The Organic Crop Improvement Association (OCIA) is a member-owned, nonprofit organization

Nonprofit organization

Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

, which provides research, education and certification

Organic certification

Organic certification is a certification process for producers of organic food and other organic agricultural products. In general, any business directly involved in food production can be certified, including seed suppliers, farmers, [food] processors, retailers and restaurants.Requirements vary...

 services to organic

Organic farming

Organic farming is the form of agriculture that relies on techniques such as crop rotation, green manure, compost and biological pest control to maintain soil productivity and control pests on a farm...

 growers, processors and handlers around the world. OCIA certifies farm, livestock, processor/handlers, broker-traders, Community Grower Groups (CGGs), and Private Labels. OCIA currently offers certification to OCIA/International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements

International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements

The International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements is the worldwide umbrella organization for the organic agriculture movement, uniting more than 750 member organizations in 108 countries...

 (IFOAM), Japan Agricultural Standards (JAS), National Organic Program

National Organic Program

In the United States, the National Organic Program is the federal regulatory framework governing organic food. It is also the name of the organization in the Department of Agriculture responsible for administering and enforcing the regulatory framework. The Organic Food Production Act of 1990 In...

 (NOP), Conseil des Appellations Agroalimentaires du Quebec (CAAQ), as well as European Union verification, JAS equivalency, Swiss Ordinance of Organic Farming verification, and a partnership with Bio Suisse.

With its headquarters in Lincoln, Nebraska, OCIA has regional and chapter offices in Canada, China, Mexico, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Japan, Guatemala, and Peru. OCIA was founded in 1985 (incorporated in 1988) in Albany, New York by a group of farmers, modeled on the "crop improvement associations" that came out of the Dust Bowl

Dust Bowl

The Dust Bowl, or the Dirty Thirties, was a period of severe dust storms causing major ecological and agricultural damage to American and Canadian prairie lands from 1930 to 1936...

 era. These associations started as informal meetings where farmers could discuss and ask advice about their land. In the 1970's as the organic movement

Organic movement

The organic movement broadly refers to the organizations and individuals involved worldwide in the promotion of organic farming, which is a more sustainable mode of agriculture...

developed, "organic" crop improvement associations were formed. An international organization, OCIA continues to have a local approach with the organization largely being made up of local "chapters." The organization has members primarily in Canada and the United States until a group of Peruvian farmers joined the organization in 1988. Expansion throughout Latin America continued, and now OCIA has members across the world.