Cooperatives' Role in Food Security
FAO’s Perspective

FAO and Cooperatives	The Gender Dimension	Slovenia	Coop Legislation
FAO-ICA Collaboration	FAO Assistance	Vietnam	Fertilizer Cooperatives
Training of Trainers	Egypt	Cooperative Capital Formation
Support for COPAC	Agroforestry Coop	Coop Reconversion in Latin America

The World Food Summit Plan of Action stipulates that:

Governments, in cooperation with the private sector and non-governmental organizations, will:

Foster the social and economic organization of the rural population with particular emphasis on the development of small-scale farmers', fishers' and foresters' cooperatives, community organizations and development associations, so that rural inhabitants may be actively involved in decision-making, monitoring and evaluation of rural development programmes;

Promote the empowerment of small-scale family farmers, fishers and foresters, both women and men, to set up their own cooperati

(Commitment Three, Objective 3.5)

FAO and Cooperatives

Addressing the NGO Forum for the World Food Summit in November 1996, the Director General of FAO stressed that today "everyone recognizes that governments alone cannot solve the problem of food security and if we are to make any progress we need the energy and expertise that reside in civil society."

In FAO’s view, as a generic term, "civil society organization" embraces a vast, heterogeneous and multifaceted "set of relational networks", and includes trade unions, self-help associations, cooperatives, women’s groups, development and advocacy NGOs, and informal groups alike. However, given this great heterogeneity, priorities have to be set and FAO thus pays special attention to membership-based, representative self-help organizations of farmers, fisherfolk and foresters, in particular their genuine cooperatives. These cooperatives, in spite of many failures and shortcomings, are traditional organizations of mainly the poorer segments of society which have the potential to play an important role in developing a strong "social capital" in rural areas that is regarded as a pre-requisite for food security and sustainable development.

Converting these concepts into activities and outputs, FAO focuses its cooperative assistance programmes on three technical areas:

design of national policies, strategies and legislation to enhance cooperatives’ role in development, emphasizing the need for synergy and the economic efficiency gains to be derived from their involvement in decision-making and programme implementation;
development and refinement of concepts and techniques for coalition-building and partnerships in support of rural development and food security;
internal capacity-building to make cooperatives, along with other civil society organizations, equal and efficient partners in development.

FAO - ICA Collaboration

After a meeting with Mr. Jacques Diouf, Director-General of FAO, the new President of the International Co-operative Alliance, Mr. Roberto Rodrigues, visited FAO HQs in March this year to discuss enhanced collaboration in the field of agricultural cooperative development. During the visit, high level discussions were held with Mr. D. Harcharik, Deputy Director-General, and relevant technical divisions of FAO.

Areas of potential collaboration identified in the course of discussions include: agricultural marketing and rural credit, cooperative agribusiness development, cooperative capacity building, nutritional issues, cooperative statistics and promotion of cooperative trade. To start with, FAO’s Rural Development Division and ICA agreed, that:

ICA will investigate the possibilities of collaborating in field testing FAO’s new Cooperative Training of Trainers Manual in Asia and Africa;
ICA, together with other major civil society partners of FAO, will be invited to participate in the ACC Network on Rural Development and Food Security;
FAO will be invited to delegate a representative to the Advisory Board for the ICA Development Trust;
A joint FAO-ICA position paper will be prepared on the role of cooperatives in rural development, in response to the changing external environment, aiming to identify issues which will be further explored in a series of country case studies;
Information on pipeline cooperative projects will be provided by FAO to facilitate potential ICA collaboration;
ICA will provide information on its planned activities in developing a Cooperative Business Information System for the promotion of cooperative trade.

As a result of these high level discussions, it has been agreed that a Memorandum of Understanding will be signed by FAO and ICA to ensure cooperation between FAO and ICA by consultation, exchange of information and coordination of efforts in fields of common interest, in accordance with the objectives and principles of FAO and ICA, with particular reference to the promotion of cooperative principles and methods in the areas of food, agriculture, fisheries and forestry, and related areas.

FAO's Training of Trainers
for Cooperative Development Programme in Progress

This new programme of FAO, aiming at helping developing countries and countries in transition transform their agricultural cooperatives into genuine self-help organizations, is making good progress. In the framework of the programme, a training of trainers manual geared to encouraging greater membership participation, improving management and familiarizing political and administrative decision-makers with new cooperative development approaches, has been developed. The training manual is composed of seven modules, as follows:

Understanding Cooperatives,
Participation & Learning,
Communication,
Organizational Development,
Cooperative Management,
Tools for Planning and Organizing Cooperative Activities,
Participatory Appraisal, Monitoring and Evaluation.

