The case for an Organic Action Plan

The Scottish Government has made a series of high-level political commitments to organic farming in recent years.

The first was the ambition to double the amount of land farmed organically in the current parliamentary term, from 2021 to 2026.

That pledge was made in the SNP’s 2021 election manifesto, the subsequent policy programme under the Bute House Agreement with the Scottish Greens and in the 2021 Programme for Government.

The second commitment was to support the growth of the sector by developing a new Organic Action Plan. Again, this was part of the deal with the Greens. And while that co-operation agreement broke down under former First Minister Humza Yousaf earlier this year, work has continued behind the scenes to deliver the plan.

Why an Organic Action Plan?

Organic Action Plans (OAPs) have been initiated across Europe and in other parts of the world since the 1990s, bringing together a range of policy measures aimed at encouraging greater production and consumption of organic food as well as developing the market for organic products.

OAPs are regarded, particularly within the EU, as an effective mechanism for delivering on multiple policy objectives. All EU member states currently have developed, or are in the process of developing, an OAP.

Experience from Europe suggests there are key element of successful OAPs that can be identified and replicated in other countries.

These include clear financial commitments; ownership and accountability for actions; the use of targets to motivate key actors; robust monitoring and evaluation; capacity building in organic NGOs and partnership working between the public and private sector.

Current support for organic farming

The Scottish Government supports farmers with organic conversion and maintenance payments through the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS).

AECS covers a wide range of environmental measures in addition to organic farming and, of the £312m committed via AECS since 2015, approximately £37m has supported more than 640 organic contracts.

That equates to an annual spend of around £4-5m on organics from an overall agriculture budget of £650m.

Growth in organic land

Since 2018, fully organic land in Scotland has been steadily increasing year on year, according to statistics compiled by Defra using data from certification bodies.

In 2023, the total was 103,500ha, up from 83,100ha in 2018. The expectation is for this trend to continue in the 2024 stats, due for publication May 2025.

This growth contrasts with other parts of the UK, for example in England, where the percentage of organic land share has largely remained static, or in Wales and Northern Ireland, where organic land is in decline.

Meanwhile, in Ireland, an organic strategy launched in 2019 has helped to encourage growth in the sector, with the land area already doubled.

Joining the dots

Support for conversion to organic is only one part of the puzzle. Scotland has experienced something of a boom and bust over the past 25 years when it comes to organic farming.

For example, back in 2003, there was a rush to conversion with more than 350,000 hectares under organic certification, dropping to a low of 83,200 hectares by 2018. There were many reasons for this, including a lack of market development for organic beef and lamb, the impact of the financial crash of 2007/08, the influence of large estates on the land area data and a shift in marketing emphasis from ‘organic’ to ‘local’.

However, with government policy now moving in a direction towards recognition of reward for environmental benefits alongside high quality food production, many farmers are again choosing to go down the organic route.

One of the ways in which an organic strategy, or an OAP, can help is to join the dots so that increases in organic production driven by policy incentives are met by increases in demand for organic produce. Some countries have done this through export strategies, opening new markets for organic, while others have relied on public procurement of organic food to drive domestic demand.

An OAP can also help to pull together other vital elements, such as training, advice, knowledge exchange, academic research and innovation support.

Our call to action

While Organic Action Plans are multi-faceted, cutting across various areas of public policy, experience in Europe suggests that financing of the plans is crucial to delivering on the plan’s objectives.

That means that the Scottish Government must allocate resource to give the new Organic Action Plan the best chance of success.

Organic production can help to deliver on the Scottish Government’s objectives in the Agriculture and Rural Communities Act 2024 – including climate adaptation, nature restoration and improved animal health and welfare – as well as the objectives of the Good Food Nation Act 2022 and the Biodiversity Strategy to 2045.

We are urging the Scottish Government to follow through on its commitments to organic by funding a strong action plan as part of wider package of support for Scottish agriculture to address the interlinked climate, nature and dietary health crises.