Articles

Ireland marks Co-op Year with major national conference

AnthonyMurray — Tue, 15 May 2012 09:28:41 +0000

Ireland's President Michael D. Higgins will mark the International Year of Co-operatives in a national conference today.

FutureEverything celebrates co-operative collaboration

Emily Barker — Mon, 14 May 2012 10:56:46 +0000

The internationally renowned digital arts festival, FutureEverything, will be celebrating co-operation as part of it’s annual conference this week.

Hop Tac cooperative: Improving coffee, improving community

AnthonyMurray — Thu, 10 May 2012 08:42:28 +0000

Despite a difficult year for coffee growers, the Hop Tac co-operative in Vietnam has been thriving. The co-operative has used training and support from Fairtrade to increase their exports, and they have made investments in their business and community in the process.

Historical meeting for US co-operative leaders

Emily Barker — Tue, 08 May 2012 10:43:40 +0000

US co-operators made history last week as 150 co-operative leaders from across the country attended a national briefing at the White House on Friday May 4.

First ever credit union African Women’s Forum a success

Emily Barker — Fri, 04 May 2012 10:18:19 +0000

There was a lot to be learned at the first-ever credit union African Women’s Forum held in March. Twenty credit union leaders, from all across Africa, came together in Botswana to share their successes and struggles of working in the sector.

Canadian government cuts co-op development program, slashes Co-operatives Secretariat

DonnaBalkan — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 19:10:44 +0000

Canada's only national program devoted to co-operative development has fallen victim to government budget cuts.

Join the campaign to support co-operatives through Twitter and Facebook

AnthonyMurray — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 08:44:16 +0000

Co-operatives around the world have launched a social media campaign to raise the profile of the International Year of Co-operatives.

Co-operative project brings together people of Manchester

Emily Barker — Mon, 21 May 2012 08:52:42 +0000

A massive co-operative project that aimed to bring the people of Manchester together took over the city last week.

NCUI: Ministry insists on cut in President’s power

Ajay Jha — Mon, 21 May 2012 02:26:11 +0000

Our office is flooded with phone calls from persons working in the field projects of National Cooperative Union of India. They have not received salaries for last the 3-4 months and their future hangs in the balance.

Caught in the cross-fire of Agricultural Ministry’s babus and obstinate cooperative leaders these poor fellows do not know where to go, what to do. Indian Cooperative is also in no position to help them.

Ministry insists that without making suitable changes in the bye-laws (which would restrict the financial and executive powers of Governing Council and the President) NCUI could not qualify for further budgetary support. The Governing Council has resisted all attempts to arm-twist them so far.

A section in Ministry is of the opinion that the cooperative leaders should focus on policy matters and devise plans to strengthen the cooperative movement instead of getting involved in the daily nitty-gritty of the apex cooperative body. They accuse cooperative leaders of being too much involved with transfer, posting, recruitment and other basic affairs of the NCUI.

Some states are opposing the constitutional amendment fearing they would have to conduct elections in cooperative bodies of the state in which their “men’ have been at the helm, for example for 40 years in the case of Tamil Nadu.

NCUI’s top leaders should tour such opposing states and explain to the people and government the benefits of this amendment, they argue. Ministry also is of the opinion that if the Registrars of the cooperatives in states are made the head of field projects, their involvement would ensure its success. NCUI’s Governing Council members have been nominated as the heads of field projects till now.

NCUI has put a presentation before Ministry demanding Rs 500 crores for the next five-years. Ministry is insisting on changing the by-laws by 31st May. The Governing Council of NCUI is meeting on 24th May. Unless the cooperative leaders find a way out the future of field projects as well as that of NCUI would keep hanging in the balance.

RBI raises housing loan limit for UCBs

Ajay Jha — Sun, 20 May 2012 17:48:30 +0000

With a view to upholding the principle of egalitarianism and affordability in housing development for the disadvantaged groups in big cities, the RBI has called upon the urban cooperative banks to increase the limit for home loans under priority sector lending.

