014_chap4_France.pdf
UZEI (2014). Statistická šetření ekologického zemědělství – Zpráva o trhu s biopotravinami (Statistical surveys of organic farming – A report on the organic food market). Brno, brazen: Uzei. Available at: http://eagri.cz/public/web/file/306458/Zprava_o_trhu_s_biopotravinami_za_rok_2012_final.pdf/
Pugliese, P., Bteich, M.R. Al-Bitar, L. (eds.) (2014). MEDITERRANEAN ORGANIC AGRICULTURE Key Features, recent Facts, latest Figure. Report 2014. Valenzano: MOAN, CIHEAM Bari. ISBN: 2-85352-537-6. Available at: http://moan.iamb.it/index.php?option=com_phocadownload&view=category&id=8&Itemid=94
Potential Impact:
Potential impact and use
The strategy of OrganicDataNetwork was to increase the transparency of the European market for organic food by facilitating the development of better data and information on organic markets and by establishing a long-term, permanent network collaborating on statistical issues regarding organic farming markets.
OrganicDataNetwork provided an effective coordination Centre between private and public bodies and key stakeholder from across Europe who collectively work together to meet the needs of policy makers, farmers, processors wholesalers and other actors involved in organic markets. This multi-stakeholder integration and coordination Centre aims at initiating a learning process between stakeholders in order to improve the data quality as well as the stakeholder’s commitment to a European organic market database.
Specifically, the expected impacts of the project have been contributed to:
1. increase availability of market information and assess the feasibility of national data.
2. increase transparency of the European market for organic food and
3. better coordinate and support data collection on organic production.
The project contributed to increase availability and assess feasibility of national data by
• providing an overview of all relevant public and private bodies and stakeholders involved with the collection, processing and the dissemination of organic market data (WP2);
• reviewing existing systems of data collection and processing for organic markets (WP3).
The project contributed to increase transparency of the European market for organic food by developing proposals for harmonizing data collection and processing methods. The aim was to provide tools for the development of new data collection systems. This was based on
• collecting currently available data on organic markets in Europe and establishing an internal database for data storage and making the data available electronically (WP4)
• developing recommendations for improvement of common methodologies and quality criteria on how to collect and publish organic market data aiming at market transparency and prevention of frauds (WP5).
The project contributed to better coordinate and support data collection by providing relevant recommendations to the EU. These recommendations were based on
• establishing a multi-stakeholders network and dialogue of organic market data actors on EU level (WP1)
• Improving availability and quality of published market report on the organic sector in a number of case study countries (WP6);
• circulating of information to farmers, processors, wholesalers, policy makers, public institutions, market research institutes and other firms and institutions in order to stimulate willingness to participate in future data collection (WP7);
• producing of a Manual and Code of Practice for the initiation and maintenance of good organic market data collection and publication procedures (OrMaCode: ORganic Market data MAnual and CODE of Practice) (WP7).
Main dissemination activities and exploitation of the results
Efficient and dynamic communication and dissemination of the project results to relevant stakeholders and the public is a prerequisite of ensuring an impact in the cohort of relevant recipients. P1, P2, P9 and P13 (UPM, FiBL, BMI and IFOAM EU) organised the communication cycle with many groups of news and information recipients. These groups include media, stakeholders, policy makers, authorities, the European Commission, governments, organic market data collectors, and the scientific community.
It is clear to the OrganicDataNetwork partners that target groups and reception groups are not necessary the same. Target groups are the intended groups of receivers; whilst reception groups are the people that actually receive the information. It takes an effort to attempt making the two groups overlap. One means is viewing and treating the dissemination process as a communication cycle rather than a one-way propagation of information, and this is being undertaken in WP8.
The proliferation and communication of OrganicDataNetwork project results to – and with – the scientific community, and through selected relevant media, is a natural part of the general dissemination effort.
This includes presentations and papers at relevant conferences and publications in conference proceedings, in periodic publications and stakeholder relevant magazines. The project partners have
undertaken a large part of this dissemination effort through a normal part of their academic profession.
In order to ensure that the results of the project are communicated to the public, the relevant stakeholders and the Commission, an efficient and dynamical communication and dissemination of the project results to all relevant stakeholders and the public was undertaken.
Different dissemination and communication tools have been adopted
• project website
• newsletter and press releases
• downloadable project leaflet
• power point presentation
• multimedia presentations
The following activities have been undertaken:
The project website:
• The open part of the website includes general information about the project, and has a variety of target groups ranging from the existing project members and partners, integrated and otherwise interested stakeholders, the news media and other information and communication actors, and the organic data collectors.
