Why do we care about small farmers?

Small-scale farmers worldwide produce a substantial proportion of the world's food, whilst fostering sustainability and biodiversity at the same time. Their participation in national and international markets presents them with opportunities to engage with actors who can access financial resources, capacity building and training. Ideally, it enables them to produce products of higher quality, to sustainably increase their yields, to buy machinery, and to build financial reserves to compensate eventual harvest losses, pay school fees, and increase their general standard of living.

But the market inclusion of smallholders is not only a development measure.
It is essential to cover global food demands.

Therefore, many international sourcing companies work with smallholders. For them as well as for self-organized grower groups, it is crucial that despite the small structures, compliance with certain public and private standards can be guaranteed. Learn more about...

•    Why group certification matters

•    Why group certification requires a professional ICT-tool

•    Why you should become an implementation partner

 

Why have we developed Group Integrity?

We have been working in the organic sector for more than 30 years - and the needs and interests of smallholders have always been of particular importance to us. We've made it our personal mission to help strengthening their resilience, voice and livelihood and are convinced that group certification for standards like organic, fair trade and sustainable greatly facilitates their marketing chances. Instead of each small farmstead applying for costly and complex individual certification, group certification allows smallholders to join forces and obtain one certificate for an entire group.

Supporting this concept, we offer Group Integrity as an affordable, web-based tool for the professional management of internal control systems (ICS) of grower groups. As a business consultancy, we do not make a profit with Group Integrity. Instead, we follow the example of other social businesses by reinvesting the revenue into improving the tool and into subsidising our social mission: supporting small-scale farmers, the weakest links of the food supply chain.

For more information and advice, please contact us

Gemma Julià-Camprodon: Client Manager at Organic Services

Gemma Julià-Camprodon
Client Manager

Phone: +49 8158 92293 04
Email: g.julia[at]organic-services.com
Skype: gemmaos15

Javier Montanez: Client manager for Group Integrity

Javier Montanez
Client Manager
Phone: +49 8158 92293 05
Email: j.montanez[at]organic-services.com
Skype: javier.montanez5

Our directors: reknown specialist for ICS

Gerald A. Herrmann, Director
Phone: +49 8158 92293 06
Mobile: +49 177 5521 460
Email: g.herrmann[at]organic-services.com
Skype: geraldherrmann

Mildred Steidle, Director
Phone: +49 8158 92293 08
Mobile: +49 151 46748807
Email: m.steidle[at]organic-services.com
Skype: mildredsteidle

About Organic Services

Organic Services is an international strategy and management consultancy, specialising in the organic and sustainability sector. We focus on integrity solutions to combat fraud and misuse of quality claims. We draw on 30 years of experience and a global network on all continents. Our services for private companies and public institutions enhance sustainability, integrity and business success throughout the organic and sustainability sector. Our mission: more sustainability and transparency throughout the (food) supply chain. Following an interdisciplinary approach, we offer strategy and business development, market research, trade support, project, and event management. Visit the Organic Services website...

Our Integrity Toolset

Integrity toolset by Organic Services: Check Organic, Group Integrity and Ecert Basic (BIOFACH 2020)

Integrity toolset by Organic Services: Check Organic, Group Integrity and Ecert Basic (BIOFACH 2020)

The tools Ecert Basic and Group Integrity facilitate the audit and certification management of grower groups and small, local certification bodies, making their surveillance systems more robust, transparent, efficient and competitive. Our non-analytic mass balance approach, Check Organic, reveals food fraud even before the product is sold on the market. The combination of the three systems Check Organic, Group Integrity and Ecert Basic considerably facilitates the collaboration between supply chain actors (for example between a farmer group and their external certification body). This creates synergies that can benefit the industry as a whole.

Memberships

As a member of IFOAM Organics, we are connected to hundreds of organic organisations from around the world.

Within the Space2Agriculture network, we exchange ideas on how aerospace can facilitate remote inspections.

Through IoT4Food, we explore how to make the best use of digital data, sensor technology, and artificial intelligence.