Up until the early 1990s, organic agriculture was practiced by less than one percent of farmers in most countries. Since the 1990s, adoption rates of organic agriculture have increased considerably, especially in Europe - in the German and Scandinavian speaking countries. In 1996 Austria (the only country which equates sustainable agriculture to organic agriculture), counted over 7 percent of its agricultural land as being under organic management, and Switzerland 6 percent (for more details, see Ecology and Farming (1996), and Wynen (1997)). The Central and Eastern European countries show the same trend in growth, although the absolute rates of adoption are considerably lower at present, with a growth from below 4 000 hectares under organic management in 1990 to over 94 000 hectares in 1996 (N. Lampkin, University of Wales, Aberystwyth, personal communication, May 1997).
Changes in government policies, especially in Western Europe, are a major contributing factor to the increase in adoption rates of organic agriculture. In those countries with a high growth rate in particular, government support was provided in areas such as conversion, education, research, extension and marketing. The European Union supports organic agriculture through its agro-environmental programme, where Regulation 2078/92 covers both conversion to, and continuation in, organic agriculture (Lampkin and Weinschenck 1996). This support clearly recognizes the environmental benefits of organic agriculture.
The growth in interest in organic agriculture in the developed world is also attributed, in large part, to the problems experienced with existing practices, both on and off the farm, which threaten food security. The following are some examples:
Recognition of problems caused by synthetic fertilizers and pesticides has led a number of developing countries to reduce, or totally abolish, subsidies on those inputs. For example, in Indonesia where, after a period of subsidies on pesticides, the use of this input was prohibited while efforts were put into Integrated Pest Management programmes. In China, pesticide problems in products both on the domestic and export market has resulted in government involvement in certification organizations for "green food", including also a small amount of organic produce (Thiers 1997). Both these policies facilitate a shift towards organic agriculture.
Completely different problems are experienced by farmers in areas where more food is needed, but where the successes of the Green Revolution are not achieved. In those areas, the option, with an expanding population or deterioration of the existing land base, is to move into the more marginal areas. Paarlberg (1994) calls this "first generation rural environmental problems", where soil erosion, tree cutting and habitat destruction occur. This happened especially amongst those who owned little or no land in fertile areas in Asia, and in general in Africa. In Latin America the poor, making up more than 90 percent of farmers in many countries, are also in this category. For people in such circumstances, different reasons are relevant for interest in organic agriculture. They can include low external input use, with a decreased need for credit and interest payments, and decreased risk in production. Certainly in the initial stages, delivering to niche markets, and thereby securing premiums, can be important (see, for examples, UNDP (1992); Ong (1997); Thiers (1997)). These premiums can be available for organic production per se or for a fair trade component.
Respondents to surveys on reasons to farm organically in developed countries mention the health of the farmer and the farmer's family and problems with soil, crop, livestock, and the wider environment. Some of those reasons (such as problems with crop and livestock) are directly related to potential financial returns to farming; others to non-financial costs (such as health and considerations for the environment) (see, for example, Lockeretz and Wernick (1980); Lockeretz and Madden (1987); Wynen (1989); and Wynen (1992)). Reasons for decreased input costs and increased output prices, although mentioned, never took on the importance of the aforementioned problems.
In developing countries, reasons to change management systems will, of course, be rather dependent on the actual situation, as conditions vary between and within countries. Reasons to shift to organic agriculture mentioned by farmers in developed countries are likely to be relevant only to those farmers in developing countries with, what Paarlberg (1994) calls, "second generation rural environmental problems". That is, farmers (mainly in Asian countries) who adopted the technology of the Green Revolution (in which they combined the planting of higher yielding crop varieties with excess water and fertilizer use, inadequate nutrient and animal waste containment, loss of biodiversity and excessive reliance on pesticides) and have now encountered problems. These include farm family health, resistance to pesticides, secondary pests, deterioration of soil and water quality, drop in groundwater level, and increased risk of crop diseases. In Latin America, this includes some of the non-peasant farmers who, encouraged by export booms and domestic subsidies, have used synthetic fertilizers and pesticides to such a degree that environmental problems proved inevitable.
Despite government policies during these last decades to subsidize agricultural inputs, these remain out of reach to poor farmers. In Senegal, peanut production in the Fleuve watershed uses today 10 percent of the fertilizer volume it applied in 1978 because of the farmers' decreased capacity to invest for purchasing this input. Farmers in Senegal attribute decreased productivity to expensive credits, delays in receiving inputs, harvest losses during heavy rains (that also decrease fertilizers' efficiency), compacted soils, non-remunerative prices, and management problems, especially water (von der Weid, 1998). Farmers of the developing world tend to prefer more resilient systems that build on traditional management systems to technologically-costly production systems. Organic agriculture can respond to these needs by contributing to the intensification of traditional management systems and their diversification. It shares with farmers the traditional logic that aims at optimizing the diversity of natural conditions but needs to import scientific knowledge for an enhanced use of natural resources.
Information about details on technical aspects (what optimal kind of rotations, which crop varieties to use, optimal planting dates, nutrient status of organic materials or crop row distances) are often most urgent in the conversion stages, but can be important for a longer time. Organic farmers in Australia required information on ways to cope with specific production problems (such as weeds, source and efficiency of inputs which could be used in production, and marketing arrangements) for a long time after conversion (Wynen 1992). It should also be recognized, however, that many organic agriculture practices would become "common knowledge" if this management system were to be practiced by many and over several generations, so that the need for a certain kind of information will decrease over time. Although the basic principles can be introduced from outside, expertise on local conditions is essential. Lack of knowledge means that shifting to organic agriculture is considered by many as risky.
3. Pollution by pesticides and nutrients is an area of great concern in many countries. Some countries have taken action to curb their use of agricultural pesticides and nutrients, such as Sweden, Denmark and The Netherlands. In some areas organic agriculture is encouraged, in order to decrease the negative effects of conventional agriculture on drinking water (Heid 1997; Egmont-Florian 1997).