• FiBL has adapted the online open-source database Organic Eprints to accommodate project-specific contributions. In the Organic Eprints database, the OrganicDataNetwork project has also been affiliated with the staging of the European Union, and can thus be found by browsing through the browse tree via Country/Organization/Project/European Union/OrganicDataNetwork. Specific attention is given to inform organic data collectors. This is done through brief and concise summaries of important project results. Attention to organic data collectors is also given via the two workshops playing the role as stakeholders.
• The website for external and internal communication, dissemination and project management has served as an archive for project information, such as programmes for public workshops/conferences and press releases.
• Both the internal OrganicDataNetwork workspace (project intranet: The project intranet is open to the members of the OrganicDataNetwork consortium) and the external OrganicDataNetwork website (public website) can be accessed at http://www.organicdatanetwork.net/odn-home.html .
• All OrganicDataNetwork partners has been registered to be able to access the project intranet. Details of how to register have been circulated via email since the site is live.
• The internal OrganicDataNetwork workspace is designed to allow partners to store information, enable collaboration between partners and to disseminate results amongst partners.
• The project website has been used primarily to disseminate OrganicDataNetwork findings to the stakeholders involved with OrganicDataNetwork and to a wider audience.
• A part of the webpage has been used for communication and consultation of the stakeholder panel by means of an electronic meeting room. More specifically, in order to facilitate a discussion on relevant issues and consultation processes an electronic tool for discussions has been set up. This forum is part of the project’s webpage.
Running information and communication with the stakeholders and the public on project issues and results has been ensured by means of newsletters in connection with the publication of deliverables on the public part of the website.
• A database on relevant dissemination events has been produced
• OrganicDataNetwork newsletter: subscription to the newsletter is free.
o The OrganicDataNetwork newsletter is published every six months in English. The OrganicDataNetwork newsletter contains the latest news from the project and includes reports from the progress in the project's work packages.
o The first newsletter has been published in November 2012, the second in June 2013, the third has been published in December 2013, the fourth in September 2014 and the fifth in December 2014.
• IFOAM EU Newsletter: Nine newsletter in IFOAM newsletter have been produced.
o “Forum for discussion and networking on organic market data” IFOAM EU Group newsletter no. 61 March 2013.
o “Organic market data collection in the EU debated”, IFOAM EU Group newsletter no. 62 March 2013 “CAP Special Edition”.
o “Spotlight on the OrganicDataNetwork: interview to Raffaele Zanoli”, IFOAM EU Group newsletter no. 65 July 2013.
o “OrganicDataNetwork”, IFOAM EU Group newsletter no. 66 September 2013.
o "European organic data to be harmonised by OrganicDataNetwork", IFOAM EU Group newsletter no. 68 November 2013.
o "OrganicDataNetwork at BioFach", IFOAM EU Group newsletter no. 71 March 2014.
o "OrganicDataNetwork presents results for better organic data", IFOAM EU Group newsletter no. 74 June 2014.
o "OrganicDataNetwork: manual for better information exchange", IFOAM EU newsletter no. 76 September 2014.
o "OrganicDataNetwork presents results at Organic World Congress", IFOAM EU newsletter no. 78 November 2014.
• ISOFAR newsletter: "Collecting Market Data", ISOFAR newsletter no. 18 July 2014.
Press release
• A complete media list with current list of contact in order to centralize the issuing of press release has built. Press release are translated in 4 languages: Italian, German, French and English. Press releases have been sent to over 100 addresses of specialised press magazines in Europe.
o 1st press release, March 2012 (Launch of OrganicDataNetwork project).
o 2nd press release, April 2013 ((Better organic data for Europe: project launches discussion forum on the problems of compiling organic market data ).
o 3rd press release, October 2013 (Fourth workshop of the EU project OrganicDataNetwork in Montpellier).
o 4th press release, June 2014 (OrganicDataNetwork presents results).
o 5th press release, November 2014 (OrganicDataNetwork: workshop at the Organic World Congress in Istanbul and final project meeting).
The project leaflet has been used for promoting OrganicDataNetwork in different contexts
• two different formats have been realized presented (the final version has been formatted by a professional graphic designer) and can be found in the public web site and in the intranet.
