Forschungsinstitut für biologischen Landbau (FiBL)

Partner description

FiBL is an independent, non-profit research institute with the aim of advancing cutting-edge science in the field of organic agriculture. FiBL Switzerland was founded in 1973 and is one of the world’s leading information and documentation centre for organic agriculture and employs over 190 scientists and advisors. The close links between different research disciplines and the fast knowledge flow from research to extension to farm practice are FiBL’s strengths. FiBL’s research team covers the entire food chain and works together with farmers to develop innovative and cost-effective solutions to boost agricultural productivity while never losing sight of environmental, health and socioeconomic impacts.

FiBL’s Socio-Economics Department has substantial competences in model based agricultural policy analysis (SOLm), sustainability assessment (LCA) at product/supply chain level, operator level and territory level and rural sociology. 

The FiBL Department of Crop Sciences (DCS) has extensive applied and strategic R&D and technology transfer experience in crop production systems and crop protection in fruit, grapevine, vegetable and arable crops. DCS has led a SNF funded project GM-IMPACT which assessed impacts of GM plants in the context of conventional, integrated and low-input farming systems based on ecological and economic parameters. DCS contributed to the development of the regulatory framework for registration of biocontrol agents as plant protection products (REBECA).

Website: www.fibl.org

Role in the project

FiBL is a partner in the project and will be responsible for the socio-economic research in WP6: the economic analysis of pesticide regimes in different farming systems, the estimation of external costs of pesticide use at farm level, the participatory scenario development of pesticide reduction strategies and the analysis of the costs and benefits of these scenarios at regional level. FiBL will also be involved WP2 and WP7, namely on task 2.4 (validation of the integrated diagnostic approach), task 2.5 (innovative and sustainable land management practices), and tasks 7.1-7.3 (lock-ins and barriers in the existing farming systems, on transition paths to more sustainable plant protection, and policy recommendations).

Involved personnel

10 Stolze

Dr. Stolze is Head of the FiBL Department of Socio-Economics. He is lecturer for Agricultural Policy Evaluation at ETH Zurich, Switzerland and for Economics of Organic Farming at the University of Hohenheim, Germany. He has been scientific coordinator of the EU project EU-CEEOFP on Organic Farming Policies and is involved in EU-wide research with respect to socio-economic and policy impact of sustainable agriculture.

10 Grovermann

Dr. Grovermann is agricultural economist with a focus on impact evaluation and the economic analysis of agricultural production systems. Recent projects include comparative research on economic farm performance in Africa and the assessment of pesticide reduction strategies for upland agriculture in Southeast Asia. Before joining FiBL, he has worked for several years as Agricultural Research Officer at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

10 Tamm Dr. Tamm is head of the Department of Crop Sciences (DCS) at FiBL. He has 23 years’ R&D experience in plant pathology working on cereals, potatoes and horticultural crops. He represents the Swiss ministry of agriculture in the OECD biopesticides steering group.
Jennifer Mark Dr. Mark is working at the Department of Crop Sciences at FiBL. She is experienced in modeling of sustainability and cost-benefit analysis at the agricultural and macroeconomic levels, this will be used to derive recommendations for sustainable transition pathways and a research agenda on PPPs.
Claudia Meier Dr. Meier is a scientist in the department of socioeconomics at FiBL. She specialises in data science.