Improving statistical information on the agro-environmental indicator "organic area" at the global level.
Abstract
Globally, organic farming continues to grow and has reached wide acceptance amongst farmers, consumers, market actors, and policymakers. According to the latest available data (per 31.12.2015), almost 51 million hectares are under organic agricultural management, and this constitutes one percent of the global agricultural land. Organic agricultural land area (and the organic share of the total agricultural land) is an agri-environmental indicator according to FAO, OECD, and Eurostat. However, the collection of these data is associated with several challenges, including data gaps and incomplete data, issues related to definitions, classifications, data quality, and data access. In order to enhance the use of this indicator by policy makers and society on the state and trends in agri-environmental conditions, better data are needed.