Agricultural co-operatives and other membership-based organizations such as financial co-operatives are proven to offer valuable opportunities (directly and/or indirectly) for farm and non-farm rural and urban employment. As cooperatives unite business and social goals, they often provide strong mechanisms to encourage social objectives among their members and within their wider communities, including objectives related to the promotion of decent and fair employment.

FAO and ILO have been working in the field of cooperative development for many years. Collaboration between the two organizations dates back to 1955 when they drew up a Supplementary Understanding to the Cooperation Agreement signed in 1947. Since the creation of the interagency Committee for the Promotion and Advancement of Cooperatives (COPAC) in 1971 both organizations have been working closely with the members of COPAC to promote cooperatives through policy dialogue, cooperative training, and the collection and dissemination of information. In this context, among other activities, FAO has updated parts of the standard management toolkit "Material and Techniques for Cooperative Management Training (MATCOM)", which was originally published by the ILO, and is now downloadable at the Rural Finance Learning Center. The 2004 Memorandum of Understanding between FAO and ILO expressly mentions cooperatives. Since 1995, FAO and ILO celebrate the United Nations International Day of Cooperatives, which aims at increasing awareness on cooperatives and underscoring the contribution of the cooperative movement to the resolution of the major problems addressed by the United Nations. The theme of this year’s observance of the UN International Day of Cooperatives - Driving Global Recovery Through Cooperatives - highlights the value of cooperative enterprise to overcome the current economic crisis.

Currently, ILO's Cooperative Branch (COOP) works in the "Grand Sud" region in Madagascar, in order to strengthen community-based cooperation initiatives in support of human-security related activities. The concept of human-security is about comprehensively eliminating all types of threats to human lives, livelihood and dignity. Specific aims of ths project are to combat poverty, promote a structured, independent rural society, and achieve food and nutritional security. In this framework ILO/FAO collaboration involves the promotion of a system of cooperatively managed grain banks and the achievement of qualitative and quantitative improvements in production.

Another interesting joint initiative in support of the cooperative movement is being launched by FAO and ILO in Sudan, with the overall objectives to strengthen the capacity of the national cooperative development institutions in agricultural field.

 

Contacts

FAO Focal Point: Bernd Seiffert, ESWD (Bernd.Seiffert@fao.org)

ILO Focal Point: Hagen Henry, EMP/COOP (henryh@ilo.org)