Throughout these modules, the manual deals with ways in which trainers and promoters of cooperatives can support cooperative members and management in the development of their cooperative organizations. Its objectives are:

to broaden the trainers’ view of their role, and ways in which they can react to circumstances, and to increase their confidence in their own capabilities. In short, to increase their competence.
to help the trainer become an effective facilitator and moderator. That is to say, someone who can offer new methods for dealing with problems and tasks, assist in solving conflicts, draw attention to alternatives and assist in the more effective operation of the cooperative.
to equip the trainer with tools to act as a resource person, providing information to the cooperative organization, its members, leaders and managers.
to familiarize the trainer with participatory techniques which involve all parties concerned with the future of cooperative organizations.
to support the trainer in the various tasks of raising awareness among cooperative promoters, members, decision-makers, leaders and managers of their problems/constraints as well as to their potential/capabilities, without taking the initiative away from them, thus ensuring the greatest possible acceptance of whatever plans are to be followed.

The manual will guide trainers through the process of training by providing a standard structure in each module, including the following units: Objectives of the unit, Key learning points, Teaching strategy, and Reference information. A range of examples and exercises are also given.

Before printing, the training manual will be further field tested later this year in selected countries in Asia and Africa.

Continued Support for COPAC

FAO, one of the founding members of the Committee for the Promotion and Advancement of Cooperatives (COPAC), which also hosted the COPAC Secretariat between 1971 and 1996, continues to provide its technical and financial support for the operation of this unique international cooperative organization. The World Food Summit Plan of Action and FAO’s new policy puts a strong emphasis on the importance of building new partnerships, networks, and coalitions among governmental and non-governmental organizations for sustainable agricultural and rural development and food security. COPAC is considered is one of the best examples of successful networks at international level which was established far before the issue became such a high priority on the global agenda.

However, in light of FAO’s new policy of strictly linking expenditures to outputs, increasing importance is attached to the complementarities in the activities of FAO and COPAC to make sure that COPAC will produce important outputs which, without COPAC, FAO would not be able to produce. The 1998 Programme of Work and Budget of COPAC contains a series of activities that are high on the priority list of FAO, too, such as the Seminar on Communications Technology and Cooperatives aiming at developing joint information and communication strategies and proposals on how to assist the NGO community to improve its communications technology; the Seminar on Administrative & Legislative Initiatives which will analyze and appraise governmental administrative and legal initiatives concerning cooperatives and evaluate the effects of changes of legislation on cooperatives; and the development of a COPAC Web site with web pages including links to FAO information on cooperatives - highlighting new publications on the Rural Administration and Cooperatives (SD Dimensions: http://www.fao.org/sd) and agricultural cooperative legislation on FAOLEX database, and identification of cooperative development projects undertaken by members and non-members to allow COPAC members to pursue joint cooperative development activities.

The Gender Dimension

The world over, statistics show that women’s participation in cooperatives is low, especially in rural cooperatives. Cooperatives have tended to be synonymous with "men’s" cooperatives. But the importance of agricultural cooperatives in village life, and their repercussions on food security through agricultural production, processing and marketing, as well as on family life and on women’s chores, is too great for the exclusion of women from the decision-making process to be accepted as inevitable.

Cooperative law often condones such discrimination by providing that the head of the family attends meetings: the fact that the wife is often de facto - or even de jure - head of the family is not always seen as enough reason for her to participate. When cooperative laws are revised, all provisions which make for gender discrimination should therefore be weeded out to avoid aggravating the problems faced by women in their attempts to be integrated into the participatory cooperative structures.

In addition, with greater freedom to decide on the types of business to conduct through a cooperative, the way is open for the development of activities of specific interest to women such as small cooperative mills, food storage and preservation, production of household necessities like soap and clothing, small animal raising and handicrafts. More stress should also be laid on cooperatives’ social function by organizing services which would relieve women from certain of their tasks: child care services or drudgery-reducing activities, or assist with organizing marriages and other ceremonies.

FAO has assisted in:

