About me

On the farm Sunnansjö, deep into the forest between Uppsala and Sala in Sweden, I flive together with my wife and partner Ann-Helen. There we grow vegetables, fruits and nuts and have a small herd of five cows with off-spring as well as some forest, wetlands and part of a lake. When I don’t keep myself dirty and grounded on the farm do consultancies, give lectures and write articles and books.

I have worked with most parts of the organic agriculture sector — from farming to policy — since 1977, starting on the pioneer organic farm, Torfolk. I was the founder and a senior consultant of Grolink AB, a consultancy company engaged in certification development, policy development, project development, marketing strategies and international training programmes — mainly targeting developing countries. My clients have been NGOs, the government, private companies and intergovernmental organisations such as OECD, UNEP, UNCTAD, the World Bank and the FAO.

I was the initiator of several organisations for organic agriculture in Sweden, including its main eco-label KRAV where I was the director for the first eight years. I served as the first President of the Accreditation Programme Board of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) 1992-1997. I was an IFOAM World Board member in 1998 and the IFOAM President during the period 2000-2005.

The Uganda Martyrs University and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences have bestowed honorary doctorates on me and I am a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry.

You can contact me at gunnar at grolink.se