Securing Commitments from Stakeholders in 10 EU Member States—The Organic Seed Declaration to Foster Stakeholder Involvement

Abstract

The new European organic regulation 2018/848 aims to phase out the use of non-organic seeds in organic farming by 2036. At present, achieving this goal in countries with a poorly developed organic seed sector is difficult, and therefore there is a great need to increase organic seed supply by promoting the development of the organic seed sector in Europe. This paper presents a conceptual framework to secure voluntary stakeholder involvement in the process of a gradual increase in the supply of organic seeds for organic farming. Stakeholders showed a high motivation to commit to concrete action points for moving forward. In addition, further actors were involved in the fulfillment of the commitments, a sign of a positive network effect in favor of organic seed production and use. The study indicates application potential and can complement mandatory policy instruments. Further progress monitoring is necessary to ensure that established structures maintain their function, and to keep the shared sense of responsibility alive.