The German Ministry of Agriculture has announced the German strategy to increase the share of organic agriculture to 2030% by 30. This makes the German government even more ambitious than the European Union, which has a target of 25%.
The fact that the goal is ambitious is not an exaggeration. According to the latest count, 14,2% of German companies are organic and 11,2% of German agricultural land is farmed organically. In fact, Germany is asking for a tripling of the Organic area in just seven years.
The German Ministry of Agriculture mainly foresees a challenge for livestock farming. About 14% of German arable farming is organic, and in greenhouse horticulture about 22% is organic. On the other hand, only 4% of German milk is produced organically. An exception to this is the laying cattle sector; In total, 16% of all German eggs are organic.
Measures
The German government is introducing a total of 30 measures to achieve the goal. In practice, the measures amount to research into organic varieties of crops and animals, crop protection, among other things. In addition, the government wants to communicate the benefits of organic farming to the public in various ways and encourage the processing of organic products. To this end, Germany wants to subsidize small and medium-sized businesses and the marketing of organic products. In addition, there will be a minimum percentage of organic products for canteens and catering.
However, not all measures are new. Some plans had been planned for some time. For example, on February 15, a minimum of organic products for catering, canteens and restaurants was decided. In addition, the Ministry of Agriculture makes at least 30% of the research budget available for organic agriculture.
Challenges
The German government recognizes that increasing the demand for organic products is the biggest challenge. The report shows that inflation in particular is putting pressure on the organic market. It seems that the government mainly wants to convince consumers by informing the public about the environmental benefits of organic farming. The success of this method is questionable. It will probably be possible to convince the relatively large share of conscious consumers to eat organic more often. The question, however, is how much gain can still be achieved in this group, since most of this group is familiar with the impact of their diet.
Conservative consumer
If the German government wants to create a market for the organic sector, it will also convince the average consumer. And it is generally quite conservative. It is therefore unlikely that the average German (if one exists) can be convinced with such arguments to buy organic more often. To convince this group, Germany will probably have to ensure that organic products become at least as affordable as conventional products. However, the plan does not include taxes and subsidies for products. Such a push strategy seems to be a bridge too far for the time being.