Die Bedeutung von "Fairness" für österreichische Bio-Bäuer_innen

Sabrina Gorbach
2013 unpublished
This thesis deals with the principle of fairness and its implementation in organic agriculture in the country of Austria. The aim of this investigation is to deliver foundation for the development of a fairness strategy for the organic farming association BIO AUSTRIA. There has been a debate about values and principles in the organic sector due to structural and economic changes in the organic market. In recent years more and more organic-fair initiatives have been developed in the German
more » ... ng countries that share ideas of the fair trade movement. Alongside health, ecology and care, fairness is one of four IFOAM (International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements) principles of organic agriculture. However social and ethical aspects are not, or are only partially included in the EU-organic standards as well as private standards. This paper aims to identify the meaning of fairness for Austrian organic farmers, as well as how the principle can be implemented at BIO AUSTRIA. On the basis of qualitative guided interviews nine organic farmers from Vorarlberg, Lower Austria and Vienna have been surveyed. The sampling of the organic farmers was based on following characteristics among others: a balanced gender ratio, branches of industry, farm sizes, age, conversion time and types of distribution. Four women and five men have been surveyed. The interviews have been evaluated based on Mayring content analysis, categories have subsequently been generated. Furthermore this thesis includes an analysis of three initiatives/organisations; Naturland, Bio Suisse and BioFairVerein. These organisations have already implemented the principle of fairness in various ways. The results show that a fair price has central importance in terms of fairness for the farmers. In addition the farmers responded that trustful trade relationships, transparency and regionality also belong to fairness. Furthermore the results indicate that organic farmers are interested in strengthening the principle of fairness at BIO AUSTRIA. However, [...]
doi:10.25365/thesis.30275 fatcat:ecxo2kuslbebzge6xvdghi7mdq