February 2017

news
FEBRUARY 2017
FAIRTRADE
Tackling
inequality and
exploitation in
the supply chain
Plus... ‘Co-operatives
are part of our DNA,’ says
Oxfam ... Thoughts from
film director Ken Loach ...
Key steps to successfully
engaging workers
ISSN 0009-9821
01
9 770009 982010
£4.20
www.thenews.coop

news
CONNECTING, CHAMPIONING AND
CHALLENGING THE GLOBAL CO-OP
MOVEMENT SINCE 1871
Holyoake House, Hanover Street,
Manchester M60 0AS
(00) 44 161 214 0870
www.thenews.coop
editorial@thenews.coop
EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Anthony Murray
anthony@thenews.coop
DEPUTY EDITOR
Rebecca Harvey
rebecca@thenews.coop
EDITORIAL
Anca Voinea | anca@thenews.coop
Miles Hadfield | miles@thenews.coop
DIRECTORS
Elaine Dean (chair), David Paterson
(vice-chair), Richard Bickle, Sofygil
Crew, Gavin Ewing, Tim Hartley,
Erskine Holmes, Beverley Perkins and
Barbara Rainford.
Secretary: Ray Henderson
Established in 1871, Co-operative News
is published by Co-operative Press Ltd,
a registered society under the Cooperative
and Community Benefit Society
Act 2014. It is printed every month by
Buxton Press, Palace Road, Buxton,
Derbyshire SK17 6AE. Membership of
Co-operative Press is open to individual
readers as well as to other co-operatives,
corporate bodies and unincorporated
organisations.
The Co-operative News mission statement
is to connect, champion and challenge
the global co-operative movement,
through fair and objective journalism and
open and honest comment and debate.
Co-op News is, on occasion, supported by
co-operatives, but final editorial control
remains with Co-operative News unless
specifically labelled ‘advertorial’. The
information and views set out in opinion
articles and letters do not necessarily
reflect the opinion of Co-operative News.
How co-ops can stop the exploitation of workers
Each day 21 million workers are being exploited through forced labour,
according to the International Labour Organization.
This is more than the combined populations of Greece and Belgium.
Through Fairtrade, co-operatives are helping to reduce the effects of
exploitation – and exploitation is the theme of this year’s Fairtrade
Fortnight too.
Fairtrade does work. It has provided a better wage for over a million
farmers. In Uganda, researchers at the University of Göttingen found
that Fairtrade cuts the likelihood of being poor by 50%
But exploitation can happen anywhere, and there is risk in the
Fairtrade chain, where seasonal workers can face low wages and poor
working conditions.
The labelling body, Fairtrade International, is tackling this. Its team
work with farmers by highlighting how they should treat workers. But
it’s difficult to police.
Research published in December from NGO Repórter Brasil, for
example, found that some of Brazil’s coffee farms were exploiting
workers, through low pay and the withholding of benefits. This was
regardless of the type of producer or its ethical label certification.
It’s the responsibility of co-operatives to investigate their own supply
chain – and there are plenty of tools to use. Organisations such as
Sedex provide the knowledge and materials to do this efficiently.
Also, co-ops can engage with the issue on a global level by supporting
the United Nations’ Social Development Goals. Specifically number
eight, which asks organisations to promote sustained, inclusive and
sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and
decent work for all.
Being a responsible business means that co-operatives have a duty
of care to all of its stakeholders. This includes everyone it directly and
indirectly employs.
@coopnews
cooperativenews
ANTHONY MURRAY - EXECUTIVE EDITOR
FEBRUARY 2016 | 3

THIS ISSUE
CLOCKWISE FROM FAR LEFT
CWS played a historic role in co-op
retail innovation (pp46-47); co-operator
Dorothy Francis MBE (p24); Fairtrade
now covers everything from minerals to
flowers (pp 30-43); Swiss retailer Coop
is selling mealworm burgers (p16); and
film maker Ken Loach spoke at Ways
Forward 5 (pp28-29)
COVER Co-operative News prepares for
Fairtrade Fortnight (27 February to 12
March) with a look at the movement,
from its role in global development to
stories from those it has helped
Read more: pages 30-43
24 MEET… DOROTHY FRANCIS
We speak to the CEO of CASE
development agency about her support
for the movement and her recent MBE.
26-27 DOVER POINT CO-OPERATIVE
How an enlightened legal framework
helped residents of a mobile home park
in New Hampshire buy out their site.
28-29 WAYS FORWARD 5
The Manchester conference looked
at how the co-op movement can
offer radical alternatives to austerity,
including a presentation by I, Daniel
Blake director Ken Loach.
30-31 FAIRTRADE
Our look at Fairtrade opens with Ed
Mayo, secretary general of Co-operatives
UK, looking back over the movement’s
progress since he helped set up the
Fairtrade mark in the early 1990s.
32-35 FIGHTING EXPLOITATION
We look at the difficulties facing
attempts to ensure good treatment of
workers hired by Fairtrade producers
and the steps taken to improve things,
including revised standards and training.
38-41 HOW FAIRTRADE HELPS
We look at where the money from the
Fairtrade Premium goes, while coffee
producer María Edy Rivera talks about
how Fairtrade has helped her cause.
42-43 FAIRTRADE FUTURE
Where next for the movement: what
co-ops can do to help producers
44-47 RETAIL INNOVATION
Dr Unai Elorza looks at the keys steps
to engaging workers – and discusses
the relationship between employee
engagement and productivity.
REGULARS
6-15: News and updates from the UK
co-op movement
16-21: Global updates
22: Letters | Your views
48-49: Reviews
50: Diary
4 | FEBRUARY 2017