• The project leaflet has been used for promoting OrganicDataNetwork in different contexts:
o 6th European Congress of the IFOAM EU Group (P 13) – Coopenhagen (DK) 17-18/04/2012;
o Meeting at the Organic Research Centre (P 3) which involved a lot of organisations from the UK that collect data (on production but also on the market) - Newbury (UK) 18/07/2012
o Green Week – Berlin (DE) 18/01/2013 (IFOAM EU)
o Sustainable Energy Week – Brussels (BE) 24-28/06/2013 (IFOAM EU)
o Biofach – Nűrnberg (DE) – 13-16/02/2013 (IFOAM EU)
o Natexpo fair – Paris (FR) 20/10/2013 (IFOAM EU)
o Biofach – Nűrnberg (DE) – 12-15/02/2014 (IFOAM EU)
o 8th Organic Congress – Bari (IT) 10-12 September 2014
o 3rd IFOAM EU Organic Processing Conference – Paris (FR) 17-18 November 2014
o 18th IFOAM Organic World Congress – Istanbul (TR) 13-15 October 2014
o Biofach – Nűrnberg (DE) – 11-14/02/2015 (IFOAM EU)
A Powerpoint presentation of the overall project has been produced and is available on the Intranet.
Nine articles (in English, German and French) have been published in the Organic-Market.info online magazine after the project meetings:
• 1st Project meeting in Ancona, March 2012
o Publication in English: 29.03.2012 http://www.organic-market.info/web/Europe/Italy/Data/220/233/0/12085.html
o Publication in German: 30.03.2012 http://www.bio-markt.info/web/Europa/Allgemeines/Europaeisches_Bio-Daten-Projekt_gestartet/84/110/0/12135.html
o Publication in French: 4.4.2012 http://www.bio-marche.info/web/Savoir-faire/projet/362/0/0/12181.html
• 2nd Project workshop at FiBL, Switzerland in October 2012
o Publication in English: 12.11.2012 http://www.organic-market.info/web/Know_How/OrganicDataNetwork/219/0/0/13506.html
o Publication in German: 12.11.2012 http://www.bio-markt.info/web/Europa/Schweiz/OrganicDataNetwork/84/103/0/13531.html
o Publication in French: http://www.bio-marche.info/web/Divers/OrganicDataNetwork_present_les_premi+egrave;res_r+eacute;sultats/393/0/0/15115.html
• 3rd Project workshop at ORC and 1st stakeholder workshop, Great Britain, in March 2013
o Publication in English: 24.04.2013 http://www.organic-market.info/web/Europe/Great_Britain/OrganicDataNetwork/220/230/0/14365.html
o Publication in German: 1.5.2013 http://www.bio-markt.info/web/Fachwissen/Allgemeines/Marktdaten/72/83/0/14504.html
o Publication in French: 3.5.2013 http://www.bio-marche.info/web/Savoir-faire/OrganicDataNetwork/362/0/0/14528.html
• Organic Days Conference in Larnaca, Cyprus (24-26.09.2012)
o Publication in English: 8.10.2012 http://www.organic-market.info/web/Know_How/Conference/219/0/0/13296.html
o Publication in German: 4.10.2012 http://www.bio-markt.info/web/Europa/Allgemeines/Konferenz/84/110/0/13266.html
o Publication in French: 9.10.2012 http://www.bio-marche.info/web/Savoir-faire/Chypre/362/0/0/13299.html
• 4th Project meeting in Montpellier, France, in October 2013
o Publication in English: 21.10.2013 OrganicDataNetwork Develops Methodology for Collecting Organic Data. http://www.organic-market.info/web/Know_How/OrganicDataNetwork/219/0/0/15576.html
o Publication in German: 16.10.2013 OrganicDataNetwork entwickelt Arbeitsmethodik zur Bio-Datenerhebung http://www.bio-markt.info/web/Europa/Frankreich/OrganicDataNetwork/84/89/0/15538.html
o Publication in French: 5.11.2013 OrganicDataNetwork met au point une méthodologie de recueil des données4thProject meeting in Montpellier, in October 2013 http://www.bio-marche.info/web/Savoir-faire/OrganicDataNetwork/362/0/0/15607.html
• 5th Project meeting in Tallinn, Estonia, in May 2014
o Publication in English: 27.6.2014 OrganicDataNetwork presents results http://www.organic-market.info/web/News_in_brief/Studies/OrganicDataNetwork/176/197/0/17027.html
o Publication in German: 26.6.2014 OrganicDataNetwork präsentiert Ergebnisse http://www.bio-markt.info/web/Aktuelle_Kurzmeldungen/Studien/OrganicDataNetwork/15/36/0/17038.html
o Publication in French: 3.7.2014 OrganicDataNetwork: présentation des résultats des travaux http://www.bio-marche.info/web/Nouvelles_en_bref/Salons_+_conferences/OrganicDataNetwork/356/289/0/17028.html
• 6th Project meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, in October 2014
o Publication in English: 20.11.2014 OrganicDataNetwork: workshop at the Organic World Congress in Istanbul and final project meeting http://www.organic-market.info/web/Know_How/OrganicDataNetwork/219/0/0/17830.html