Capacity-building for agricultural cooperative development in Yemen (in the pipeline)
Developing agricultural producers' unions in Turkey (in the pipeline)
Preparing for the restructuring and institutional strengthening of the cooperative sector in Morocco (1998, ongoing)
Analyzing the potential role of cooperatives and rural finance in an EU accession environment (1998, ongoing)
Organizing a national workshop on training of trainers in cooperative membership development in Slovenia (1997)
Revitalizing the Regional Network for the Development of Agricultural Cooperatives in Asia and the Pacific (NEDAC) (1997)
Training of trainers in cooperative development in Ethiopia (1996, 1997)
Enhancing farmers’ participation in cooperative development in Tanzania (1996)
Conceptualizing and applying the "Systèmes de gestion appropriés des coopératives de petits exploitants agricoles (GACOPEA)" training approach in Burkina Faso (1996)
Strengthening the capacity of the Office de Développement de la Coopération (ODCO) in Morocco (1996)
Agricultural cooperative building and training in the North of Thailand (1995-96)
Strengthening cooperatives’ role in horticultural development in Madhya Pradesh, India (1995-96)
Developing a new cooperative system in agriculture in Vietnam (1995, ongoing)
Organizing an international workshop on cooperative legislation in China (1994)
Promoting cooperative "reconversion" programmes in the MERCOSUR countries in Latin America (1994, ongoing)
Strengthening the capital base of rural coop-eratives in India, Tanzania, Kenya and Guatemala (1993, ongoing)
Testing small group- and cooperative-based participatory training approaches in collaboration with the Cooperative College, Moshi, Tanzania (1992-95)
Developing new legal policies encouraging healthy independent rural cooperative growth in Ethiopia, Guinea, Tanzania, Vietnam and India (1990-96)
Building sub-village self-help groups in the framework of its People’s Participation Programme in Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, Zambia and Zimbabwe (1982, 1997)
Organizing series of workshops on the problems and strategies of the transformation of agricultural cooperatives in the transitional economies of Central and Eastern Europe (1992-95)

Egypt's cooperative movement, like many other movements within the Near East Region, is undergoing rapid changes as government involvement in cooperative decision-making and financing declines and markets are privatized. In an effort to learn more about the Egyptian experience and see how lessons learned could be applied to other countries in the region, FAO prepared a paper "Strengthening the Self-Governing and Self-Financing Capacities of Rural People's Organization in The Near East: a case-study of agricultural cooperatives in Egypt" which was presented at the 7th Session of the Near East Regional Economic and Social Policy Commission held in Damascus, Syria, 13-16 October.

The Cooperativa Regional Agroforestal Colón (COATLAHL, Regional Agroforestry Cooperative) from Honduras is the first Central American cooperative that has received certification by Smart Wood for the appropriate management of their forest.

Twenty cooperatives developed the forest management plan that was legally approved by the Honduran Government. Smart Wood and the Consejo Civil para la Silvicultura Sostenible (Civil Council for Sustainable Silviculture) together with a local NGO Fundación Honduras Siempre Verde, evaluated the management activities and determined that they could obtain a certification for appropriate management of their forests.

It is envisioned that the certification will not only provide the cooperatives with improved market opportunities but also the recognition that their forests are well managed. The COATLAHL forest management plans include technical, social, economic and environmental aspects for a 30-year period and operational plans for 5 years.

Every product extracted from these forests will have a label that reads "The wood of this product comes from an appropriate managed forest, certified by the Council of Forest Management".

At the request of the Government of Slovenia, FAO provided assistance under its Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) for reviewing the policy options for Slovenian agriculture in the EU accession environment and for formulating a strategy which is consistent with EU rules and regulations. FAO made available the requested assistance under a TCP project which also included the analysis of the cooperative sector in the context of rural finance in Slovenia. A comprehensive report on the findings and recommendations of an FAO international specialist on cooperatives and rural finance has been prepared and submitted to the Government of Slovenia, analyzing the role, efficiency and constraints of the rural cooperatives in Slovenia in performing their functions under the new economic conditions with particular reference to the country's potential EU membership.

Cooperative policy and programme development study in Vietnam
In the field of cooperative development the immediate Government priority in Vietnam is the transformation of existing cooperatives and the promotion of the establishment of new service cooperatives in agriculture in accordance with the provisions of the new cooperative law. This is a complex and complicated process which requires (1) the mobilization of public opinion and provision of information fostering a new vision on cooperatives; (2) participatory cooperative training for cooperative leaders, managers and staff on the role and functions of genuine cooperatives with particular reference to the preparation of cooperative bye-laws; and (3) the precise definition of the role the Government of Vietnam could and should play in promoting the emergence of a viable cooperative structure in agriculture. An FAO technical assistance proposal has been submitted for UNDP funding, aiming at preparing a comprehensive policy and programme development study, including proposals for concrete measures on the above issues, as well as training programmes and potential projects for both government and external funding. Formulation of the project document is in progress and project implementation is expected to start soon.

Cooperative Capital Formation

In 1992, FAO, in collaboration with the Committee for the Promotion and Advancement of Cooperatives (COPAC), launched a special research programme with the objective of identifying the constraints to successful capital formation in agricultural cooperatives and strategies for improving cooperative capitalization performance. Country studies were conducted in Kenya, Guatemala and India in collaboration with a number of institutions including the Finnish Cooperative Centre, the Kenya National Federation of Cooperatives, the Federation of Savings and Credit Cooperatives of Guatemala and the Institute of Rural Management at Anand, India, during the 1993-1995 period.

