Brandenburg's agriculture and food industry faces a number of challenges, but also significant opportunities. On the one hand, the historical lack of processing and marketing structures is hindering development, while on the other, the increasing demand from the Berlin-Brandenburg metropolitan region offers enormous potential for the expansion of organic regional sales markets and value chains. With the aim of further strengthening sustainability and organic farming in Brandenburg, the Brandenburg Action Plan for Organic Agriculture has been implemented since 2022 and aims to increase the proportion of organically farmed land in the state to 20 per cent by 2024.

Market information talks 2024: topics and schedule

As part of the Action Plan for Organic Agriculture, product-related market information events were organised to bring together market players from the agricultural and food sectors and discuss current developments, challenges and opportunities. These events are key to strengthening the regional organic value chain and promoting dialogue between producers, processors and marketers.

In October and November 2024, four market information talks were held on the following topics

• Organic cereals (22 October 2024, Heimvolkshochschule at Seddiner See) 
  Programme
• Organic niche crops (29 October 2024, Heimvolkshochschule at Seddiner See) 
  Programme
• Organic meat (18 November 2024, Gut Hesterberg) 
  Programme
• Organic value chains for communal catering (19 November 2024, Heimvolkshochschule at Seddiner See) 
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These events aimed at farmers, producer groups, processing companies, retailers, restaurants and communal catering. Associations and organisations were also invited. The aim was to present the latest developments and trends in the organic market, promote the transfer of knowledge and strengthen dialogue between stakeholders. In addition, new co-operations were promoted in order to further expand sales channels and business models in the organic sector.

Previous market information talks

Two market information talks were already held in 2023. The topics were ‘Organic oilseeds and seed legumes’ and ‘Potatoes and vegetables’. Organised by the Fördergemeinschaft Ökologischer Landbau Berlin-Brandenburg (FÖL) e.V. and pro agro - Verband zur Förderung des ländlichen Raumes in der Region Brandenburg-Berlin e.V., the events brought together numerous stakeholders and promoted cooperation along the entire value chain.

Objective: Promoting regional value chains and organic farming

In addition to the market information talks, the Brandenburg Action Plan for Organic Agriculture aims to expand organically farmed areas and at the same time improve the availability of regionally produced organic products. To achieve these goals, various measures are being implemented as part of the Action Plan for Organic Agriculture in addition to the market information talks, ranging from the preparation of organic market reports to the introduction of organic model regions, the organic quality label, the organisation of organic action days or the creation and development of short value chains and local markets through to the provision of framework conditions for organic farming research.

Investment in processing and marketing structures is essential in order to achieve the state government's target of 20 per cent organic land by 2024. The promotion of networking, cooperation and communication along the value chain is crucial in order to utilise resources efficiently and reduce information asymmetries.

Outlook and contribution of the Ecologic Institute

The market information talks play a central role in fostering exchange and cooperation in Brandenburg's organic sector. Ecologic Institute organised and moderated these events, provided relevant market information and created a platform where market players shared their experiences and perspectives. This supported networking along the value chain and concrete solutions for current challenges were developed. In this way, the Ecologic Institute helped to strengthen organic farming in Brandenburg and further expand regional value chains.