Farmers join international committee to promote co-operatives

27 Feb 2013

An international committee that promotes the interests of co-operatives has welcomed membership of the World Farmers’ Organisation.

The WFO has joined COPAC — the Committee for the Promotion and Advancement of Cooperatives — which is a co-ordinating committee of global co-operative action which has representatives from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; International Co-operative Alliance; International Labour Organization; and United Nations (UN)

Members work together on equal terms to promote and co-ordinate sustainable co-operative development by promoting and raising awareness on co-operatives, holding policy dialogues and advocating policies that enable co-operative success, working together on technical co-operation activities and sharing knowledge and information. 

The WFO's mission is to bring together national agricultural producer organisations and agricultural producer co-operative organisations to create policies and advocate on world farmers’ behalf, in order to improve the economic situation and livelihood of producers, their families and rural communities.

Last year, the WFO's General Assembly backed a declaration on co-operatives, which said the enterprise model enables farmers to have a voice.

The agriculture sector represents 40 per cent of the world Gross Domestic Product; it involves five billion hectares of land (1.5 agricultural based and 3.4 breeders and pasture); and engages a labour market of 1.3 billion people. Agriculture is a vital source of livelihood for the 3.4 billion people living in rural areas which constitute approximately 49 per cent of the world population.

As well as difficulties with price volatility in food commodities, financial speculation in agro-food markets and a need for financing and investments, the agricultural sector lacks the concerted action and commitment of policy makers, according to the WFO, to take measures and provide support to protect the sector from the adverse impact of external events and forces that it is vulnerable to. 

Co-operatives play an important role in providing farmers, in particular smallholder farmers, a variety of services such as training in natural resource management and access to information and technology, said the WFO.

The statement from the General Assembly added: "To better achieve their mission and to assure complete independence, rural organisations should be created and managed by farmers themselves based on their own needs. However, given their positive role in a national economic and social context, governments should enact policies to encourage the creation of independent farmers' organisations and co-operatives.

"The policies should be framed so as to target the farmers and the food sector as opposed to the organisations, and address the need to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy, to the regulation of relationships in the food supply chain, to facilitating access to information and training and to the adoption of international standards for enhancing international trade."

Coop continues to be a part of the UN's International Year agenda

Movement continues to be a part of the UN's International Year agenda

28 Feb 2013

Following on from the International Year of Co-operatives, the United Nations has named 2013 as the International Year of Quinoa and the International Year of Water Cooperation.
Co-operatives continue to be an important part of these International Years, helping to spread water co-operation and enable small quinoa farmers to gain access to the global market.
A gluten-free, and organic whole grain, quinoa has become increasingly popular among Western states, mainly due to its high nutrition value. Producers across Bolivia rely on quinoa to earn their living. The grain-like crop grows in areas where nothing else can be cultivated and countries like Bolivia, Peru or Ecuador are highly dependent upon it.
Jhon Garcia, General Manager of APQUISA (Asociación de Productores de Quinua Salinas), a Fairtrade association of 181 members, said it is impossible for small Bolivian producers to gain access to the global market unless they join an association or become a member of a co-op. With the recent increase in demand in Western states for quinoa, farmers need to unite in order to meet this type of demand.
Weather fluctuations are a big challenge for farmers because they can lead to a poor harvest. The co-op structure empowers quinoa farmers, enabling them to face these challenges together.
Irrigation is another challenge for farmers across the world. An increased demand for water access, allocation and services, along with poor water management has in some areas led to conflict situations.
According to the UN, the objective of the International Year of Water Cooperation is to raise awareness, both on the potential for increased co-operation, and on the challenges facing water management.
In the Far North of New Zealand a co-operative has become the solution to years of disputes over water access. Before the Kerikeri Irrigation co-op scheme was built, there was so much pressure on the local streams and rivers that in times of drought neighbours argued over who has the right to take water.
Bill Hunter, General Manager, Kerikeri Irrigation said the co-op structure works very well by joining together a large number of local farmers and horticulturists. Kerikeri currently has around 350 shareholder members who are supplied with water. The co-op has a board of seven directors elected on a rotating basis. With long droughts during summer, supplementary irrigation is necessary to ensure a high quality harvest.
The irrigation co-operative harvests the water in the high rainfall times and stores this in its reservoirs for distribution during drier periods. This has reduced the pressure on the local rivers, helping to protect their natural flow.
“As we now harvest the water in the winter and store it in two large reservoirs for supply during the drier months this has alleviated any water shortages. The company has become the major supplier of a reliable water supply to the wider Kerikeri Area servicing approximately 2500 hectares of irrigable land,” said Mr Hunter.
Bill Hunter said co-ops could also help to address the issue of water sanitation by raising awareness of its importance.
Photo: Sergio Nuñez, founder of Andean Naturals, helping out with the harvest.

