How to influence the trajectory of organic agriculture’s development when you are not in the driver’s seat? The case of the French National Federation of Organic Farming

• Main Authors: Chance Quentin, Le Velly Ronan, Goulet Frédéric
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: De Gruyter 2018-12-01
• Series: Open Agriculture
• Subjects: conventionalisation; organic farming; producers’ organisations; scaling-up; supply chains
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1515/opag-2018-0066

This article describes the actions taken by the National Federation of Organic Farming (FNAB) to try to influence the course of organic agriculture's development in France. This federation wields the strength that accrues from its network of regional associations, but has no direct control over the economic actions of farmers and enterprises in the organic sector. It is trying to influence these actions in three different ways. First, it is drawing up a normative framework, a stabilised discourse about the risks that are linked to the current strong growth of the market and about the economic model and values that it wants to defend in this context. Second, the FNAB tries to affect the ways that the food supply chains are organised by promoting certain production and trade organisation schemes. Third, the FNAB produces information and references to help farmers and economic operators get their market bearings.