Conventionalization of Organic Agriculture in China: A Case Study of Haobao Organic Agricultural Company in Yunnan Province

Abstract

This study aims to understand the current situation in China's organic sector by exploring the introduction of an organic agriculture enterprise in Kunming, Yunnan. As the recent growth in organic farming has given rise to the "conventionalization hypothesis," which states that contemporary narratives on organic farming through third-party certification systems are reducing its social-movement components and replacing them with an industrial approach, a case study has been chosen to analyze this trend in China. Nonagricultural capital injection in 2012 led the company in our case study to adjust its business strategy with rapid expansion, during which social values, such as energy recycling and community building, had been easily bypassed and replaced with commercial interests.