According to the apex bank, poor people and slum dwellers can now avail themselves of a home loan to the tune of Rs 10 lakh.

The RBI has also asked commercial and other banks to help the poor with loans upto 10 lakh.

As per the RBI circular, all banks have to give 40 percent of the total credit to the priority sector lending.

Observers see this as the RBI responding to the challenge of a shortage of basic built up accommodation facing the weaker sections of society in the cities.

NABARD readies to face Naxal challenge

Ajay Jha — Sun, 20 May 2012 17:45:55 +0000

Government has informed Parliament that NABARD will move nearly a score of district development managers to poverty-stricken areas and set up several new branches in areas that are affected by ultra-leftism.

NABARD will also cover areas where women self-help groups are at work, Parliament was told.

According to Union Finance Minister, there would be more than 4 hundred DDM offices and NABARD would cover altogether 510 districts in the country.

Sources say most of the new DDM offices would be opened in the peripheral states of the country.

UP: UCB vice chairman killed in road mishap

Ajay Jha — Sun, 20 May 2012 17:35:17 +0000

Vice Chairman of Urban Cooperative Bank (UCB) was killed and two others were injured when their car rammed into a truck near Lakhimpur in Uttar Pradesh, police said.

Satya Prakash Yadav (50) died on the spot, while the two others, identified as Vineet Pandey and Sarvesh, were injured in the accident that took place on yesterday near Chimney

village, they said.

Odisha: Sugarcane farmers await payments

Ajay Jha — Sun, 20 May 2012 16:59:31 +0000

A delay in the payment of dues by the sugar factory has begun fuelling anger among the sugarcane farmers in Ganjam district of Orissa.
Farmers are especially irked by the fact that even when the cooperative sugar factory has completed its crushing and processing operations last month, it has not shown any willingness to pay their dues.

Farmers are worried if they do not get their amount on time, they would fail to start farming crops afresh.

Sources close to the sugar factory, however, maintain part of dues has already been paid and the remaining dues would be paid as soon as the sugar unit gets the bank loans and the amount due to it from the Orissa Sate Beverage Corporation for liquor supplied to the corporation.

Pathankot: Fraud in Hindu Cooperative Bank

Ajay Jha — Sun, 20 May 2012 16:41:53 +0000

One Anil Gupta who had his account in the Hindu Cooperative Bank in Pathankot in Punjab has made allegations that a little less than Rs 30 lakh has been withdrawn from his account and some bank employees have been involved in it.

The bank authorities have not denied the allegations and said only a proper enquiry could bring out the truth.

However, the way the bank is handling the case has set tongues wagging.

The cases of fraud in cooperative banks are on rise leading to battering of its image.

Rabobank provides aid for Africa at G8 Summit

AnthonyMurray — Sat, 19 May 2012 23:04:29 +0000

Rabobank provides aid for Africa at G8 Summit:

Rabobank and IFC sign WAAD Letter of Intent

Cooperative Mafias attack honest official

Ajay Jha — Sat, 19 May 2012 17:16:32 +0000

Some armed criminals hit an honest cooperative official on his head with a rod with the express intention of killing him in Bangalore, according to local police.

S.P.Mahantesh , deputy director working in the department of cooperative audit is seriously injured and being kept on life support system in a hospital in the city.

Sources say most of the cooperative societies are synonymous with graft and fraudulent activities. The Mafiosi controlling them are so powerful that they can go to any extent to get rid of the people who are exposing them. .

Mahantesh has recently been involved in exposing scandals in several cooperative societies including the BEML Employees Cooperative Society.

There have recently been reports that several housing cooperative societies have been indulging in serious irregularities and corrupt practices. The murderous attack on auditor Mahantesh needs to be viewed against this background.

The directorate of co-operative audit, where Mahantesh worked, looks beyond routine audit of societies and probes administrative lapses, deviation from bylaws and discharge of responsibilities by boards. Mahantesh is in charge of auditing documents of several housing co-operative societies which have allegedly broken rules in site allotments.

