Co-operative News - Ethiopia

UN buys from Ethiopia's farmer co-operatives to feed local, starving people

AnthonyMurray — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 16:06:17 +0000

Farmer co-operatives around Ethiopia are set to deliver one of the largest amounts of maize to a food development programme that will redistribute the food to country's most vulnerable.

As part of a pilot project to promote small farmers' access to local markets, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) buys food from local co-operatives and this harvest will feed 1.8 million Ethiopians for a month.

Abdou Dieng, WFP Country Director, said 28,000 metric tonnes of maize will form part of the UN's relief distributions. He said: “Our goal here is to support Ethiopia feeding itself. Buying food for our Ethiopia operation right here in Ethiopia makes sense in cost-effectiveness, and in providing a boost for the local economy by helping small farmers to get closer to markets.”

WFP signed contracts with 16 co-operative unions last year, before the planting season began. The first deliveries on those contracts started to arrive at WFP warehouses last week.

To support the co-operatives in fulfilling their contracts, WFP provides technical assistance in storage and post-harvest handling and logistical support.

Through agreements with local banks, several agricultural co-operatives were able to use their WFP contracts as collateral for loans to buy new equipment and aggregate more maize from their members.

The project is part of WFP's Purchase for Progress initiative (P4P), financed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and implemented in collaboration with the Government of Ethiopia through the Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA).

In Ethiopia, WFP buys food grown locally in two ways: It buys from small-scale farmers and farmer co-operatives through P4P, and also buys large quantities of locally grown commodities through its regular procurement tender process.

In 2012, WFP purchased more than 112,000 metric tons of food in Ethiopia, more than any other country on the continent.

About 90 percent of this food has been used directly for WFP operations within Ethiopia. For example, more than 37 schools taking part in the WFP school meal programme in Ethiopia receive food harvested nearby.

WFP’s purchases from Ethiopia in 2012 included more than 23,000 tons of locally produced Super Cereal, a nutritious blend of enriched corn and soy flour that WFP uses to prevent and treat nutritional deficiencies among young children, pregnant woman and nursing mothers.

The Ethiopian Government last year started to build resilience and food self-sufficiency for the population amid increasingly challenging climatic conditions.

The Horn of Africa experienced a food crisis last year that left an estimated 13 million people dependent on humanitarian assistance.

Halving the proportion of hungry people in the world by 2015 was among the objectives within the eight globally agreed anti-poverty targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Last year WFP assisted more than six million people throughout Ethiopia, including refugees.

Africa Fairtrade Convention Planned for Nov 1-5 in Ethiopia

Jeff Goldman — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 13:58:23 +0000

Fairtrade Africa, the association of producers participating in Fairtrade International’s (FLO) system in Africa, is organizing a convention themed to strengthen African producers role in the value chain. The convention is scheduled for November 1-5, 2012, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The program will feature a Fairtrade Africa Forum, Fairtrade & Organic Expo, Producer training workshops, and field visits. Over 200 participants are expected to attend, including small-scale farmers and workers from across Africa, international traders, policy makers, NGOs, microfinance organizations and Fair Trade stakeholders.

Details at Fairtrade Africa 2012 Convention

UN seminar on cooperative: Trip without sight-seeing

Ajay Jha — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 02:49:16 +0000

Harnessing the “Cooperative Advantage to Build a Better World” was the theme of a workshop organized by United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Division for Social Policy and Development recently in Ethiopia.

The workshop was attended by three illustrious cooperative personalities from India- Dr Dinesh, Chief Executive of NCUI, Dr G N Saxena, Director Cooperative Development at Iffco, and Lalita
Krishnaswamy from SEWA.

Dr Dinesh was acting as an expert while Mrs Krishnaswamy presented her views on how to create and maintain a successful cooperative. SEWA is indeed a living example of this.

Dr Saxena who lectured three times during the two-day conference told Indian Cooperative that what cooperatives could do for local area development, corporates cannot even dream of. The cooperative model is usually small and involves the participation of local people. The local populace constitutes its market. Thus you have a system which is self-contained and self-sustaining, Saxena added.

Dr Saxena expounded at length the difference between Corporate and Cooperative and cited the factors such as outward flow of fund, invasion of local climate and selfishness in the case of corporates.

The workshop was excellent and we remained pushed into the seminar-hall without any break till evening. There was no sight-seeing and it was business and business alone, remarked Dr Dinesh, Chief Executive of NCUI. “We need to inculcate UN culture in our country where seminars and workshops often degenerate into casual exercises”, he lamented.

Obama backs co-operative efforts against world hunger

AnthonyMurray — Mon, 21 May 2012 11:31:54 +0000

A partnership with co-operatives to fight global hunger has been announced by US President Barack Obama.