Two outcomes of this activity have been the development of an FAO guidelines booklet on "Mobilizing Capital in Agricultural Service Cooperatives" which is now ready for distribution and the launching of a more detailed case study in Kenya comparing private sector vs. cooperative capital formation and investment behavior in the coffee and dairy sectors. The latter research, which began in March 1997, builds upon an earlier Kenya study, and is being done in collaboration with researchers from Nairobi University, the Kenya National Federation of Cooperatives, Turku School of Economics and Business and the Finnish Government.

Field investigations have now been completed and the final study report is under preparation. The policy implications of the study will be discussed at a sub-regional workshop on "Capital Formation in Agricultural Service Cooperatives", being organized in collaboration with the ICA Sub-regional Office for East Africa in early October 1998.

Cooperative "reconversion" in Latin America

The greatest challenge facing cooperatives in Latin America is their "reconversion" from a quasi-trade-unionist role to an increasingly entrepreneurial role that more effectively meets cooperative members’ needs in the period of transition to market-oriented economies. FAO has initiated a programme to promote this process through strengthening the capacities of national cooperative confederations to assist their member cooperatives in the participatory identification and design of investment projects facilitating "reconversion".

A special organizational unit for this purpose has been established in the Confederación Intercooperativa Agropecuaria of Argentina which is already assisting Argentinean cooperatives and is expected to extend this assistance to other MERCOSUR countries. Similar units are being established within the Instituto Nacional Agrario (INA) of Honduras for the countries of Central America and within the Confederación Nacional Campesina (CNC) of México.

Cooperative Legislation

FAO's Legal Office has a significant programme providing legal assistance to member states upon their request. Much of the assistance centres on the drafting of agricultural legislation, but legal advice is also given in connection with institutional restructuring, international agreements and other matters. Recent activities include assistance to Vietnam and Zambia with the preparation of new cooperative legislation, advice to Croatia and Georgia on legal structures for agricultural marketing and advice to Albania, Bulgaria, Ghana, Macedonia and Mongolia on water users’ associations.

Fertilizer Cooperatives

The Indian Farmers’ Fertilizer Cooperative Limited (IFFCO), the largest fertilizer sector cooperative, was established in 1967, with the primary objective of increasing agricultural productivity and improving the rural economy by producing quality fertilizers and promoting the balanced use of these fertilizers. It is a multi-unit cooperative - a federation of approximately 30,000 societies from village to national level. IFFCO has also established 174 Farmers Service Centres where fertilizers, seed and agrochemicals are supplied under one roof and where farmers receive technical advice on the use of these agricultural inputs. The cooperative has far-reaching national linkages with farmers, researchers, extensionists, the private sector and government.

Since 1992, IFFCO has launched an Integrated Plant Nutrition System (IPNS) programme in response to the identified need for more balanced nutrient application in Indian agriculture. The main objective of the programme is to improve soil fertility and productivity at farmers’ level in order to increase agricultural production and farmers’ income.

FAO has been involved with the IFFCO IPNS programme since its inception in 1992, regularly providing advice on various technical aspects of its activities. A joint workshop on IPNS was organized in September 1992 and in 1993 the cooperative launched a programme of trials and demonstrations to promote IPNS. FAO consultants have visited selected villages and established plant nutrient balance sheets for those villages. As a result of those balance sheets, FAO has been able to propose improved plant nutrient management techniques to farmers in those villages, thereby improving their productivity and fertilizer use efficiency and reducing nutrient losses to the environment.

In April 1996, FAO agreed with the Government of India to finance and provide technical backstopping to a Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) entitled "Development of an Integrated Plant Nutrition System Methodology". IFFCO has been actively involved in implementing this Programme. In September 1996 IFFCO organized a workshop for all its regional staff involved in balanced fertilization and the IPNS programme throughout the country, as well as university professors and experts from the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the Fertilizer Association of India (FAI). In this workshop the results of the last six IPNS campaigns were discussed and plans for future activities were elaborated. The most significant activity under the IFFCO-FAO Programme was the organization of an International IPNS seminar in November 1997, in which researchers involved in IPNS work from both the developed and developing world met to share their experiences in this area of work. Another important output of this TCP is a publication entitled "A Guide to Field Implementation of IPNS". The technical assistance and active collaboration among ICAR, IFFCO and FAO continues.

For further information, please contact:
Rural Development Division
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla,
00100 Rome, Italy
Web site: http://www.fao.org/waicent/faoinfo/sustdev/Welcome_.htm

This information has been made available on the Internet by
the Committee for the Promotion and Advancement of Cooperatives COPAC.

Posted: 18 June 1998

Cooperatives' Role in Food Security FAO’s Perspective