In another incident a director of a cooperative bank was killed by unidentified men in Chakra village in Western Uttar Pradesh, according to the police. Police is investigating the matter and is at work trying to nab the criminals.

UCB favours its Directors with loans

Ajay Jha — Sat, 19 May 2012 17:14:47 +0000

According to knowledgeable sources, the RBI has slapped a huge fine on a Delhi based National Urban Cooperative Bank for sanctioning loans in an irregular manner.

The Bank flouted the guidelines laid down by the apex bank by favouring its own directors and their relatives and favourite firms with loans.

When the apex bank came to know of it, sought explanation from the bank and immediately dismissed from consideration the bank’s explanation as irrelevant.

Bihar: Need to streamline fertilizer distribution

Ajay Jha — Sat, 19 May 2012 17:12:38 +0000

As the private traders are responsible for the distribution of fertilizer in Bihar, farmers keep facing shortage of it at regular intervals.

It is against this backdrop that Union Additional Agriculture Secretary has called upon the Bihar government to set up a body modeled on Haryana State Cooperative and Marketing Federation to ensure a reliable and timely supply of the essential commodity to farmers.

Union Additional Secretary added there is tremendous scope for development in agriculture in Bihar and the state would well to study the working of the cooperative organizations in Haryana and Punjab and do things in the same way these states have done.

Some commentators say Bihar is fast emerging as a state that may considerably contribute to the second green revolution that is on the cards in the eastern region of the country.

Fair Trade USA and Partners Deliver Record Impact to Farmers in 2011

JennaLarson — Fri, 18 May 2012 17:34:44 +0000

Fair Trade USA, a non-profit organization and the leading third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in the United States, recently released its 2011 Almanac, an annual publication which provides detailed information on the supply and impact of Fair Trade Certified products. According to the Almanac, in 2011 farmers and farm workers earned almost $22 million in community development premiums, up over 50 percent from 2010. Farmers and workers have democratically elected to invest these premiums in projects which improve their communities, improve the health of their environment and improve the quality of their products.

Jacques Attali: less austerity and isolation, more economic growth

Lyne Gagnon — Fri, 18 May 2012 15:06:00 +0000

“The world is set for incredible economic growth, but to achieve it, countries must not close themselves off from one another.” This was Jacques Attali’s message in a speech he made on May 15 in Montreal*.

Jacques Attali, who will also speak at the International Summit of Cooperatives on October 11 in Quebec City, is considered one of the 100 greatest intellectuals in the world.

Addressing the members of the French Chamber of Commerce in Canada, Mr. Attali talked about what he calls the geopolitics of the post-financial crisis.

According to Mr. Attali, “There needs to be more growth and less austerity; we need to use public capital to leverage private capital for infrastructure, health and education (…). We need social justice and we need to tax wealth handed down, not income and business owners.”

Avoiding isolation
The greatest threat to economic growth, according to Mr. Attali, is isolation and the resulting consequences.

“We’re already seeing social and political withdrawal, especially in the West: we’re seeing the rich close themselves off from the poor, and refuse to show solidarity with them. It’s a me-first mentality,” he says.

“Even though the world has every chance of success, there could be chaos between civilized nations and non-state entities,” he added. “There is also the threat of countries closing themselves off from one another, which is what happened in 1907.”

At that time, technological progress promoted optimism and democracy, even in Russia. But the economic crisis, combined with the collapse of the British Empire, paved the way for the emergence of leaders, such as Lenin, and later, Hitler, who advocated withdrawal and isolation. The rest is history.”

Jacques Attali is also concerned about countries that are delaying their decline by taking on more debt. “Instead of reducing their debt, they continue to take on more. They’re like alcoholics who go to AA meetings to quit drinking and then congratulate themselves by having a celebratory drink,” he said.

A federal European state
At the same time, Jacques Attali advocates for what he calls self-interested altruism among countries.

