Organic Markets for Development (OM4D) aims to create opportunities for smallholder farmers to improve their living conditions by inclusion into domestic and international organic markets.
OM4D is a part of the Ecological Organic Agriculture Initiative (EOAI) that was launched by the African Union in 2014 and complements interventions under this initiative. The four selected countries Ghana, Togo, Burkina Faso form a homogeneous geographical area with high potential to develop organic agriculture and and Sao Tome & Principe, rich in biodiversity, have a very high organic share of total agricultural land and play an important role in the organic sector.
A Participatory Guarantee System (PGS)
One of their concrete objectives
OM4D supports and promotes the participatory guarantee system known as PGS which aims to build capacity and support groups of smallholder organic farmers to produce under locally organized certification with a peer review mechanism as a framework audit.
The participatory guarantee system (SPG) offers customers a guarantee on the organic origin of products sold on national markets
How’s it working ?
Annually, each farmer is visited by the PGS team made up of member farmers, consumers and technical experts (if needed). The farm visit is both an opportunity for the farmer to highlight his/her work during the year and for the PGS auditing team to view the farm in relation to the agreed upon Standards. The team assesses farms against standards and agrees/disagrees that the farmer may carry the seals and logo’s of the PGS Group.
These visits are conducted in the spirit of trust and transparency to support the farmer but ensuring that the declared organic standard is upheld
OM4D has created a brochure to understand where we can see :
– 1 – What do I need to know about Individual Farm certication ?
– 2 – Who can be certified as an Individual Farmer ?
– 3 – Who can be certified as a group of farmers ?
– 4 – How do I get certified ?
– 5 – How do I maintain my certification ?
CONTACTS and LINKS
Site OM4D : https://www.ifoam.bio/om4d
PGS Ghana
– Tel : +233 (0)26 904 8634
– Email : coordinator@pgs-ghana.bio
– Website : https://pgsghana.org/
See also other agroecological actors in West Africa
In Ghana and also in Niger, Ivory Coast, Togo, Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin and Senegal
The Google Maps
On the map, choose an icon (then “more info” on mobile). You will find notices with contacts (when we found them), links, photos and sometimes videos.
Mil’Ecole – Mars 2024