The New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, part of the Grow Africa initiative, is a shared commitment between governments and private enterprises to achieve sustained and inclusive agricultural growth in Africa over the next ten years.

Announced at the G8 Symposium on Global Agriculture and Food Security in Washington on Friday, President Obama said: "Governments, like those in Africa, that are committed to agricultural development and food security, they agree to take the lead — building on their own plans by making tough reforms and attracting investment.

"Donor countries — including G8 members and international organisations — agree to more closely align our assistance with these country plans. And the private sector — from large multinationals to small African co-operatives, your NGOs and civil society groups — agree to make concrete and continuing commitments as well, so that there is an alignment between all these sectors."

The US$3 billion investment from the private sector will help to strengthen areas across the agricultural chain, including irrigation, processing, trading, financing and infrastructure, which will impact millions of smallholder farmers.

Rabobank, the global food and agribusiness bank, is the largest backer within the co-operative movement, which intends to launch a lending facility in West Africa that would provide up to US$135 million in loans over five years to small and medium‐size companies in the region which participate in the agricultural value chain, ranging from production, processing and logistics to services and technology.

Other co-operatives pledging support include ADMAS Farmers Cooperative Union, Ethiopia; Becho‐Weliso Farmers Cooperative Union, Ethiopia; and Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union, Ethiopia.

Added President Obama: "Today, I can announce that 45 companies — from major international corporations to African companies and co-operatives — have pledged to invest more than $3 billion to kick off this effort. And we’re also going to fast-track new agricultural projects so they reach those in need even quicker."

The President said "this has to be all hands on deck"; and that more nations, organisations, companies and NGOs should help with the challenges of development across the world.

He added: "We’re going to sustain the commitments we made three years ago, and we’re going to speed things up. And we’re starting with these three countries —Tanzania, Ghana and Ethiopia — precisely because of their record in improving agriculture and food security.

"But this is just the beginning. In the coming months, we’ll expand to six countries. We’ll welcome other countries that are committed to making tough reforms. We’ll welcome more companies that are willing to invest. We’re going to hold ourselves accountable; we’ll measure results. And we’ll stay focused on clear goals: boosting farmers’ incomes, and over the next decade, helping 50 million men, women and children lift themselves out of poverty."

President Obama announces the launch of the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition

Rabobank is one of 45 organisations to show a commitment to the initiative. Chief Executive Piet Moerland has signed a Letter of Intent with the International Finance Corporation to create the West Africa Agribusiness Development Corporation.

The scheme will initially be operated in Ghana, Nigeria and Cote d'Ivoire, but can easily be expanded into other countries. It aims to loan US$135m over five years through 200 intermediaries, which will benefit smallholder farmers.

WAAD is based on the proven concept in Latin America (LAAD), which has been successful in agri-finance for more than 40 years. Over these 40 years, LAAD has successfully realised its mission while showing increasingly healthy financials, generating over 120,000 new jobs in mainly rural areas. Over the next five years, the WAAD corporation will provide access to financial services to small- and medium-sized companies across the agricultural value chain in West Africa.

 Berry Marttin, member of the Executive Board Rabobank, said: “Feeding the world requires investing in agriculture, as farmers feed the world. And without Africa it will be impossible to meet the increasing demand for food worldwide in the coming decades. In most African countries access to finance is badly lacking. Through our subsidiary Rabo Development we undertake investment and advisory activities in Sub-Saharan Africa to increase finance options for agricultural entrepreneurs."

• For more information about the Grow Africa initiative, visit: www.growafrica.com

WOCCU Says Give the Gift of Microloans - Credit Union Times

AnthonyMurray — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 15:01:44 +0000

The World Council of Credit Unions is encouraging holiday gift givers to consider giving the gift of microloans.

Gifts in the form of $30 donations to the Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions will help support farming and microbusiness loans to credit union members in Haiti, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia and Afghanistan, WOCCU said.

Co-operative Enterprises: Key Actors in the EU ‘Agenda for Change’

MirkoNodari — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 14:01:50 +0000

On 13th October, EU Commissioner for Development, Andris Piebalgs, unveiled the 'Agenda for Change' of EU Development policy. This communication is the basis of the future EU Development strategy, with which the EU will re-prioritize its delivery of aid to developing countries to ensure maximum impact on poverty reduction.

Co-operators urged to stand up for Owen's legacy and values

admin — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 09:50:01 +0000

The conference looked at the legacy of Owen 150 years after his death and was attended by delegates and visitors from across the UK, Japan, Canada, Ethiopia and a number of European countries.

The conferenceâ€™s key address was delivered by Professor Tom Webb of St Maryâ€™s University, Canada.

Addressing the intriguing question of â€œWhat would Owen say to us today?â€ he observed that Owen lived in difficult times: â€œOwen was appalled by much of what he saw and first imagined, then tried to bring about a better world.â€