“Countries are so dependent on one another that it’s in their interest for their partner countries to do better, because that means they’ll do better, too. That’s certainly true for Germany, which will benefit if Greece stays in the euro zone,” he says.

In that regard, Jacques Attali says it’s imperative to create a federal European state.

“Right now, the euro zone is still only an economic union. But it can’t survive if there isn’t eventually a political union,” he argues. “We need a federal European state. In this respect, Europe is a laboratory for the world, since the world needs to federate to make sure that countries respect the rules of law.”

“Without federal rule of law, each country can interpret laws for their own advantage. That’s why a single currency can’t work without a federal state,” said Mr. Attali.

* Jacques Attali (in photo) was invited to speak by the French Chamber of Commerce in Canada (Montreal) and the International Financial Centre of Montréal.

Co-ops Featured as Innovative Model in Fast Company

AnthonyMurray — Fri, 18 May 2012 14:22:01 +0000

Courtesy of Fast Company, the world's leading progressive business media brand, with a unique editorial focus on innovation in technology, ethonomics (ethical economics), leadership, and design.
Hippie Capitalism: How An Impoverished U.S. City Is Building An Economy On Co-ops

With sky-high unemployment, Richmond, California, is not a place where traditional business models alone can dent poverty. The city has turned to co-ops in hopes that people who might be unemployable in the traditional economy gain access to both jobs and control over their own labor.

At the height of the recession, the unemployment rate in Richmond, Calif., topped out at a dismal 19%. That figure has more recently crept down about three points, an improvement that might be worth celebrating if the city didn’t still have so far to go.

City councilman Tom Butt deadpans that Richmond, a city of about 100,000 people in the San Francisco Bay Area just north of Oakland, is a place with “more than the usual number of socioeconomic challenges.” A large share of the immigrant population doesn’t speak English. Crime is high--Richmond is regularly ranked among the most dangerous cities in the country--meaning local residents who’ve gone through the criminal justice system have even rougher odds of landing a job. This is not, in other words, a place where traditional business models alone can dent poverty.

“There’s not a lot of help coming from the federal government, or the state government,” says the city’s Green Party mayor, Gayle McLaughlin. “So we’re...

Hippie Capitalism: How An Impoverished U.S. City Is Building An Economy On Co-ops | Fast Company

Ushahidi - connecting information across the world

AnthonyMurray — Fri, 18 May 2012 13:14:34 +0000

Ushahidi has helped to connect people from across the world and reported on conflicts, earthquakes and created a network of information for citizens.

Wake up and start co-creating - Birgitta Jónsdóttir at FutureEverything

Emily Barker — Fri, 18 May 2012 10:41:35 +0000

Birgitta Jónsdóttir praised co-operatives in a speech about direct democracy at the FutureEverything conference today.

Calling all fisheries co-operatives

AnthonyMurray — Fri, 18 May 2012 09:53:03 +0000

There are thousands of fisheries co-operatives around the world creating sustainable communities.

Next week the International Co-operative Alliance and EURICSE will highlight these co-ops on the stories.coop website - and the role they play in building a better world. If your co-op has a great story to tell do involved and visit stories.coop and perhaps your fisheries co-op will be our Story of the Day!

fairtrade: We are proud to see our wine on sale here today,...

AnthonyMurray — Fri, 18 May 2012 09:30:47 +0000

fairtrade:

We are proud to see our wine on sale here today, and soon it will be available in countries like the UK and Japan. Thanks to Fairtrade certification we can reach new markets and have a sustainable crop that brings new hope to our region.

Chehade Maalouf, member of Coteaux d’Heliopolis cooperative who recently became Fairtrade certified. Here he is pictured at the Fairtrade Brunch for World Fair Trade Day in Beirut (top photo, far left) and at his home village in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon.

Chiraz Skhiri from our producer relations team (pictured, centre) supported Heliopolis through the certification process, in partnership with Fair Trade Lebanon. To find out more about our services to producers, click here.

More about our visit to Heliopolis coming soon!