Rescuing organic farming

Organic farming and export of organic products have run into a snag. At the backdrop of enormous potential for this sector to grow, this snag that can wear away much of the hopes is the lack of accredited certification. Local producers are now reportedly in a fix, and a good number of them are missing opportunities of export to international chains in the absence of proper certification arrangements at home.
Demand for organic foods has been increasingly on the rise over the last decade. This did cause a strong motivation in many ago-product growing nations to put a serious thrust on how best to exploit the situation. The response was straightaway positive for many countries which did their home work to not only expand and intensify organic farming but also undertook measures required for unhindered market access overseas. In the Asian region, countries that have benefited most are China, Thailand, India and Vietnam. Besides exports, organic food is gaining widespread acceptability in the domestic markets in both developed and developing countries. According to the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), global consumption of organic food crossed $100 billion in 2013. This is largely due to the adverse effects that inorganic methods of cultivation, dependent solely on harmful chemicals as insecticides and manure, are alleged to be causing to human health as well as environment. Higher yield of almost all crops, vegetables and fruits cultivated in inorganic methods has, no doubt, helped meet mounting global demands for agro-foods. But the threats are too many, and as consumers world-wide are getting more and more conscious, these are becoming increasingly pointed.
In Bangladesh, there are reportedly 40 small and medium enterprises with a workforce of 15000 currently engaged in producing organic products having export potentials. The country's present annual export earning from organic foods is around $300 million which, industry insiders believe,  could be increased three-four folds within a couple of years, provided export is facilitated by a designated certifying body duly accredited to do the job. In a news story published in this newspaper, the President of Bangladesh Organic Products Manufacturers' Association (BOPMA) has lamented that despite demands, Bangladeshi organic products are finding it extremely difficult to access target markets due to the absence of a designated certifying body.
What is worrying is that if the situation persists for long, the country might not be able to hold on to its traditional markets, let alone explore new ones. The task then, obviously, would be daunting as markets lost take no time to be filled in by products from alternative sources. Worse still, in the event of decreasing exports, efforts presently in place to revitalise organic farming across the country might lose much of the drive and enthusiasm.
It is thus in the interest of not just the producers and exporters of organic products but the country's overall exports that the government has to move fast enough to do the needful to put in place an appropriate certification mechanism for organic food products.