Movement can give a strong voice to women

27 Feb 2013

Co-operatives can empower women and strengthen gender equality, according to two of the ICA's leaders.

President Dame Pauline Green and Gender Equality Chair María Eugenia Pérez Zea issued statements in advance of International Women's Day (8 March) outlining how the co-operative movement can help the raise the voice of women.

Dame Pauline said it is time for the co-operative movement to become a movement for the economic, social and political emancipation of all women.

In what she described as the “real co-operative message”, Dame Pauline said: “Over the last four decades, the position of women has made some progress, however, it is still too little and too long in coming… Let us insist that today’s world demands equality for each individual whether man or woman.”

She added: “Co-operative businesses have done so much to help women onto the ladder of economic activity.  With that comes community respect, political legitimacy and influence.”

Traditional approaches to governing society are simply no longer relevant, she explained.

“Having more women in key decision-making places in political, economic and social decision-making at all levels in society is the way to move away from the sort of decision-making that has served us so poorly in recent years,” said Dame Pauline.

She added: “Building a better world is about allowing each person to flourish and fulfil their potential — nothing else will do.”

María Eugenia Pérez Zea, the Chair of the ICA Global Gender Committee, said it has become urgent to redefine the stereotypes of power and leadership about women to make sure they enjoy equal treatment in the decision-making processes.

She added that many studies have shown there is an essential link in obtaining equal rights for women and reducing poverty, improving health and education alleviating the climate change effects and making headways towards a more sustainable development.

“All these objectives are shared by the world co-operative movement, are interdependent and support gender equality and women’s empowerment.”

Ms Pérez Zea invited every co-operative in the world to give the highest priority in its policies to the equal recognition of rights and opportunities to women. She added: “ICA recognises that the Gender Agenda has gained more relevance than ever before and it is our opportunity to seek even more equality for women — by showcasing that our leadership is the most effective model for socio-economic development.”

• International Women’s Day, which is celebrated worldwide, takes place on 8 March with the theme ‘The Gender Agenda: Gaining Momentum’.

Second global Summit for co-operators to take place in 2014

27 Feb 2013

Following the success of last year's International Summit of Cooperatives, the second meeting of co-operative and mutual business leaders is set to take place in 2014.

The Desjardins Group and International Co-operative Alliance will co-host next year's event in Quebec CIty, Canada, from 6-9 October.

Described by leaders of both organisations as the "Davos" for co-operative and mutual enterprises, the event provides a forum for businesses to discuss challenges facing the sector.

Dame Pauline Green, President of the ICA, said: “The first International Summit of Cooperatives made an important contribution to the Blueprint for a Co-operative Decade that was adopted at the close of the International Year of Co-operatives. We must build on the momentum, cohesion, confidence and enthusiasm generated by the Year. With the support of our partners, the second Summit will allow us to take stock of progress and drive the Blueprint agenda.”

Last year's Summit attracted 2,800 participants from 91 countries, which helped to facilitate networking and inter-co-operation. The event aspires to enable co-operative and mutual leaders to learn new ideas and techniques to improve the performance of their organisation; and organisers believe that the Summit will help to continue the momentum created by co-operators during the International Year of Co-operatives.

Monique F. Leroux, Chair of the Board, President and CEO of Desjardins Group added: “We must continue to build on the success of this first International Summit of Cooperatives. Our goal is to create a forum for decision-makers from the world's top co-operatives and mutuals to discuss complex issues. We want co-operative and mutual leaders to leave the Summit with a wealth of new ideas that will help boost the performance of their organizations.”

