Relatively unspoilt nature, huge territories of unused agricultural land and lots of local people engaged in farming – these are just three factors that make Bulgaria a good place to do organic farming. Besides, organic foods are not only good for you, but also the environment. They also create jobs and have a serious market share abroad. It’s a win-win situation – in the end you have high-quality food, viable local farms and protected nature.

One of the greatest challenges for Bulgaria in the development process is to assure a balance between sufficient production of foods, employment augmentation and preventive environmental conservation.

“But this is not all,” says Yanka Kazakova of the Nature and Prosperity section of the Danube-Carpathian Programme of WWF, the global conservation organisation. “In the end, everything we need to live, from the food we eat, clothes we wear, the water we drink and houses we live in is connected, directly or indirectly, with nature. It is the very basis of our societies, our lives and our livelihoods.”

That’s why WWF has conducted a series of trainings in organic farming to farmers in Roussenski Lom Nature Park area, Pleven region, and Strandja Nature Park. Farmers learn what type of support is available, how to apply for it, how to convert to organic farming, etc. WWF believes that in providing this knowledge and these skills to local farmers, we will prove that win-win situations are indeed possible.

Roussenski Lom, for example, is one of the few areas in the Bulgarian part of the Danube River basin that still has farming areas with very rich natural values, including rare steppe grasslands and wet meadows. They provide feeding grounds and resting places for black storks, Egyptian vultures, corncrakes and other rare birds and species. The proximity of the nature park attracts organic farmers, as it is slightly easier for them to get certified in the proximity of a protected nature area.

So is organic farming the answer? Organic farming and other integrated agri-environmental activities are tangible practices, which directly contribute to the sustainable rural development and the country as a whole. Yet, organic farming in Bulgaria is in its infancy.

The share of Bulgarian organic products at the local market is less than five per cent. Land under organic production in Bulgaria was some 8000 hа in 2003 and increased to more than 12 000 hа the next year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. And the interest is getting higher.

The few Bulgarian organic products cost roughly three times more than conventional ones.

In countries with developed organic farming, like Great Britain and Germany, nearly 70 per cent of their organic production is sold on the internal market. In these countries the patterns of organic food production, marketing and consumption are characterised by a direction change from a very specialised, almost ideological niche to a more commercial, but also more accessible sector of the food market.

The organic market development in Bulgaria is a very controversial one. Simple economic logic says that when prices get higher on a certain market, supply on that same market also increases. However, many Bulgarian organic producers state that they are not interested in the internal market at all. They export all of their organic production abroad, which leaves a very limited range of organic products on the internal market.

Small and medium-sized organic farmers haved started to request that the Bulgarian Government support them in the way that their European colleagues are supported.

As a result, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry developed and approved a National Strategy and Action Plan for the development of organic farming in Bulgaria. The main goal is to have 10 per cent of all food products sold in Bulgaria as organic. The budget is more than 176 million leva over a five-year period.

As regards support from the EU, Bulgaria is now in the last weeks of negotiating its national rural development plan for use of more than 2.6 billion euro, of which at least 25 per cent goes to targeted environmental measures. On paper, the programme looks pretty good, especially considering previous lack of experience with these kinds of funds in the region. It includes possibilities to support a number of very useful things, including organic farming, high nature value farming, maintenance of river-side habitats, activities related to caring for Natura 2000 sites. Other very important opportunities are the investments in on-farm environmental management facilities and the EU’s LEADER scheme for integrated local development.

However, this money is only potentially available. The challenge will now be to ensure that what is possible on paper turns into practice. The cash will not appear automatically; concerted effort is needed to bring it to the local level. Farmers need to be made aware that it exists, how they can get hold of it. Another key issue is the monitoring and evaluation – to ensure that the money is in fact used for what it is intended, and for improving the programme when it is reviewed in 2009.

Organic farming gets many local farmers excited. Maybe that’s why it will be the next big thing in Bulgarian agriculture. But by then we’ll still have to stick to “normal” local produce. After all, the taste of even ordinary vegetables available in Bulgaria is still fuller than those bought abroad.

Konstantin Ivanov is the communications co-ordinator for WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme Bulgaria, based in Sofia. You can e-mail him at kivanov@wwfdcp.bg