The first in a series of free eBooks has been launched today which shows how co-ops create a fairer food system.
Find out how Co-operative Enterprises Build a Better World in a new series of free eBooks that show how co-operatives provide an ethical alternative for business across the world (www.thenews.coop/ebooks) and they are available in a variety of formats.
Produced by the ICA in partnership with the Global News Hub the books celebrate the International Day of Co-operatives (July 7), the first eBook tackles food security and how the sector from smallholder farmers through to multi-billion dollar organisations is working to provide key commodities for the global population.
Read about the fisheries sector in Vietnam that keeps millions of people employed through co-operation; the US co-operative that produces enough sugar for 12 million people; and how a group of African women gained equality through dairy farming.
The eBooks are being released each month in the run-up to Co-operatives United, the culmination event for the International Year of Co-operatives, and are a preview of the topics set to dominate the conferences, keynote addresses, seminars, workshops, fringe activities and other events during the week-long festival.
Dame Pauline Green, President of the International Co-operative Alliance, who has written an introduction for the publication, says: “Co-operatives strengthen the bargaining power and livelihoods of small farmers who are less vulnerable to price fluctuations, through working together.
“Co-operatives from the UK, Sweden, Canada, the US, Norway, Japan and many other countries are working around the world to combat food insecurity and fight poverty.
“The United Nation designated 2012 as the International Year of Co-operatives demonstrating its recognition of the power of this business model to do good in the world. In a world where food insecurity threatens to increase in the coming decades, co-operatives are an important part of the solution.”
Key sessions on food security from Co-operatives United, which will be hosted in
Manchester, UK (October 29–November 2), will also be streamed online (www.thenews.coop/virtualevent); and an interactive platform will connect delegates at the event and thousands of viewers across the globe.
• To download the first eBook, visit: www.thenews.coop/ebooks ; and to find out more about Co-operatives United, visit: www.manchester2012.coop
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