o Publication in German: 26.11.2014 OrganicDataNetwork: Handbuch erscheint in Kürze http://www.bio-markt.info/web/Fachwissen/Allgemeines/OrganicDataNetwork:_Handbuch/72/83/0/17862.html
o Publication in French: 20.11.2014 OrganicDataNetwork: Ultime réunion de travail au Congrès Mondial sur l'agriculture biologique à Istanbul http://www.bio-marche.info/web/Savoir-faire/OrganicDataNetwork/362/0/0/17824.html
• 2nd stakeholder workshop in Bari, Italy, in July 2014
o Publication in English: 6.8.2014 OrganicDataNetwork: discussion with market researchers and representatives of official agencies http://www.organic-market.info/web/Fairs_+_Conferences/General/OrganicDataNetwork/214/313/0/17236.html
o Publication in German: 31.7.2014 OrganicDataNetwork: Diskussion mit Marktforschern und Behördenvertretern http://www.bio-markt.info/web/Europa/Allgemeines/OrganicDataNetwork:_Diskussion_mit_Marktforschern_und_Behoerdenvertretern/84/110/0/17187.html
o Publication in French: 11.8.2014 OrganicDataNetwork : instances administratives et instituts d'études de marché ont débattu à Bari en Italie http://www.bio-marche.info/web/Savoir-faire/OrganicDataNetwork/362/0/0/17256.html
• Final project presentation in Brussels, Belgium, in December 2014
o Publication in English: 12.8.2014 OrganicDataNetwork: Successful presentation in Brussels http://www.organic-market.info/web/News_in_brief/Statistics/Brussels/176/196/0/17984.html
A statement on mandatory data requirements and the revision of the EU Regulation including proposed recommendations, has been made on the results of the 1st European stakeholder workshop. The aim was to provide DG Agri with some input on the revision of the EU Regulation. The OrganicDataNetwork consortium believed that an improvement of current mandatory data provision of the Member States will contribute to both the inspection system and market transparency. Finally, the OrganicDataNetwork consortium recommended that improving data collection should be one action point of a new European Organic Action Plan.
Multimedia presentation have been realized:
• D8.2 Multimedia presentation on Comprehensiveness compatibility of organic market data collection methods has been produced. http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/25742801.
• D8.3 Multimedia presentation on Methodologies for data quality improvement along the whole supply chain http://www.organicdatanetwork.net/1723.html
• D8.4 Multimedia presentation on data collection experiences: case study results http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVgfJZ07Dh8&list=PL1dOum9RiVPguEk5JU6fCFj0b7g6JBsBY
• D8.5 Multimedia presentation on tutorial on the use of the Code of Practice (OrMaCode) http://www.organicdatanetwork.net/odn-videos.html
Other multimedia actions have been undertaken:
• Interactive statistics table
o Statistics collected by the OrganicDataNetwork http://www.organicdatanetwrok.net/odn-statistics.html
• Videos:
o OrganicDataNetwork: Project Overview and main achievemnts http://www.organicdatanetwork.net/odn-videos.html - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hH1sTjuS3XA&list=PL1dOum9RiVPguEk5JU6fCFj0b7g6JBsBY
o OrganicDataNetwork: 2nd stakeholder workshop in Bari – Italy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zny0cmS2TDA&list=PL1dOum9RiVPguEk5JU6fCFj0b7g6JBsBY
o D8.4 Multimedia presentation on data collection experiences: case study results http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVgfJZ07Dh8&list=PL1dOum9RiVPguEk5JU6fCFj0b7g6JBsBY
o D8.5 Multimedia presentation on tutorial on the use of the Code of Practice (OrMaCode) http://www.organicdatanetwork.net/odn-videos.html
Different dissemination activities have been carried out:
• Oral presentation
o In April 18., 2012 an opening presentation on the OrganicDataNetwork project has been presented in the framework of the 6th European Congress of the IFOAM EU Group “Smart change - towards a sustainable CAP. Organic and high nature value farming shaping future food systems” in Copenhagen, Denmark 17.04.2012 to 18.04.2012
o In September 25., 2012 in the framework of Organic Days Conference in Larnaca, Cyprus (24-26.09.2012) one of the conference days was dedicated to organic farming research, and Raffaele Zanoli, coordinator of the OrganicDataNetwork presented the OrganicDataNetwork project.
