IFOAM

The Chair of the Organic Federation of Australia, Andre Leu, has been elected as the President of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM)

The International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) is the world umbrella organization that currently unites 750 member organizations in 116 countries. IFOAM is the only organization that advocates for organic agriculture at the international level.

Andre was elected at the General Assembly in Korea during the 17th IFOAM Organic World Congress. Because this event only occurs once in three years it is the most significant in the organic world. This year it attracted thousands of people from around 100 countries. Over 250,000 people participated in the numerous activities at the congress site.

Many Australians, including Jan Denham, the Chair of Australia's first organic certifier, NASAA, contributed to this important international event. OFA Deputy Chair, Tim Marshall and several other OFA members presented a range of papers on organic systems at this major international event. OFA founding member Liz Clay was a keynote speaker and a Co-Chair of the General Assembly.

Andre stated ‘It is an exciting time to be involved in the organic sector as it is the fastest growing agricultural based industry in the world. The growth in the markets for organic product sales continues to increase and defy the global market slowdown. 160 countries collected certified organic data in 2009 compared to 86 countries that collected certified organic data in 2000.

‘The global value of certified organic market sales is estimated to be around $60 billion dollars. It was $54.9 billion in 2009, $33.2 billion in 2005 and $15.2 billion in 1999. This shows a consistent trend of a high rate of growth' Andre said.

When asked about the priorities during his term as President Andre stated that ‘I am interested in promoting the multifunctional benefits of organic systems and food in terms of health, climate change, biodiversity, small farmers, feeding the world, resilience, soil improvement, water use efficiency and poverty alleviation.'

Andre paid tribute to the outgoing IFOAM board members, especially the previous President, Katherine DiMatteo. Andre is the first Australian President of IFOAM. Liz Clay was the first Australian to serve on the IFOAM World Board and retired in 2005, with Brendan Hoare from New Zealand being elected.