• To find out more about the Summit, visit: www.intlsummit.coop

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Co-operative Movement can help Africa to grow

21 Feb 2013

Picture: Regional Director of ICA Africa, Dr Chiyoge Buchekabiri Sifa

Co-operatives can take Africa to the next level, according to the ICA's newly-appointed Regional Director for the continent.
Dr Chiyoge Sifa, who starts the role at ICA Africa on 1 March, was previously the director of the Co-operatives Program at the Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. There she spearheaded the development of a five-year development strategy for agricultural co-operatives that brought together a diverse range of stakeholders.
She believes African governments should see co-ops as "key partners" in achieving their socio-economic objectives: “Co-ops have a social dimension beyond economic gains; they are a means to achieve social empowerment."
And, Dr Sifa also thinks co-ops can be the “perfect platform to foster gender equality” and to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
In an interview with eDigest, she explained that Africa’s economy used to be based on agriculture and mining, but things have started to change in recent years, with co-ops emerging in many new niche sectors. Dr Sifa added that co-ops empower local communities and help to expand the African economy. She said co-operatives can bring opportunities and help to develop various sectors such as retail, banking or manufacturing.
Even though co-operation is a part of the African culture, Dr Sifa said co-operatives have developed in Africa following promotion from governments or NGOs: “Unlike in the rest of the world someone had to come and preach co-operation."
Dr Sifa, whose experience with the co-operative movement dates back to the 1990s, said a main challenge for the region is the fact that people tend to perceive co-ops as something old-fashioned or as an enterprise model for those poor or disadvantaged. She said it is essential to “remove the baggage of the promoter”. She continued: “We are grateful to some governments in Africa who have been promoting co-operatives and put forward good co-op legislation and policies.”
School curriculums should also embrace the co-operative enterprise model, according to the new Regional Director. Dr Sifa said this is already happening at some "forward-looking" universities where she has previously helped teach students about co-operative values on a Policy Management course at the African Nazarene University in Kenya. She said students seemed very engaged in the discussions and were eager to find out more about the model.
One thing Dr Sifa is keen to solve is the large number of “false co-operatives” in existence (or co-operatives without co-operators), which are common not only in Africa, but also in other parts of the world. She said that enterprises that initially seek to adopt co-op values end-up operating as a different type of business. One possible explanation for this issue is, according to Dr Sifa, a lack of proper education on the values and principles. She said the ICA along with national governments will work together to track these “false co-ops” to come up with a joint solution.
One way of raising the profile and education of the movement in Africa will be at the ICA Global Conference and General Assembly in Cape Town, South Africa, in November. Dr Sifa welcomed the ICA's initiative to hold the event on the continent for the first time in its history and hopes this will help to bring the attention of both the local and international media.

Maeneo na Jamii wanachama wa KNCU

Societies Positioning The inhabited land in the area consists of three belts; low belt, middle belt, and high belt; our societies are divided into these belts and some societies are partially found in between the Upper and Middle. The lower belt, which experiences little rain (about 700 mm per year), is comprises Primary Cooperative Societies’ of Shiri Njoro and Shiri Mgungani which are located in Moshi Rural. The middle belt with 750-800 mm of rain per year covers districts of Moshi rural, Siha and Hai. The societies of Kombo, Kibosho West, Manushi Sinde, Manushi Ndoo, Kirima Boro, Uru North, Uru Kati Mawela, Uru East, Old Moshi, Mwika West, Mamba South, Orori, and Narumu. All these societies are located in the district of Moshi Rural. While from Hai are Mashua, Nkwasira, Kware, Mudio, Masama Roo, Uduru Makoa, Machame Mkuu, Shari and Machame Wari; In Siha district are Sikirari, Same, Mae, Kibong’oto, and Kyengia. The higher belt, with 1000 – 1750mm of rainfall per year. This belt covers the societies of Umbwe Ndoo, Kibosho Mweka Sungu, Uru North Njari, Uru North Msuni, Uru Shimbwe, Kimochi, Tella Mandaka, Kirua Vunjo North, Kirua Vunjo West, Kirua Vunjo East, Kilema North, Legho Mullo, Marangu West, Mamba North, and Mwika Kinyamvuo. These societies are located in the district of Moshi rural; Kyengia, Kishisha, Manio, Kashashi, Isuki, Kyeeri, Nronga and Foo are from Hai district. There are societies which are found in between Higher and Middle belts these are Mengwe, Shimbi, Mashati and Olele, these societies are located in Rombo district. Primary Societies of Kibosho Central, Kindi, Mbokomu, Kilema South, Marangu East, Mwika North East, Mwika South East, Mrimbo Uuo, and Lyamungo are located in Moshi rural; from Hai district, are Kibong’oto Wanri, Masama Mula and Lemira Mroma. Rombo Rombo is situated on the eastern slope of Mount Kilimanjaro. It stretches from the lower edge of the mountain forest reserve at 1,800-2,000 meters above sea level to the Kenyan border at 900-1,000 meters above sea level. It is bordered to the north and east by Kenya, to the west by the Hai district and to the south by the Moshi Rural district. The Rombo Districts contain a large portion of Mount Kilimanjaro. This is also the area that was first settled due to good rainfall and water availability, fertile soils and a healthy climate. Moshi Rural Moshi rural district occupies an area of 3,054.3 square kilometers on the southern slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro. It is bordered to the north by the Rombo district, to the west by the Hai district, to the east by the Mwanga district and Kenya and to the south by the Manyara Region.  The most significant physical feature in the district is the snow-capped Mount Kilimanjaro, which is the highest in Africa. It extends from Rombo district in the east to Hai district in the west for 80 kilometers. Hai The Western Breach part of Mount Kilimanjaro is located in this district. It is bordered to the south and west by the Arusha Region, to the north by Kenya, and to the east by the Moshi Rural and Rombo districts. The district is now divided and formed new district called Siha.

