Following a 29-month break due to the COVID-19 pandemic the 33rd International Trade Fair for Organic Food BIOFACH 2022 opened its doors to the visitors at the Exhibition Centre Nuremberg. This year 2,276 exhibitors from 94 countries, in particular, over 30 companies from Ukraine, took part in the fair.
This year’s BIOFACH is, on the one hand, a celebration of organics and possibility for the organic community to meet in person finally; on the one hand, it is a lot of attention to the war in Ukraine on all the levels – from personal communication to the EU Commissioner’s speeches.
In his welcome speech during the official opening of the fair Janusz Wojciechowski, the Commissioner for Agriculture, highlighted that organic agriculture is becoming more resilient than conventional under crisis condition, because it is less dependent on pesticides and fertilizers (NB: russia used to be one of the leading suppliers of fertilizers to the EU).
The Commissioner is a supporter of organic agriculture and sees great potential for its further development in the EU. At the session dedicated to the new EU organic regulation, which came in force on 1 January 2022, answering the questions from the audience, Mr. Wojciechowski noted:
“Yes, achieving a target of 25% agricultural land under organic farming by 2030 is a political goal and the member states are now setting their own goals, depending on the level of development of organic production. However, I believe that we have a much bigger potential for development than we declare. There are a lot of myths around organic production, but it is the only way for small farmers to remain farmers, otherwise they will be uncompetitive”.
Organic agriculture is not only more sustainable, but also contributes to rural development and development of small farmers.
During the tour around the fair the delegation of high-ranking European officials also visited the Ukrainian pavilions. In particular, during the meeting at the National Pavilion of Ukraine EU Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski and German Minister of Food and Agriculture Cem Ozdemir expressed their support to the Ukrainian people and organic producers at the fair.
The Minister noted that the food corridors for export from Ukraine which are now under development are important but temporary. The next joint step will be arrangement of powerful permanent corridors which will ensure uninterrupted agricultural export from Ukraine.
Follow the Ukrainian companies at BioFach on the pavilion organizers’ pages on Facebook.
Kateryna Shor, OrganicInfo.ua
For reference:
At the “summer edition” of BIOFACH 2022 Ukraine is represented by 32 Ukrainian organic companies at two pavilions:
- National Pavilion of Ukraine Organic Ukraine Business Hub, organized by the State Institution “Entrepreneur and Export Promotion Office” and Organic Ukraine NGO in partnership with the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine,
- Pavilion organized by Ukrainian Berries Association, Organic Federation of Ukraine and Biodynamics Association of Ukraine.
Participation of Ukraine at BIOFACH 2022 became possible thanks to support of UNDP in Ukraine, Switzerland in the frame of the Programs “Higher Value Added Trade from Organic and Dairy Sector in Ukraine” and “Organic Trade 4 Development in Eastern Europe” (OT4D)