Health networks

Full project title:

Developing best practice networks of health in organic agricultural systems

Project code:

2014-93

Contract period:

1 January 2015 to 31 December 2016

Main funder:

Ekhagastiftelsen

Contact staff at ORC:

Ms. Anja Vieweger

Other staff involved:

Lawrence Woodward, Bruce Pearce

Project aims

The main aim of the project is to create an international network of producers and scientists in order to initiate new and interdisciplinary approaches to health measurement and health research in ecological agriculture. This will ultimately serve to improve health effects in the entire food system. The second aim of this project is to identify which principles, strategies and methods organic farmers have adopted that make them successful in relation to health management on their farms. This will lead to the identification of best practice examples with regards to health and managing healthy agricultural systems. Building on experience in practice and on findings from a former research project reviewing health concepts in ecological agriculture (funded by the Ekhaga Foundation, code 2011-74), this project will produce a set of transferable strategies to increase the direct translation of organic principles into practice and improve the communication and demonstration of health concepts among all stakeholders. It will further initiate the creation of a best practice network of health in organic agriculture, connecting farmers and researchers for a joint approach to increase health effects in organic agricultural food systems.

ORC's role

Project leader

Key achievements

Download our leaflet Towards farmer principles of health - 10 key statements of farmers to improve health in organic agricultural systems.

Also in German Grundsätze der Gesundheit im Ökologischen Landbau aus Sicht der Praxis - 10 Kernaussagen von Bäuerinnen und Bauern zur Verbesserung der Gesundheit in ökologischen Anbausystemen

Read Anja Viweger's article in the ORC Bulletin No.122Towards farmer principles of health

Project leader and partners

Anja Vieweger, The Organic Research Centre (ORC) Newbury, UK
Thomas Döring, Humboldt University (HU) Berlin, Germany
Rebecca Paxton, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna, Austria
Ralf Bloch, Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) Berlin, Germany
Johann Bachinger, Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) Berlin, Germany
Lawrence Woodward, The Organic Research Centre (ORC); GM Education; Whole Organic Plus, UK

Previous relevant work

Health concepts

All sources of funding

Ekhagastiftelsen