The International Cooperative Alliance Agricultural Organization (ICAO) a sectoral organisation of the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA) is pleased to support the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) World Food Day by making this statement.
World Food Day, celebrated in more than 150 countries today, reminds us of the importance of feeding every member of society-regardless of where he or she lives.
It is particularly fitting that this year’s theme for World Food Day focuses on agricultural co-operatives both because we are about to conclude the UN’s International Year of Co-operatives (IYC) and because it is those agricultural co-operatives that can mean the difference between success and failure of the world’s farmers to earn a decent living and meet global food needs.
We believe that food production is not some distant operation but one that challenges us in our own countries, in our own fields. Farmers in our own communities are working every day on our behalf. And it is through agricultural co-operatives that small farmers - so critical to meeting our food needs - are able to develop the safeguards and receive the education and support that helps individuals, their families and their local agricultural communities. The smallholder farmers are the bedrock of good quality food production underscoring that communities can in many areas of the world provide adequate food for their own populations.
Co-operatives from around the world are working to combat food insecurity and fight poverty.
Co-operatives strengthen the bargaining power and livelihoods of small farmers who are less vulnerable to price fluctuations, through working together.
Agricultural co-operatives are values-based businesses that are the essence of both “can do” and “must do.”
“Can do” in the sense that farmers who alone could not compete with their limited crop yields or limited capital together can help build a better and more secure world. “Must do” because it is agricultural co-operatives which reflect co-operative values-including giving back to the community-helping not just the individual to earn a living but supporting the communities in which those co-operatives reside. Time and again the “can do” and the “must do” signal the best of what World Food Day wants from all of us: respecting the individuals and the groups that toil around the globe to provide our food. They also underscore that working in harmony with a sense of greater purpose enriches all of us.
Agricultural co-operatives have the ability to provide solutions to the wide range of agricultural challenges. For example:
- The Sugar Cane Growers Co-operative in Florida produces more than 300,000 tons of raw sugar annually, which is enough to feed around 12 million people.
- Federal Argentinean Farmers (Agricultores Federados Argentinos/AFA) is an agricultural co-operative formed in 1932, and is comprised of 26 co-operative centers across the country. AFA’s creation played a fundamental role in the food security of Argentina. In the context of a severe political crisis and the first financial crisis of 1929, 28 farmers from 26 farms in three different provinces formed the organization with the aim of running the business as a co-operative. The co-operative has become the biggest cereal grains producer in Argentina with a stockpile capacity of over three million tons.
- Korean agriculture co-operatives approach the food security challenges in a three-tiered manner: marketing, banking and extension services. As such they are able to provide their members with a multiplicity of services - helping them to thrive.
- Ethiopia has long fought the twin challenges of hunger and food insecurity. An active participant in this fight, ACDI/VOCA partnered with the Selale Dairy Producers Cooperative Union in 2010 to make investments in local agricultural production to fill market gaps and improve local food quality and availability. Already, this partnership has been successful: some 27 co-operative associations with members from 2,000 households have inaugurated a major animal feed-processing plant and also laid the cornerstone for a dairy-processing plant.
In conclusion the wide range of agricultural co-operatives is a reflection of the strength of this movement in meeting sustainable development and poverty reduction.
On this World Food Day it is fitting to pay tribute to what this values-based business model offers. It is a key element in moving closer to food security for all citizens of the world.
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The ICAO promotes the co-operative movement among farmers and in rural communities helping smallholder farmers to obtain badly needed resources for their production, while also assisting them in getting better terms in their output markets and in maintaining their businesses in a sustainable way.
ICA membership can be found in over 100 countries. Co-operatives represent approximately one billion individuals worldwide.
