Forschungsinsitut für biologischen Landbau (FiBL)

Research Institute of Organic Agriculture /Forschungsinstitut für biologischen Landbau (FiBL), Frick Switzerland

Organisation
The Research Institute of Organic Farming (FIBL), a private foundation employing in Switzerland a staff of 120, including 63 scientists, aims at establishing practice-oriented agronomic and economic research in organic farming. FiBL Socio-Economics Department has substantial competences in economic farm modelling, organic farming policies, supply chain management and consumer research. Furthermore FiBL has also research institutes in Germany (Frankfurt) and Austria (Vienna).

Main task in project
FiBL is WP manager of WP1, on the analysis of identification and analysis of animal welfare standards and initiatives in the EU and third countries. Furthermore, they will participate in all WP0, WP2, WP3 and WP4 and are part of the core team.

Experience and network
FiBL as institute is co-ordinator of several EU-funded projects:
- ‘Further Development of Organic Farming Policy in Europe, with Particular Emphasis on EU Enlargement’ (CEE-OFP, QLRT-2001-00917),
- ‘Development of criteria and procedures for the evaluation of the European Action Plan for Organic Agriculture’ (ORGAP, CoNo6591), and
- ‘Developing entrepreneurial skills of farmers (ESoF, SSPE-ct-2005-006500)’.
Furthermore FiBL is partner in ‘Research to support revision of the EU Regulation on organic agriculture’ (EEC 2092/91 REVISION, CoNo502397), ‘Improving quality and safety and reduction of cost in the European organic and “low input” food supply chains’ (QLIF, Food-CT-2003-506358), ‘GM and non-GM supply chains: their CO-EXistence and TRAceability’ (CO-EXTRA, CoNo7158), and ‘Encouraging Farmers Marketing Initiatives’ (COFAMI: SSPE-CT-2005-006541).

Staff members
Otto Schmid, Senior Researcher is involved in research on farm economics, marketing, analysis of agricultural policies and rural development. Since 1980 he has been working with the development of standards/regulations for organic agriculture, being co-ordinator of the Standards Committee of IFOAM (International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements) for 8 years and representing IFOAM in Codex Alimentarius work for more than 15 years. He is chair of the research subcommittee in IFOAM EU Group. From 1976 until 1990 he was co-ordinator of the farm advisory service of the FiBL. Since many years he has been an external lecturer at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Zurich (ETH) for organic farming, farming systems and agricultural marketing. He was involved in the EU projects OMiARD, ORGIN, CEE-OFP, QLIF and EEC 2092/91 revision as a senior scientist. He was coordinator of the EU project ORGAP. He published several articles on standards comparisons including livestock.
Dr. Jürn Sanders, Senior Researcher, is involved in research on agricultural policy and farm economics. His main working area covers quantitative policy analysis and sustainable farm strategies. In his PhD thesis, he investigated the effects of trade liberalisation on organic farming and its relative profitability. He has been involved as project leader and researcher among others in the EU projects COFAMI, CEE-OFP, ORGAP and OMIaRD.
Rahel Félice Kilchsperger, Junior Researcher, has a diploma in agricultural science with focus on ecology at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in 2008. During her studies she realized a socio-economical and biophysical characterization of dry season feeding systems for dairy cattle in the hillsides of Nicaragua in collaboration with the Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT). Rahel has contributed also to the definition of the organic principles in the Organic Revision project.