Co-operative News - Colombia

fairtrade: Do you know which country has the most Fairtrade...

AnthonyMurray — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 14:49:51 +0000

Do you know which country has the most Fairtrade sugar farmers? Or how workers in Colombia spent the Fairtrade Premium they earned? Check out ‘Monitoring the Scope and Benefits of Fairtrade 2012’, a compendium of data and summaries of key research exploring the impacts of Fairtrade.

Carlos Ernesto Acero habla sobre una década cooperativa

Anca — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 15:13:45 +0000

Carlos Ernesto Acero, Director Ejecutivo de ASCOOP habla sobre el modelo cooperativo en Colombia, país con más de 8,000 cooperativas. También habla sobre que semifija el Año Internacional y como se puede construir una Década Cooperativa.

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Must-see events of October 10

Lyne Gagnon — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 23:30:00 +0000

An effective and evolving business model:

There you have it – the theme for yet another exciting day of compelling events and new ideas about the relevance of the cooperative movement, that will remind us once again of “The Amazing Power of Cooperatives.”

When the curtain rises at 8:30 a.m., come check out the opening conference with Huguette Labelle, President of Transparency International, Canada and Charles Gould, Director General of the International Co-operative Alliance in Switzerland, followed by the case study “Doing business our way - Winning strategies for doing business differently” at 9:00 a.m., chaired by Isabelle Santenac, Global Assurance COO, Ernst & Young, France, accompanied by panelists Denis Richard, President of La Coop fédérée, Canada; Clemente Jaimes, Executive President of La Equidad Seguros, Colombia; Martin Lowery, Executive Vice President, External Affairs, The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, United States; and Peter Marks, Chief Executive, The Co-operative Group, United Kingdom.

At 10:45 a.m., take part in one of the following six forums: Argiculture and Agri-food, Workers and Producers, Public Services, Consumers, Financial Services (cooperative banks, credit unions) and Insurance.

At 12:15 p.m., Madeleine K. Albright, former U.S. Secretary of State (1997-2001), will be the star guest speaker of the highly anticipated Lunch and Learn offered by the PwC.

At 1:30 p.m., the conclusions of another international study by McKinsey & Company will be presented for the first time. The topic covered will be “Achieving the full potential of cooperative organizations – strengths, challenges and best practices,” presented by Éric Lamarre, Associate Director of McKinsey & Company, Canada, and presided by Liz Bailey, President of the National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA) in the United States.

Eight other forums, including two special forums, will be held simultaneously at 3:30 p.m.:

Governance and democratic decision process
Performance management in a cooperative context
Innovation to meet members' needs
Attracting and retaining talent through cooperative values
Alliances between cooperatives
Integrating cooperative values into management practices
North/South Intercooperation
The reality of future leaders in the co-operative world – their participation, their actions and their commitment

Next, at 5:15 p.m., we will hear a speech from Jacques Attali, Economist and Writer, President, PlaNet Finance, France.

We will conclude with a final word from Tom Webb, Executive Director of Imagine 2012, who invites us to join him as we move “Towards the declaration of the 2012 International Summit of Cooperatives.”

At 7:00 p.m., come to the dinner gala featuring the flavours of Quebec, followed by an exciting show with a performance by the Cirque du Soleil, a Quebec-based company recognized the world over for high-quality, artistic entertainment.

Must-see events of October 10

Lyne Gagnon — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 23:30:00 +0000

An effective and evolving business model:

At 12:15 p.m., Madeleine K. Albright, former U.S. Secretary of State (1997-2001), will be the star guest speaker of the highly anticipated Lunch and Learn offered by the PwC.

Eight other forums, including two special forums, will be held simultaneously at 3:30 p.m.:

Governance and democratic decision process
Performance management in a cooperative context
Innovation to meet members' needs
Attracting and retaining talent through cooperative values
Alliances between cooperatives
Integrating cooperative values into management practices
North/South Intercooperation
The reality of future leaders in the co-operative world – their participation, their actions and their commitment

Next, at 5:15 p.m., we will hear a speech from Jacques Attali, Economist and Writer, President, PlaNet Finance, France.

Fair Trade USA Announces Winners of New Cooperative Small Grants Program

Fair Trade USA — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 16:34:02 +0000

OAKLAND, Calif. (August 3, 2012) – Fair Trade USA, the leading third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in the United States, has announced the first two winners of its new Cooperative Small Grants Program, which offers Fair Trade Certified™ coffee cooperatives access to funding for specific capacity-building projects. The winners, APROCASSI from Peru and ASOPROKAN from Colombia, were awarded a combined $40,428 to improve crop productivity and quality management.

This Grant Program is part of Fair Trade USA’s Co-op Link initiative, which connects and supports organizations throughout the supply chain to maximize the benefits of Fair Trade for small-scale farmers around the world.

Designed to create real impact in farming communities, the goals of the Grants Program are (1) to invest in small farmers as they build skills for cooperative management, and (2) to support the building of durable supply chains between cooperatives and their North American business partners. Funds are available to any Fair Trade Certified coffee cooperative not currently involved in a Co-op Link capacity-building program, and can be used on projects in the following categories:

• Quality and Productivity
• Cooperative Business Management
• Access to Finance
• Creation of Social Programs (microfinance, etc.)
• Environmental Projects
• Food Security
• Commercialization (introducing products to market)

“We would like to congratulate the winners and applaud all of the producer organizations that submitted proposals. The quality of the applications we received was outstanding,” said Laura Ann Sweitzer, Producer Services Program Manager. “It’s a clear indication of the sophistication and insight of these cooperatives to self-identify their biggest challenges and propose and execute innovative solutions.”

