100% Organic; Thimphu days 4-5

The Bhutanese government has committed the country to going 100% organic. This decision survived a change of government and the pressures from the agrochemical industry, which flew in plane loads of consultants to advise the Bhutanese government that this was a recipe for famine. This is a country that negotiated re-exporting almost 500 million tonnes of unwanted and unused (and beyond use-by-date) pesticides and herbicides back to their country of origin (Switzerland) to be incinerated there.

This week (after two years of planning) the Bhutanese Government has invited some of the world’s leading organic advocates and practitioners to a conference in order to a). help the Bhutanese government identify how to get past the blockages to becoming 100% organic and b) encourage other Himalayan and mountainous states move towards a more sustainable and equitable form of agriculture. Mong other thins we learnt that 98% of Bhutanese farms and 90% of Ladakhi farmland are already organic (in practice - if not certified-which in many situations is irrelevant).

I feel enormously privileged to be party to, and participate in, this conference. The eyes of the world are on Bhutan. It’s imperative that it becomes a global organic success story.