Constraints on organic farming
Investigating factors determining constraints on the expansion of organic farming in Sweden
Organic farming has grown to encompass 15% of Sweden’s agricultural land, but in the past five years the increase in conversion to organic farming has stagnated. Within this Formas project, researchers will use empirical and modelling approaches to investigate the factors that limit current uptake of organic farming in Sweden. The focus will be on understanding the reasons behind low uptake in productive landscapes.
A team with agronomic, ecological and economic expertise will pursue these aims using a combination of analyses of existing data on uptake of organic farming, empirical studies across scales from fields to farms, and ecological-economic modelling and analyses. We will do this in interaction with relevant stakeholders to inform the development of policies such as the Common Agricultural Policy and actions to increase organic consumption, in order to optimize the uptake of organic farming for balancing agriculture’s contribution towards achieving the UN's sustainable development goals.
Contact
Project leader
Henrik Smith
Centre for Environmental and Climate Science (CEC)
E-mail: henrik [dot] smith [at] biol [dot] lu [dot] se (henrik[dot]smith[at]biol[dot]lu[dot]se)
Phone: +46 46 222 93 79
Mobile: +46 709 78 20 56
Participating researchers
The links are to external websites and to Lund University's research portal.
- Henrik Smith (CEC)
- Göran Bergkvist – slu.se
- Mark Brady – agrifood.se
- Romain Carrié (CEC)
- Pierre Chopin – slu.se
- Yann Clough (CEC)
- Sigrun Dahlin – slu.se
- Johan Ekroos (CEC)
- Christian Jörgensen – agrifood.se
- Melanie Karlsson (CEC)
- Martin Nordin – agrifood.se
- Rafaelle Reumaux - slu.se
- Christine Watson - slu.se
- Johanna Wetterlind - slu.se
- Ingrid Öborn – slu.se
Funding
Formas
Related research
Nordin, Martin. 2021. Is a shortage of manure a constraint to organic farming? AgriFood Working Paper 2021:1.
Article on webpage of Agrifood - agrifood.se