o In February 13, 2013: Session on Organic Market Data Networks at the BioFachCongress, 2013 in Nuremberg, Germany (13-16 February 2013). The session Organic Market Data Networks is organised by the European-funded SOLINSA project. In the workshop, Raffaele Zanoli, presented an overview of the European situation and the importance of functioning networks to contributing to solving Europe’s organic market data challenges.
o Presentation of FiBL/IFOAM “The organic market in Europe and worldwide” at Tuttofood Fieramilano – Milano (IT) 20/05/2013
o SANA fair 7-10 September 2013, Bologna (Italy) oral presentation of the OrganicDataNetwork project of Università Politecnica delle Marche
o Key note speech: 8th European Organic Congress, 10-12 September 2014, Bari (Italy). Key note speech: Organic market & trade: what current figures don’t say. Università Politecnica delle Marche.
o Organic farming statistics China - Opening Ceremony of the Organic Farming Week in China, 2014. Presentation: Organic Agriculture in Europe: Data and Statistics. FiBL
• Workshop/meeting
o UK organic production and market statistics meeting at ORC – Elm Farm, Newbury (UK) 18 July 2012
o In Feb. 13, 2013 a session has been organised in the framework of the BioFach and BioFach Congress 2013 in Nuremberg, Germany (13-16 February 2013). Title of the session “The European Market for Organic Food - Recent statistics and how to improve data quality”. Location: Nuremburg, Germany. Speakers of the session:
§ Camille Moreau “The French organic sector - Recent data and Methodologies”
§ Susanne Padel “The organic sector in the UK recent trends & Results of a survey of market data collection in Europe”
§ Diana Schaack “News about the organic market in Germany 2012”
§ Corinna Feldmann “The European Market for Organic Food – Assessment of data quality”
§ Burkhard Schaer “A glimpse on organic markets in Eastern Europe”
§ Marco Schlűter
§ Helga Willer “The European Market for Organic Food 2011”
§ Raffaele Zanoli (presenter)
http://orgprints.org/22345/
• 1st Stakeholder workshop on the current situation of data collection methods – Elm Farm, Newbury (UK), 13 March 2013
• Workshop: Tracking the UK organic market, 14-16 November 2013, Cardiff Builth Wells Ruthin (UK), Organic Research Centre and Soil Association.
• Workshop: BioFach and BioFach Congress 2014, 12-15 February 2014, Feb. 13, 2014 a session has been organised “How to improve market data quality? Case study on improved data collection methods in selected countries (DE, CZ, FR, IT, Mediterranean countries, UK)”. Location: Nuremburg, Germany. Speakers of the session:
o UK: Anja Viehweger, ORC, UK
o DE: Diana Schaack, AMI, Germany
o CZ: Michal Lošťák, CULS, Czech Rep.
o FR: Dorian Flechet, Agence Bio, France
o IT: Francesco Solfanelli, UNIVPM, Italy
o Mediterranean: Patrizia Pugliese, CIHEAM-IAMB, Italy
o Raffaele Zanoli (presenter)
• 2nd Stakeholder workshop on finding practical solutions to current organic market data problems – IAMB Bari (IT), 10-11 July 2014
• 18th IFOAM Organic World Congress, 13-15 October 2014, Istanbul (Turkey): Workshop: Università Politecnica delle Marche, workshop on Organic market data collection and publication procedures: the Code of Practice of the OrganicDataNetwork (OrMaCode)
o Introduction to the workshop (Raffaele Zanoli - OrganicDatanetwork coordinator)
o The OrganicDataNetwork online database and the challenge of presenting European market data in a common database (Helga Willer, FiBL - Switzerland- Diana Schaack, AMI - Germany)
o Improving organic market data: results of six case studies (Susanne Padel, ORC - UK)
o OrMaCode: the Code of Practice and the future of the organic market data collection network (Raffaele Zanoli, Università Politecnica delle Marche - Italy)
• Workshop: ORC Producer’s Conference – 26 November 2014, Birmingham (UK), organization of a workshop “Tracking the UK organic market”.