Cooperative 4 life

Co-operatives are a model where people work together as one, they run on the Power of We.
As value-based enterprises with a local approach, they are trying to address the youth’s apathy by engaging young people in stimulating project

Statement by the ILO's Director

Statement by the ILO's Director-General at the Tripartite Seminar on Youth Employment

Statement by Guy Ryder at the Tripartite Seminar on Youth Employment in Europe organized by Hungarian Ministry for National Economy and the ILO, to examine the challenges of labour market integration of young people in Europe. (Check against delivery)

Dear friends,

It gives me great pleasure to be here with you in Budapest at this National Tripartite Seminar on Youth Employment. I cannot think of a more important subject to start the year than youth employment, which we are addressing here.

Five years after the onset of the global and financial crisis, the high and persistent levels of youth unemployment in Europe, the increasing difficulties that young women and men face every day to access a stable and decent job months and years after leaving school, are matters of serious concern and they risk leaving long-lasting scars on the very fabric of our societies.

I do not think that statistics reveal the social and human drama behind these numbers.

Our latest data show that the global crisis impact on labour markets is taking a bigger toll on young women and men than any other group. There are nearly 75 million unemployed youth aged 15 to 24 in 2012 worldwide and there are approximately 5.5 million unemployed youth in Europe and the average unemployment rate of youth is above 22 per cent. This is more than double the unemployment rate of adults. More worrying is the increase in long-term unemployment among young people in the EU as a consequence of the global economic crisis. Youth now represent 30 per cent of the long-term unemployed in Europe – those who have been seeking work for more than 12 months. Before the crisis, this phenomenon affected mainly adults.

If you are unemployed in the first year of your career, it affects your entire life, it affects your health. We have to look at the quality of jobs. Young people are the most vulnerable; they are five times more likely to be in temporary and part-time employment compared to adult workers in European Union countries.

Clearly, countries with highly segmented labour markets are weathering the crisis with greater difficulty, and we are witness to increasing vulnerability of youth to unemployment and poverty.

Some 14 million young people, more than 15 per cent of European youth aged between 15 and 29, are estimated to be in this infamous new category called “NEET”, those neither in employment nor in education or training, those who have not found a job or have even given up looking for a job altogether and lost interest in improving their skills. It is shocking that the incidence of NEET has almost doubled in only two years.

We cannot and should not let that happen before our very eyes.

It is time for action, for immediate and targeted action, as called for by the ILO’s global tripartite constituency at our last International Labour Conference in June 2012.

The 2012 ILO Call for Action came up as a very strong call to policy makers to respond to the unprecedented youth employment crisis. It is also accompanied by a policy portfolio of possible and tested measures from around the world, that were debated and evaluated long and hard during the Conference discussions.

The 2012 ILO Call for Action recognizes that there is not one single solution, no “one-size-fits-all” approach that is applicable to every country. What works in Hungary might not work in other countries. Second, we need a “multi-pronged strategy” that is based on pro-employment macroeconomic policies.

We also need to pay attention to skills development youth entrepreneurship and labour rights that can help young people in their transitions to decent work, including and especially in times of crisis. We need active labour market policies targeted to young people. We need to be attentive to the right of young workers. Since taking office, I have assigned the highest priority to youth employment and to ILO support to our constituents in this area.

It is imperative that appropriate anti-crisis measures are put in place to prevent young people from disconnecting from the labour market for long periods. We need to enable them to catch-up on their skills’ deficit, especially for the low-skilled and disadvantaged youth, and we need to support their employment through temporary subsidies.

These measures should be for a period of not less than one year; shorter periods will perpetuate the precarious and volatile nature of youth employment. It is also imperative that young workers’ rights are respected and upheld and discriminatory practices are prevented because of their higher vulnerability and limited experience.

