Windhoek
The Namibian Organic Association (NOA) is assessing local farms according to Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS), which serve thousands of farmers and consumers around the world.
NOA’s PGS is a local organic assurance system for Namibian organic produce providing a credible, relevant and cost effective mechanism through which producers can provide an organic guarantee to consumers. It embodies the active participation of producers, and other stakeholders such as consumers and traders in their peer-reviewed organic guarantee process. The strength of NOA’s PGS is that the members have intensive local knowledge about the agricultural conditions in Namibia, which makes the assessment relevant for local conditions.
The elements of NOA’s PGS include NOA Standards, which are based on the Afrisco standards V07, equivalent to the international IFOAM Basic standards. NOA producers either receive the “Namibian Organic” or “Namibian Organic in Conversion” mark when producers are in the two or three year conversion period before becoming fully organic.
For an organic guarantee system to be transparent, and to be able to deliver on a consistent and equitable basis, the NOA PGS are well documented with the NOA Organic Standards, Producers Database, PGS Operations Manual and Individual Farm Assessment notes, recommendations and conditions for future assessments.
During each assessment, the producer needs to pledge that all statements made in the application are true and correct and that no prohibited chemical products have been used in the management of any the organic fields, crops and livestock. The producer also commits him/herself to unannounced assessment visits, and will provide right of access to all appropriate facilities.
Non-compliances with the Standards are dealt with individually and depend, on the severity of each case. NOA will institute corrective and/or preventative actions required to bring the operation back to organic integrity, whether the contravention of the standards was intentional or not. Actions may include immediate cancellation of the organic status, withdrawal of specific product lines from the market and whether the farm, or sections of the farm remain and are subject to a conversion process. The application of penalties due to non-compliance is transparent, and the outcomes are publicly available on the NOA website.
The NOA PGS system is based on a complete transparent, formal, and systemised decision making process.
Participation embodies the principle of a collective responsibility for ensuring the organic integrity of the PGS and products bearing the Namibian Organic Mark. This collective responsibility is reflected through shared ownership of the PGS, stakeholder engagement, and direct communication between producers, consumers and other stakeholders.
In addition to the appointed assessment team, any fellow organic farmer, consumer, retailer or trader, which are registered NOA members, are welcome to attend an organic assessment as an observer. NOA is keen to increase the number of qualified assessors, and invites all farmers to contact them to join this process.