• Brussel Workshop: The workshop presents the results and recommendations from OrganicDataNetwork project, 3 December 2014, Brussels (Belgium), How to improve the organic data collection system:
o How to improve the organic data collection system - Results of the OrganicDataNetwork project, Raffaele Zanoli, Università Politecnica delle Marche, UPM, Italy
o The Case Studies of the OrganicDataNetwork, Susanne Padel, Organic Research Centre, ORC, United Kingdom
o Joint OrganicDataNetwork project database to collate organic market data, Helga Willer, Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL, Switzerland
o Presentation of the OrganicDataNetwork's Code of Good Practice for the collection of Organic Market Data (OrMaCode):
§ OrMaCode Organic market data Manual & Code of Practice - Manual and code of practice for the initiation and maintenance of good organic market data collection and publication procedures, Raffaele Zanoli (Università Politecnica delle Marche, UPM, Italy)
§ OrMaCode – different data collection approaches, Diana Schaack (Agricultural Market Information Company, AMI, Germany)
§ Quality and consistency in organic data, Ulrich Hamm (University of Kassel, UKS, Germany)
§ How to improve the organic data collection system - Final Project Recommendation, Raffaele Zanoli, Università Politecnica delle Marche, UPM, Italy
• BioFach Congress 2015, 11-14 February 2015, Feb. 12, 2015 a session has been organised “The European market for organic food”. Location: Nuremburg, Germany. Speakers of the session:
o Prof. Raffaele Zanoli, DIIGA - Università Politecnica delle Marche, Italy: Moderator
o Dr. Helga Willer, Forschungsinstitut für biologischen Landbau (FiBL), Switzerland: European market data
o Diana Schaack, Agrarmarkt Informations-Gesellschaft mbH (AMI), Germany: The German market
o Dr. Susanne Padel, The Organic Research Centre, UK: The UK market
o Nathalie Rison Alabert, L'Agence Bio, France: The French market
• Paper in proceedings
o Schaack D. and Willer H. (2014). The organic market in Europe results of a survey of the OrganicDataNetwork project, in Rahmann G & Aksoy U (Eds.) Proceedings of the 4th ISOFAR Scientific Conference. Building Organic Bridges, at the Organic World Congress 2014, 13-15 Oct., Istanbul, TR; Thuenen Report nr 20, vol 2. Heinrich Von Thünen-Institut: Braunschweig (DE).1015-1018.
o Feldmann C. and Hamm U. (2014). Searching for inconsistencies in organic market data – a guide on how to apply quality checks for statistics (poster), in Rahmann G & Aksoy U (Eds.) Proceedings of the 4th ISOFAR Scientific Conference. Building Organic Bridges, at the Organic World Congress 2014, 13-15 Oct., Istanbul, TR; Thuenen Report nr 20, vol 1. Heinrich Von Thünen-Institut: Braunschweig (DE).359-362.
o Gerrard C. et al. (2014). Results of surveys of organic market data collectors and end users in Europe (poster), in Rahmann G & Aksoy U (Eds.) Proceedings of the 4th ISOFAR Scientific Conference. Building Organic Bridges, at the Organic World Congress 2014, 13-15 Oct., Istanbul, TR; Thuenen Report nr 20, vol 4. Heinrich Von Thünen-Institut: Braunschweig (DE).1139-1142.
o Schaack D. and Willer H. (2015). Erhebung zu Bio-Marktdaten in Europa Datenlücken, Klassifizierungen, Definitionen und Qualitätschecks, in 13. Wissenschaftstagung Ökologischer Landbau, 17.-20.3.2015 Eberswalde, Germany. Hochschule für nachhaltige Entwicklung in Eberswalde: Eberswalde (DE). In press
• Article in books
o The 14th edition of "The World of Organic Agriculture" was launched at BioFach Congress 2013 in Nürnberg, Germany (13-16 February 2013). Willer, Helga; Lernoud, Julia and Kilcher, Lukas (Eds.) The World of Organic Agriculture - Statistics and Emerging Trends 2013. Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) and International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), Frick and Bonn.