For countries undergoing austerity measures, these are not easy issues. It is important that labour market measures addressing youth are ring-fenced from budgetary cuts and investments on these programmes are increased. We need to see these as investments, and these investments will pay off in a long term. Investing in these measures is far less costly than dealing with the consequences through unemployment benefits, anti-social behaviour or a more permanent disconnect from the labour market.

This is why I welcome and support the new package of measures proposed by the European Commission last December in Brussels.

I have extended ILO support and have agreed with Commissioner Andor to fully cooperate in the implementation and evaluation of the effectiveness of different measures and schemes promoting youth employment at the European level.

I want to highlight that we are also supporting the bipartite negotiations between European employers’ and workers organizations for a framework action plan on youth employment. Let me congratulate the Ministry for National Economy of Hungary for the new programmes they are introducing as we heard this morning. The Hungarian National Youth Strategy 2009-2024 recognizes the challenges that young Hungarians face in the labour market, and highlights priority target groups for action, including early school leavers, those with educational and skills deficits, young women with children and the high proportion of youth in unregistered employment. It also points to potential areas for focusing attention, the structural reforms in vocational training and entrepreneurship development. Inevitably, the challenge for such a wide-ranging strategy lies in its implementation.

The 2012 ILO Call for Action on youth employment also calls for renewed and reinforced social dialogue to confront youth employment. Tripartite action is the key to establishing the enabling environment for the successful implementation of labour market policies for young people. Governments, employers’ and workers’ organizations all have their part to play, both through fulfilling their own specific mandates and through concerted, joint efforts. Today is the time to strengthen social dialogue, not to weaken it.

Today’s Conference is an opportunity to measure progress in Hungary and to review good practices from Europe and other country experiences that could inspire further action. Let me mention a few concrete ideas.

Apprenticeships, skills training and work-training programmes, such as the dual apprenticeship system, can improve young people’s chances of finding a job; the combination of skills development with work experience. These are major lessons of international experience that have proven effective also during the recent crisis. The ILO review of apprenticeships recently considered by the G20 Task force on Youth Employment showed that apprenticeships for low-skilled youth can reduce labour costs for low-productive and inexperienced workers and improve their longer term employability.

Government interventions in the form of wage subsidies, and other incentives such as tax or social security exemptions for a limited period for private sector employers who hire young people, can help raise labour demand during economic downturns. Evaluations show that time-bound and well designed, well-targeted subsidies can have a positive employment impact, especially when combined with training and work experience.

Promoting entrepreneurship, social enterprises and cooperatives can provide options for young people including during times of crisis if the current credit crunch and access to finance for SMEs and social enterprises can be overcome. This is one way to move forward.

Public Employment Programmes, especially in disadvantaged regions and communities, are widely being implemented as a last resort.

These all are areas with a large growth potential in Hungary and in other countries as well.

Our assessment shows that single measures are, however, likely to have a limited impact in the short-term - targeted packages of measures are more effective.Youth guarantee schemes are an example of packages of labour market measures and part of the EC proposal announced by Commissioner Andor a month ago .

The ILO has also contributed considerable preparatory work in this respect. Our assessment shows that youth guarantee schemes are more effective when they provide universal access to training or employment for a well-defined target group of unemployed or low-skilled. Well-designed programmes, with well-functioning delivery systems through employment services and local authorities, and targeted to low-skilled and disadvantaged groups, show good results including in the medium-term.

I am often asked but how much would these measures cost? And can we afford them? I am often tempted to reply by asking another question: What is the cost of inactivity, allowing long-term unemployment to grow and NEETs to finally disconnect from the labour markets and ultimately from society!! Can we afford these costs? No, we cannot, as they sow the seeds of social unrest and violence, destroying the hopes for social cohesion and sustainable economic growth, and thus generate risks for the European Social Model.

Let’s face it, these are much needed but remedial options in the present context of low aggregate demand and global slowdown. Our econometric research clearly shows the impact of macroeconomic determinants on youth employment: the higher the investment, the lower the youth unemployment rate, in both industrialized and low- and middle-income economies.

Confronting the youth employment challenge is an immediate and urgent responsibility – for governments, for employers’ organizations, for workers’ organizations and for civil society actors focused on young people. Successfully attacking the problem is not only a critical economic, social and human necessity but it is also a test of what kind of a society we are and want to be. The ILO believes that only through joint tripartite action can this battle be won.

Thank you for your kind invitation. I wish you all every success in your endeavours.