Once every three years, IFOAM - Organics International organizes the Organic World Congress (OWC) in a different country to achieve its vision as the global organic movement and also to provide a platform where organic stakeholders can share their knowledge and expertise and establish valuable partnerships.
The OWC is considered the leading event for the development of the organic sector worldwide. It is held to promote and celebrate the inevitable turning of global agriculture to organic farming methods and to measure progress.
The last (18th) edition of the Organic World Congress was organized in Istanbul, Turkey in October 2014. India won the bid to host the 19th IFOAM Organic World Congress at a very critical time in its agricultural history. The organic food movement has grown by four times in the last three years. The OWC will no doubt play a critical and unprecedented role in supporting the Indian organic farming movement and tilting Indias agriculture policy firmly and irrevocably in the direction of organic. At the same time, it will enable solidarity among organic farmers and organic farming associations across continents, supporting the efforts of the Intercontinental Network of Organic Farming Organisations (INOFO). For these reasons, the theme of the 19th OWC is An Organic World through an Organic India.