A number of project members of the OrganicDataNetwork have contributed to the book with results and findings from the project:
§ Willer Helga (2013). Organic farming in Europe 2012, in Willer Helga, Lernoud Julia and Lukas Kilcher (eds). The World of Organic Agriculture. Statistics and Emerging Trends 2013. FiBL and IFOAM, Frick and Bonn, 208-214
§ Schaack, Diana; Lernoud, Julia; Padel, Susanne and Willer, Helga (2013) The Organic Market in Europe 2011 - Nine Percent Increase Compared with 2010. In: Willer, Helga; Lernoud, Julia and Kilcher, Lukas (Eds.) The World of Organic Agriculture - Statistics and Emerging Trends 2013. Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) and International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), Frick and Bonn, pp. 224-229. http://orgprints.org/23194/
§ Zanoli, Raffaele (2013) Improving European Organic Market Information - The OrganicDataNetwork Project. In: Willer, Helga; Lernoud, Julia and Kilcher, Lukas (Eds.) The World of Organic Agriculture - Statistics and Emerging Trends 2013. Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) and International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), Frick and Bonn, pp. 230-321. http://orgprints.org/23195/
§ Home, Robert; Stolze, Matthias and Losták, Michal (2013) Survey of the Demands of End Users in Europe for Organic Market Data. In: Willer, Helga; Lernoud, Julia and Kilcher, Lukas (Eds.) The World of Organic Agriculture - Statistics and Emerging Trends 2013. FiBL-IFOAM Report. Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) and International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), Frick and Bonn, pp. 232-233. http://orgprints.org/23193/
o The 15th edition of "The World of Organic Agriculture – Statistics and Emerging trends 2014" was launched at BioFach 2014 (February 2014) at Nürnberg Messe, Nuremberg, Germany (Willer, Helga; Lernoud, Julia (Eds.) The World of Organic Agriculture - Statistics and Emerging Trends 2014. Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) and International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), Frick and Bonn). A number of project members of the OrganicDataNetwork have contributed to the book with results and findings from the project:
§ Willer Helga (2014). Organic farming in Europe, in Willer Helga and Lenoud Julia (eds). The World of Organic Agriculture. Statistics and Emerging Trends 2014. FiBL and IFOAM, Frick and Bonn, 193-199
§ Willer Helga, Schaack Diana, Schlatter Bernanrd and Lernoud Julia (2014). Europe: current statistics, in Willer Helga and Lernoud Julia (eds). The World of Organic Agriculture. Statistics and Emerging Trends 2014. FiBL and IFOAM, Frick and Bonn, 200-207
§ Schaack Diana, Lernoud Julia, Schlatter Bernanrd and Willer Helga, (2014). The Organic Market in Europe 2012, in Willer Helga and Lenoud Julia (eds). The World of Organic Agriculture. Statistics and Emerging Trends 2014. FiBL and IFOAM, Frick and Bonn, 207-214
o The 16th edition of "The World of Organic Agriculture – Statistics and Emerging trends 2015" was launched at BioFach 2015 (11 February 2015) at Nürnberg Messe, Nuremberg, Germany (Willer, Helga; Lernoud, Julia (Eds.) The World of Organic Agriculture - Statistics and Emerging Trends 2015. Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) and International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), Frick and Bonn). A number of project members of the OrganicDataNetwork have contributed to the book with results and findings from the project:
§ Willer Helga and Schaack Diana (2015). Organic Farming and Market Development in Europe, in Willer Helga and Lenoud Julia (eds). The World of Organic Agriculture. Statistics and Emerging Trends 2015. FiBL and IFOAM, Frick and Bonn, 181-214
§ Pugliese Patrizia, Bteich Marie Reine and Al-Bitar Lina (2015). Organic Agriculture in the Mediterranean Region: updates, in Willer Helga and Lenoud Julia (eds). The World of Organic Agriculture. Statistics and Emerging Trends 2015. FiBL and IFOAM, Frick and Bonn, 216-224
o Willer H., Schaack D., Bteich M.R. (2014). Growth Trends in European Organic Food and Agriculture, in Meredith Stephen, Willer Helga (Eds.). Organic in Europe, Prospects and Developments. (Chapter 5), IFOAM EU Group: Brussels (BE). 56-95.
o Willer H. (2015). Organic agriculture in Europe – current status with a focus on feed crops and livestock numbers, in Früh, Barbara; Schlatter, Bernhard; Isensee, Anne; Maurer, Veronika and Willer, Helga (2014) Report on organic protein availability and demand in Europe = D1.2 of the CORE Organic project (ICOPP). FiBL: Frick (CH). 14-27.
• Scientific Monographs
o Willer, Helga; Lernoud, Julia and Kilcher, Lukas (Eds.) The World of Organic Agriculture - Statistics and Emerging Trends 2013. 14th Edition. Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) and International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), Frick and Bonn.
