Kyiv, 16 April 2015 - About 200 participants from 35 countries gathered to discuss the development of the organic sector and exchange experiences in Kyiv, Ukraine, on April 16-17, at the 5th International Conference on the Organic Sector Development.
The conference highlighted the socio-environmental benefits of organic agriculture and its strong potentials for leveraging a transition to a Green Economy in the agricultural sector. It also covered domestic country developments and practical issues important for the implementation of organic standards and practices.
About 200 policy makers, experts and company representatives from about 35 countries discussed the development of the organic sector in Central, Eastern and Central Asian and neighboring countries during the two-day conference organized by the Organic Federation of Ukraine and by the international strategy consultancy Organic Services, Germany.
The conference was opened by H.E. Deputy Minister Yaroslav Krasnopolskyi, Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, and featured the presence of H.E. Deputy Minister Sergiy Kourykin, Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine, as well as representatives from the European Union, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Organic Federation of Ukraine, Organic Services and the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) Organics International.
The European Commission was the main sponsor of the event as it fell within the “Greening Economies in the European Union’s Eastern Neighbourhood” (EaP GREEN) programme, which aims to support the six Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine - to move towards a green economy by decoupling economic growth from environmental degradation and resource depletion. The programme is jointly implemented by four international organizations – The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).
" UNEP is grateful to European Union for its generous support for this project"' said Asad Naqvi, Acting Head, Green Economy Advisory Services Unit at UNEP.
"We are cognizant of the challenges that the region is facing in merging economic growth, reduction in inequality, and strengthening ecological foundation of economy. UNEP stands ready to offer technical assistance for creating an enabling policy and investment environment in which greening of economy, and production and trade of organic can happen.
"Our GE initiative is an effort to inform mainstream economic policy makers, national planning processes and ministries of environment, finance, trade and economic development that there are economic, trade, employment, environmental and poverty reduction benefits from investing in organic agriculture." he concluded.
The conference tackled issues such as organic regulations, standards and certifications, development of domestic and international organic markets, safe production and strategies of the development of organic production. It explored how organic agriculture can offer sustainable solutions for developing the agricultural sector of the rural areas in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus.
Environmental and rural development NGOs, university members, regional and national government officials, farmers’ and consumers associations, and organic agriculture experts were among the participants. Previous conferences were held in Kyiv, Ukraine (2008), Tbilisi, Georgia (2009), Astana, Kazakhstan (2010) and Izmir, Turkey (2012).
For further information:
http://organic.com.ua/en/about-2015
Media contacts:
Dr. Eugene Milovanov, Organic Federation of Ukraine, mobile: +380 505402880
