The Success and Failure of Australia’s Organic Agriculture

Two recently published maps of the world of organic agriculture reveal Australia’s bold success as well as its disappointing failure.Firstly there is the ‘Fat Australia’ map that shows the leadership position of Australia in the world of organic agriculture. Australia has more certified organic hectares than any other country. It accounts for 32% of the world’s total. In the organic projection of the world, country areas are proportional to reported certified organic agriculture hectares. Argentina holds the second place. Europe is well represented, as are China and India, while Africa shrinks in the organics projection. But the ‘Slow-grow Australia’ map shows Australia lagging the world in the rate of growth of the organics sector. Australia has been overtaken in terms of growth of organic hectares by the fast learners, China and India, and by the rest of the world in general. On the map, in red, are the fastest growing organics nations, followed by countries coloured orange, such as New Zealand, and yellow, such as Canada. The nations in green, including Australia, exhibit below average growth