« I eat organic, it’s better for the environment”. But what is really organic food? How many farmers are producing organic in France? Is it so different from “conventional” farming ? According to the website “produire bio”, organic farming is a specific farming model respectful of women and men, animals and the environment.
In 2017 organic farming represented in France :
- Over 35 000 farmers (+9,9% over a year)
- 1,8 million acre (+15% over a year)
- 19 new farms per day
- €7 billion of annual revenues (+20%)
Context
In France, we started to hear about organic farming quite early, in 50s, through social movements against intensive farming and the use of pesticide and chemical fertilizers. The FNAB (Organic Farming National Federation) was created in 1978 by organic farmers in order to have a voice and be represent on the local and national scene. The goal was to gather organic farmers based on their location in GAB (Organic Farming Association) and GRAB (Organic Farming Research Association) independently from private companies.
In 1991, the FNAB is recognized by the French Ministry of Agriculture as a professional organization with a trade-union goal, as other conventional farming trade-unions.
Project
The FNAB is a trade-union federation, therefore it is the voice of the organic farmers and it defends their interest on the national as well as on the international scenes.
Under the term “organic farming” is included certified organic agriculture, permaculture, biodynamic activities, and other forms of environmentally friendly agricultural methods.
The FNAB’s role is also to promote and give visibility to organic farming. FNAB also advocates for a better recognition of the organic food sector towards the public authorities.
FNAB advocates on three levels :
- In France, towards the Parliament and the government
- In Europe, on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)
- At international level, within the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements, as the voice of French organic farmers
Organization
The FNAB is organized in 3 levels :
- A national federation
- Regional groups
- Departmental groups (administrative division of France) called “GAB” for “Groupements d’Agriculture Biologique”
Its members are trade-unions, farmers associations etc. As a trade-union for the organic farmers the FNAB organizes many events and workshops in order to develop guidelines for the federation. Every decision is made by the farmers that are part of the different commissions of the federation.
The FNAB has a board of directors which execute the decisions taken by the General Assembly. Each region is represented in the General Assembly, which gather every year in March or April in one of the member region.
The events :
- “Journées d’Automne” (Fall days)
Traditionally organized in November or December during 2 days, it’s the opportunity for informal discussions in order to imagine the future of the organic sector.
- Thematic commissions and inter-regional meetings
These meetings contribute in building the FNAB identities and actions, by focusing on some specific topic every time (for example: milk commission, legislation commission, communication commission, etc.)
Results
In 2019, the FNAB received about € 2 millions: 33% from the Ministry of Agriculture, 21% from subscriptions and 22% from sales and services). The FNAB carried out many actions :
- Launch a legal procedure regarding the late payments of subsidies for the organic sector
- Publication of press reports
- Participation to the policy drafting
- Development of a national grant for fodder
- Organizing training sessions
- Meetings with importants actors of the distribution sector and developments of new markets for the farmers
All the contact of the regional and departmental representations of FNAB in France are available following that link.
The Little Extra
FNAB has also a website dedicated to organic collective catering called “repasbio” as well as a website for the local authorities that wish to promote organic farming on their territory. It’s called “devlocalbio”.
Moreover, if you wish to become an organic farmer, the FNAB offers a great variety of courses and training with the network FORMABIO. FORMABIO gathers all the training courses in France on organic farming. Whether it is within a traditional lecture or through practical training courses. It is possible to follow these classes for a short training program (few days, couple of weeks) or a longer one, ending on a diploma.
The FNAB itself offers various short training programs such as “Public tender and collective catering” for 2 days or “Assisting the producers in the caccess to new markets” for one day. But the FNAB also offers more than 650 programs for “classical” farmers who would like to switch to organic farming. Those programs covers various topics :
- Discovery of the organic farming, its principles and rules
- The necessary changes in order to convert your farm
- How to manage food supply for your cattle
- Improving time management and work conditions
- …You can find the details of those training courses following this link, where the courses are listed by region.
Written by Thomé Orenga, LFC volunteer, April 2020.
Last modification : 09 Apr 2020.
Organic Farming National Federation in France
The FNAB is a federation with a trade union vocation, in this sense it will ensure missions of representation and defense of the profession of agrobiologist at the national and international level.