Good recent articles about the limited but now growing verified organic production in DR below and google translated.
Tesco the large UK supermarket chain buys organic bananas, cacao and mangoes amongst other products from DR and has their own quality control people checking the implementation of the local organic food code Nordom 603 from INDOCAL.
https://www.argentarium.com/veedor/noticias/37000-produccion-organica-para-consumo-local-algunos-avances-enormes-trabas/
The Dominican Republic is internationally recognized for its production and export of organic cocoa (produces 60% of world demand), organic bananas and other fruits.
But paradoxically, the consumption of organic and agroecological food and products locally is very low.
鈥淭he export industry is quite organized. On the other hand, there is the local market that is in diapers, 鈥漵ays Zaura Mu帽iz , current president of the Organic Committee of the Dominican Agribusiness Board (JAD) and owner of the organic products marketer Terra Verde, referring to the issue.
Five years ago, when Mu帽iz started the Terra Verde project, the demand for local products was considered virtually non-existent. 鈥淚 imagined that many people had the desire to start eating healthy and simply did not have access to these products,鈥� says the owner of Terra Verde.
In the country there are no powerful state or private campaigns aimed at promoting healthy eating as a culture.
Remember that by then (2013) just some organic products were imported.
Nowadays, although very timidly, local supermarket chains are introducing a variety of foods of this type, which offer the advantages of being healthier and having a lower environmental cost.
But there are several factors that slow the growth of the market.
On the one hand, organic is not generally economic. Frequently, the possibility of acquiring such products is reserved for people with high purchasing power. Therefore, the cost is seen as an obstacle for the booming local organic industry.
Thus, reduced demand slows down the possibilities of mitigating costs by high volume of production or, as economists would say, by economy of scale.
Rodolfo Gil, founding member of the Association of Organic Producers Los Botados (Aproglobo), recognizes that these foods are more in demand by the middle and upper middle class. He attributes it to the fact that, on the one hand, these income strata are usually more educated and, consequently, aware of the need to take care of their health and their environment; but also that the poorest groups do not have the purchasing power to acquire products whose price is higher than those of the more conventional ones.
In this regard, Mu帽iz says that the high cost is a factor against, but gives priority to the lack of awareness of the value of healthy food and its lower impact on the environment.
It is, in his opinion, to be clear about the priorities: 鈥淧eople who have their diet as a priority may choose, perhaps, to stop doing other things. I spend on food what I do not buy clothes and makeup, 鈥漢e says, convinced that, more than an expense, this is an investment in health.
"If we see it as an investment, not as a cost, in the long run when you maintain a healthy lifestyle and healthy eating, you have to worry less about going to the doctor," says Mu帽iz.
To this is added that in the country there are no powerful state or private campaigns aimed at promoting healthy eating as a culture.
Organic producers for local consumption face the challenge of still reduced demand, with the disadvantage that their products are generally not an option for the majority of the population, which has few resources.
The sector also demands legislation that, in addition to assuming this challenge, stimulates organic production and protects small and medium producers. 鈥淚t is the main demand that the organic producers of the country have,鈥� says Gil, who has decades related to the organic world.
鈥淪mall organic producers do not have access to certifications, which is a long and expensive process鈥� lack of support, lack of financing, training and technical assistance,鈥� notes, on the other hand, Mu帽iz.
It is important to remember that to be called in the formal markets as organic, the product must not only be free of agrochemicals and pesticides, without additives, dyes, preservatives or other artificial inputs. In addition, it must be certified by an accredited international entity, in order to offer the final consumer the guarantee of high quality and compliance with the established standards and standards.
They also bet on the application of government subsidies, as stipulated in other countries, with the objective of promoting and projecting local production.
At the beginning of March of this year, organic farmers proposed to initiate a process of transition from conventional agriculture to organic and agro-ecological agriculture.
The proposal emerged at the II Regional Meeting of the Caribbean of Agroecology Organizations entitled 鈥淪tate of art of Agroecology in the Dominican Republic focused on public policies鈥�.
In 2016, organic agriculture projected an annual growth of 25-30%, according to data from the Office of Control of Organic Agriculture of the Ministry of Agriculture.
In it, they complained about the modernization of agriculture in the framework of the model of the green revolution in the country, since far from solving the problems of the rural area has generated a crisis.
They explained that this crisis is expressed in the increasing deterioration of natural resources, vulnerability to climate change, rural poverty, migration and social and economic infeasibility.
In this regard, Gil expresses that there is currently a bill that far from benefiting them, harms them.
"Now there is another bill for agricultural development and rural development but it has nothing to do with development, as it comes back to the issue of protection of monocultures and large agribusinesses, not the peasant," he laments.
In general, farmers say that they face great difficulties in obtaining financial resources to invest in agroecology.
It should be noted that 70% of national production is attributed to small-scale producers.
Trend worldwide
The organic market grows, and much, internationally. In fact, currently the big chains and food companies are opening in their gastronomic offers organic product lines, or failing that they are buying small companies to incorporate the organic.
"It's not a fad," says Mu帽iz.
Locally, too. In 2016, organic agriculture projected an annual growth of between 25-30%, according to data from the Office of Control of Organic Agriculture of the Ministry of Agriculture.
By then, there are about 16,089 producers and about 21 organic products, including grass and honey.
Data from the producers suggest that there are about 23,600 producers and 148,000 hectares dedicated to organic farming, which generate income of US $ 200 million.
These numbers predict that in the coming years this industry will be able to position itself as an important pillar of the national economy, according to representatives of the sector.
Certification is a big obstacle for many producers. I bet most of the food I buy and eat is more organic than I used to eat in the UK or in other islands that imported form USA. It sure tastes better.
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