Regional apex Cooperatives Europe has released a practical guide to international co-operative development, to “guide informed partnership decisions and investment opportunities of European co-operative enterprises and networks, donors and policymakers”.
The document, From Aid to Ownership, was co-funded by the EU and developed under the #coops4dev programme, and contains four practical tools which, writes Cooperatives Europe president Giuseppe Guerini, will help co-ops, donors, and international development actors “to design and implement initiatives that result in self-managed, thriving co-operatives, fully aligned with the co-operative identity”.
It also makes the case for co-ops as “trusted partners in international development, offering a proven alternative to traditional aid,” he adds in his foreword.
“At this pivotal moment of rethinking international development,” writes Guerini, “recognising the transformative potential of co-operatives is more urgent than ever.
“In an era where geopolitics has brought war back to the top of the political agenda and official development assistance is at its limits, co-operatives keep being resilient, committed to the ambitious global goals and especially to poverty eradication and decent work, towards a locally rooted economy.”
Jorge Conesa, managing director of the Fair Trade Advocacy Office, warns in the guide that development aid budgets are shrinking, with priority shifting from human development to infrastructure.
“In this context, the question of who delivers development — and how — has never been more relevant,” he writes. “These are far from abstract questions: they have real-life implications.”
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Pointing to the success of Fair Trade co-ops in delivering local ownership, gender equity, and long-term resilience, he adds: “As the EU redesigns its external financing architecture, there is a real risk that co-operatives are crowded out by a narrower vision of what the private sector means. Yet this moment of rethinking also opens opportunities: co-operatives offer cost-effective, people-centred impact.”
The guide says its tools are designed to better leverage European co-ops as sustainable and reliable alternative when advancing development; and to include the co-op model as a tool to strengthen local communities.
The first tool offers guidance on fitting the democratic governance, participation, empowerment, sustainability (DPES) framework into international co-operative development. This means embedding co-op values and principles at every stage, from design to evaluation.
The second tool is a list of “dos and don’ts for supporting authentic co-ops”, with recommended measures including the promotion of multi-year funding, ensuring inclusion and working with local federations, unions and municipalities. Mistakes to avoid, the guide warns, include creating co-ops artificially to meet project outputs, and imposing donor-driven models that override democratic processes
Tool three is a set of red flags to help developers identify fake inactive, or minority-controlled co-ops, to prevent investment in “artificially created or minority-controlled structures”.
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And the fourth tool is a decision-making flowchart for co-ops – “a step-by-step methodology to identify the type of support co-operatives need at each stage”. This is designed to speed baseline assessments, determine priorities and help programme managers allocate technical assistance and funding.
The document puts the tools into the context of changing EU priorities, which “raise concerns over future partnership opportunities between co-operative representative networks, co=operative businesses and the EU”.
It argues that policymakers should work with co-ops “as organisations anchored in self-management and self-help, reducing aid dependency”.
Working with co-ops helps to embed democratic governance, participation, empowerment, and sustainability into development, the report says, creating “locally owned processes that are resilient to shocks and capable of generating long-term impact”.
And it urges policymakers, donors and development partners “to move beyond short-term project mindsets and to recognise international co-operative development as a strategic approach for programme design, partnership building, and long-term investments.
“By placing people at the center, international co-operative development aligns efforts with the overarching goal ofpoverty eradication and sustainable development.”
