how co-ops spur organic farming in the global south
DESCRIPTION
Rodney North, Equal Exchange spokesperson for 15 years and former Board Director presents on how co-ops spur organic farming in the global south. In many places around the world, farming organically requires a collective effort. Equal Exchange (a worker co-op) works directly with 55 co-ops of organic farmers in 23 countries. This covers how the co-operative business model, both in the US and abroad, makes organic farming both feasible and attractive.TRANSCRIPT
How Co-ops Spur Organic Farming in
the Global South
NOFA Summer Conference 2014
Rodney North worker-owner
www.EqualExchange.coop
• !cellphones!
• !evalua-ons!
• !literature!
• !WARNING:!Not!an!expert!!
• Who!here!is/has!been:!
• An!organic!farmer?!
• Gone!through!cer-fica-on?!• Member!of!a!farmer!coBop?!
• Member!of!a!food!coBop?!
• Worked!with!small!farmers!in!the!Majority!
World?!
• …with!organic!farmers!in!the!….?!
• With!farmer!coBops!in!the!…?!
PLEASE!DIVE!IN!/!SPEAK!UP!
• !Why!does!this!maRer?!
• !Why!does!this!maRer!to!you?!
• !Why!do!YOU!maRer!to!it?!
PRODECOOP,!Nicaragua!
Las!Colinas,!El!Salvador!
What%makes%a%co,opera/ve?%
• Voluntary!&!Open!Membership!
• Democra-c!Member!Control!
• Member!Economic!Par-cipa-on!
• Autonomy!&!Independence!
• Educa-on,!Training,!&!Informa-on!
• CoBopera-on!Among!CoBopera-ves!
• Concern!for!Community!
→%
What’s!the!role!of!co,opera/ves,!from!the!organic!farm!to!the!cup?!
What!does!it!take!to!farm!successfully?!
!!
What!does!it!take!to!farm!successfully?!!
(a!very!rough,!incomplete!summa5on)!
Seasonal%work%(for!coffee!farmers)!
!
Select!crops/varietals!!
!prepare!soil/orchards!
! !fer-lize!!
! ! !weed!!
! ! ! !harvest!!
! ! ! ! !gather/sort!harvest!!
! ! ! ! ! !wet!processing!
dry!coffee!
!collect,!usually!with!vehicles!!
! !warehouse!!
! ! !more!milling/maybe!drying/more!sor-ng!!
! ! ! !quality!control!work!
! ! ! ! !export!sales!work!!
! ! ! ! ! !arranging!transporta-on!
follow!through!on!contracts/dealing!w/postBdelivery!problems!
What!does!it!take!to!farm!successfully?!!
(a!very!rough,!incomplete!summa5on)!
+%Year,round%work%%!
Sales/!finding!customers!!
!
marke-ng!&!promo-on!
!
securing!credit!!
What!does!it!take!to!farm!successfully?!!
!
Seasonal%work%(for!coffee!farmers)!
!
Select!organic!crops/varietals!!
!organically!prepare!soil/orchards!
! !fer-lize!w/organic!inputs!
! ! !weed!without!pes-cides!
! ! ! !harvest!separately!
! ! ! ! !gather/sort!harvest!&!segregate!
! ! ! ! ! !wet!processing!separately!
dry!coffee!separately!
!collect,!usually!with!vehicles!separately!
! !warehouse!separately!
! ! !more!milling/maybe!drying/more!sor-ng!separately!
! ! ! !quality!control!work!separately!
! ! ! ! !export!sales!work!separately!
! ! ! ! ! !arranging!transporta-on!separately!
follow!through!on!contracts/dealing!w/postBdelivery!problems!separately!
!!organically!!
!!!!!!!!!!!˄%
Farmer!income:!$2,000/yr!!
cer-fica-on!cost:!$500/yr!!!(25%!of!income)!
Total!San!Fernando!co,op!farmer!income:!!
$2,000/yr%x%400%=%$800,000!!
Group!cer-fica-on!cost:!$4,900/yr!!!!(<1%!of!income)!