About the Grant Winners
The first winner, Cooperativa de Servicios Múltiples (APROCASSI), is a Peruvian coffee cooperative founded in 2000 to enable small farmers to earn a fair price for their coffee. APROCASSI is currently battling a massive infestation of roya, a leaf rust fungus, which is killing off three of their coffee varieties. The farmers are attributing this to aging coffee plants, lack of soil treatment, and changes in climate. APROCASSI was awarded $24,652 to increase coffee production and quality by (1) training 22 committees in technical plant rehabilitation and pruning, (2) partnering with Cooperativa de Ahorro y Crédito Aprocredi to form a credit program for 64 farmers to receive low interest loans to invest in fertilizers, and (3) rehabilitating 32 hectares of coffee plants in the first year.

“We are very excited to be selected winners amongst the various proposals,” said Luis Fernando Peña Parra, General Manager of APROCASSI, on behalf of the organization’s 452 members. “This grant will allow us to create a management plan to mitigate the problem of roya that is affecting our plants and consequently the well being and livelihood of our coffee farmers and families.”

Asociación de Productores Agroecológicos Indígenas Kankuamos de la Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (ASOPROKAN), the second grant winner, is a Colombian coffee cooperative founded in 2008 by 150 members of the Kankuamo indigenous community. ASOPROKAN was awarded $15,776 to invest in quality improvement to further differentiate their coffee in international markets. They plan to use their funds to improve their quality management system. Specific projects include (1) constructing a coffee quality lab, (2) contracting experts for technical assistance training, (3) designating leaders in the community to ensure these quality measurements are applied, (4) training 10 female cuppers to support women leadership, and (5) hiring and training personnel to administer their new improved internal quality control system.

“We know that quality is a vehicle to increase the income and quality of life of farmers,” said Solón Arias, ASOPROKAN’s General Manager. “This (grant) support is significant to the long-term development of coffee quality in our community.”

Fair Trade coffee cooperatives from Africa, Asia and Latin America submitted 43 applications for this grant. Fair Trade USA carefully selected 5 finalists, which were then reviewed by a Grant Selection Committee made up of six external industry experts, including:

• Flavio Meira Borem--Universidad Federal de Lavras (UFLA) (Brazil)
• Aimee Russillo--Liseed Consulting
• Jorge Cuevas--Sustainable Harvest Mexico
• Karla Diab--Unitrade Coffee (Guatemala)
• Mery Santos--International Women’s Coffee Alliance (IWCA)
• Alex Katona-- Coffee Quality Institute (CQI).

Fair Trade USA will implement two rounds of the grant program in 2012, the second of which will be announced in September. A total of $65,000 will be disbursed this year with plans to grow the fund in 2013.

The Cooperative Small Grants Program, along with other ongoing Co-op Link projects, is part of Fair Trade USA’s Fair Trade for All initiative, designed to strengthen farming communities and include more farmers and workers, ultimately doubling the impact of Fair Trade by 2015.

# # #

Fair Trade USA, a nonprofit organization, is the leading third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in the United States. Fair Trade USA audits and certifies transactions between U.S. companies and their international suppliers to guarantee that the farmers and workers producing Fair Trade Certified goods were paid fair prices and wages, work in safe conditions, protect the environment, and receive community development funds to empower and improve their communities. Fair Trade USA also educates consumers, brings new manufacturers and retailers into the Fair Trade system, and provides farming communities with tools, training and resources to thrive as international businesspeople. Visit www.fairtradeusa.org for more information.

Editor’s Notes:

These grants are made possible by charitable donations from foundations, development organizations, and independent philanthropists, as well as service fees paid to Fair Trade USA by more than 700 business partners.

Panama, Korea and Colombia “Free Trade” Deals Poised for Passage

Jeff Goldman — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 16:44:30 +0000

Article reprinted from Fair World Project October 7 e-newsletter:

dotCoop announces winners of Global Awards

AnthonyMurray — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 08:54:23 +0000

DotCoop, the sponsor of the .coop domain name, has announced the winners of its Global Awards for the promotion of 'Co-operative Excellence' through the internet.

Maria Morais — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 18:20:00 +0000

FLO & Coffee Producers Take Actions to Overcome Challenges in Market

Jeff Goldman — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 14:16:25 +0000

Reacting to turmoil in coffee markets over the past two years, Fairtrade International (FLO) has sponsored several actions as part of a Coffee Action Plan introduced in November 2010.

A Colombian diary . . .

admin — Wed, 26 Oct 2005 23:00:00 +0000

Day 1

OK, so I hadn't really wanted to travel to Colombia. It wasn't the country's high ranking among the world's most dangerous places that had put me off so much as the prospect of hours of flying followed by jetlag and lost luggage – all of which turned out to be true, of course.
The fourth largest country in South America, Colombia has been ravaged by "a decades-long violent conflict, involving guerrilla insurgencies, drug cartels and gross violations of human rights" (to quote the BBC website).