o Willer, Helga; Lernoud, Julia (Eds.) The World of Organic Agriculture - Statistics and Emerging Trends 2015. 16th Edition. Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) and International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), Frick and Bonn
o Willer, Helga; Lernoud, Julia (Eds.) The World of Organic Agriculture - Statistics and Emerging Trends 2014. 15th Edition. Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) and International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), Frick and Bonn
o Soil Association (2014). Organic Market Report 2014, Soil Association, Bristol, UK
o AMI (2014). AMI Markt Bilanz, Oko-Landbau 2014, AMI GmbH, Bonn, DE
o Hrabalova Andrea, Wollmuthova Pavla (2014). Statistická aetYení ekologického zemdlství Zpráva o trhu s biopotravinami, UZEI, Brno, CZ
o De Matthaeis Teresa, Del Bravo Fabio, Raeli Maurizio, Giardina Francesco, Romeo Marta, Crescenzi Fabiana, De Ruvo Enrico, Maria Ferrari Giovanna, Giuliano Antonella, Solfanelli Francesco (2014). Bio in cifre 2014, Del Gallo Editori D.G.E. Roma, IT
o Agence Bio (2014). La Bio en France – de la production a la consommation, Carnet 4 de l’Agricolture biologique: ses acteurs, ses produits, ses territorires (Chiffres Clés), Agence Bio, Montreuil-Sous-Bois, FR
o Pugliese Patrizia, Bteich Marie Reine, Al-Bitar Lina (eds) (2014). Mediterranean organic agriculture – Key Features, recent Facts, latest Figures, Report 2014, MOAN, CIHEAM Bari, Valenzano (Bari), IT
o Feldmann Corinna, Gerrard Catherine, Hamm Ulrich, Home Robert, Losták Michal, Padel Susanne, Schaack Diana, Stolze Matthias, Vairo Daniela, Vieweger Anja, Willer Helga, Zanoli Raffaele (2014). Data Network for better European market information – Synthesis report . OrganicDataNetwork, Ancona (IT)
o Zanoli Raffaele (2014). Improving European organic market information – Recommendations from the OrganicDataNetwork project. OrganicDataNetwork, Ancona (IT)
o Gerrard L. Catherine, Padel Susanne, Lampkin Nic (2014). English Organic Producer Survey 2013. Report no. 2/2014. The Organic Research Centre: Newbury (UK).
• Posters
o Feldmann, Corinna and Hamm, Ulrich (2013) Organic data network: Harmonising organic market data collection in Europe. Poster at: 53. Jahrestagung der Gesellschaft für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften des Landbau (Gewisola 53rd annual conference) 25-27 September 2013, Berlin (Germany). 369-371
o Feldmann Corinna and Hamm Ulrich (2014). Searching for inconsistencies in organic market data – a guide on how to apply quality checks for statistics (poster), in Rahmann G & Aksoy U (Eds.) Proceedings of the 4th ISOFAR Scientific Conference. Building Organic Bridge, at the Organic World Congress 2014, 13-15 Oct., Istanbul, TR; Thuenen Report nr 20, vol. 1.
o Gerrard Catherine L., Home Robert, Vieweger Anja, Stolze Matthias, Padel Susanne (2014). Results of surveys of organic market data collectors and end users in Europe (poster), in Rahmann G & Aksoy U (Eds.) Proceedings of the 4th ISOFAR Scientific Conference. Building Organic Bridge, at the Organic World Congress 2014, 13-15 Oct., Istanbul, TR; Thuenen Report nr 20, vol. 4.
• Lecture
o “Data collection on certified Organic Agriculture Worldwide”, lecture at the University of Hohenheim (DE) on May 14, 2013 by FiBL. Type of audience: scientific community
• Promotion of the project at the following events
o Advisory Group Organic Farming meeting – Brussels (BE) 11/04/2013
o Organic Marketing Forum – Warsaw (PL) 17/06/2013
o Sustainable rural development training days – Dublin (IE) 24/04/2013
o Specialist Group Organic Processing (SGOP) meeting – Warsaw (PL) 17/05/2013
o 4th International Conference on Organic Agriculture Sciences (ICAOS) – Eger (Hungary) 9 October 2013
o Natura Food Fair – Warsaw (PL) 12 October 2013
o 18th IFOAM Organic World Congress 2014 – Istanbul (TR), 13-15 October 2014
o BioFach Congress 2013 – Nueremberg (DE), 13-16 February 2013.
o BioFach Congress 2014 – Nueremberg (DE), 12-15 February 2014
o BioFach Congress 2015 – Nuerember (DE), 11-13 February 2015
• Article in Bullettin
o Organic Research Centre bulletin no. 113, Autumn 2013 - Survey of EU organic market data collectors
o Organic Research Centre bulletin no. 116, Summer 2014 - English producer survey
o Organic Grower magazine, summer 2014 - English producer survey (ORC)
• Online publications, presentations and deliverables of the OrganicDataNetwork project at OrganicEprints (http://www.orgprints.org/view/projects/eu-OrganicDataNetwork.html)
List of Websites:
Public website address:http://www.organicdatanetwork.net
Contact details:
Prof. Dr. Raffaele Zanoli
D3A - Università Politecnica delle Marche
Tel.: +39 071 2204929
Fax: +39 071 2204474
zanoli@agrecon.univpm.it