WE’VE MADE A FEW CHANGES ...
Welcome to the first monthly edition of Co-operative
News, where we will continue to provide news,
insight and analysis.
Created by co-ops for co-ops, our mission is to connect, champion and challenge
the global movement for a stronger co-operative economy.
All content is created for (and by) co-operative professionals, members and
supporters. Over the next year, we will be tackling the big issues that affect cooperatives,
such as governance, membership and equality. Plus looking outside
the movement for inspiration to further the co-op model.
In the new monthly edition, we will also have regular features, such as book
reviews, and discussions with people from across the movement.
We are also keen to have your input. Give us your feedback on the new
design, send us your stories, or let us know if you have any content ideas.
Telephone the team on 0161 214 0870,
or email: editorial@thenews.coop
news Issue #7280 FEBRUARY 2017
Connecting, championing, challenging
news
FEBRUARY 2017
FAIRTRADE
Tackling
inequality and
exploitation in
the supply chain
Plus... ‘Co-operatives
are part of our DNA,’ says
Oxfam ... Thoughts from
film director Ken Loach ...
Key steps to successfully
engaging workers
ISSN 0009-9821
9 770009 982010
01
£4.20
www.thenews.coop
MEMBER-OWNED, MEMBER-LED ...
news
On 1 March we are relaunching our membership, to make
it easier for our member-owners to help us sustain our
independent co-operative journalism, research and insight.
Be the first to know more by registering your interest at
www.thenews.coop/join
or keep an eye out in the next issue ...
THE MARQUE ...
There was no debate when the decision was made to fully
adopt the coop marque. It represents everything about co-ops.
Launched by the International Co-operative Alliance in 2013, it
is the global identity that unites and shows co-ops are a force.
Throughout the world and across different business sectors
and cultures, people agreed that the word ‘coop’ is unique to
our business model, it expresses who we are, what we do and
what we stand for. We’re proud to be joining many other co-ops
such as the Phone Co-op, REScoop and Co-operatives UK that
have fully adopted the marque.
The marque is used alongside our identifier, the globe, which
symbolises our expansive international network. And we are
keeping our red colour, which shows our underlying energetic
passion for all things co-operative.

NEWS
RETAIL
Co-op performance for Christmas 2016
Shoppers went on a spending spree over
Christmas, with supermarkets taking an
extra half a billion pounds in the final 12
weeks of 2016 (a 1.8% increase).
With Christmas Eve falling on Saturday,
the typical household had more time to
shop and thus spent £365 on groceries
during the month – a £52 increase on a
normal spend, according to Kantar.
The retail analyst said Co-op stores
saw a 2.4% increase. There were also
increases for Tesco (1.3%), Morrisons
(1.2%), Iceland (9.6%), Waitrose (3%),
Aldi (11.8%) and Lidl (7.5%). [During the
quarter, Aldi’s market share increased to
6% – the same as the Co-op.] Declines
were seen by Sainsbury’s (0.1%) and
Asda (2.4%).
Over the Christmas and New year weeks
(the three weeks to 31 December), co-ops
reported buoyant growth:
u The Co-operative Group reported a
3.5% like-for-like growth. Prosecco was
its biggest seller, which also gave back
almost £13,000 to communities through
the 5%/1% membership offer. (The
total amount for communities since the
September launch stands at £2.9m)
u Midcounties saw a 3.5% like-for-like
sales growth across its food stores. Its Best
of Our Counties range saw a 42% increase
in sales in the month of December,
compared to the previous year.
u Southern Co-operative saw total
convenience store sales increase 9%
across the 13 week period to 8 January
2017 – 1% like-for-like sales growth.
u Heart of England saw a like-for-like
sales increase of 4.9%
u At Lincolnshire, like-for-like sales
rose to 12.6%. With a focus on local
food, Gadsby’s, the society’s bakers, saw
festive range sales increase by 15%, with
a record-breaking 152,000 individual
mince pies sold.
u Chelmsford Star saw a like-for-like
growth of 6.04% in food sales.
u Central England reports like-for-like
sales of £46.3m, up 4.6%. In convenience
stores, like-for-like sales rose 6.2%, with
over 1.9 million customer transactions
across all store formats during Christmas
week, with the highest ever daily sales of
£3.8m on Christmas Eve.
u East of England saw a 6.2% increase in
food sales, with transactions up 2.4% for
the same period. Local mince pies were
the big seller, with sales up 17%.
“
What the bosses
said:
Roger Grosvenor, East of England:
“We are very pleased with our
Boxing Day sales, which were up
30% from 2015.”
Mark Finn, Lincolnshire: “We had
a fantastic Christmas range on sale
and many customers pre-ordered
products like turkeys as they trusted
us to deliver.”
Steve Murrells, Co-operative Group:
“In Christmas week our availability
across the store was much better than
last year with 300,000 fewer gaps.”
ABOVE The Group’s biggest selling line was
its own-brand Prosecco
LEFT Locally sourced mince pies were a top
seller – 152,000 were sold at Lincolnshire (a
record) and East of England sold 17% more
than last year (Photo: Lincolnshire Co-op)
6 | FEBRUARY 2017

RETAIL
Co-operative Retail
Conference
POLITICS
Legislation to help businesses access capital
through a mutual passes first hurdle
A proposal to provide businesses with
access to capital through a mutual
structure has passed its first reading in
parliament.
Labour and Co-operative MP Christina
Rees presented the private members
bill “to harness the positive power of
co-operation in order to increase SME
lending in this country”.
WHAT IS THE MUTUAL GUARANTEE
SOCIETIES BILL 2016-17?
LEFT Christina Rees, Labour
and Co-operative MP for
Neath, introduced the bill
electing the general assembly and board
of directors.
“By working together, SMEs can then
negotiate a better deal from banks,
while for the banks the underpinning
of the mutual guarantee provides
partial security on otherwise unsecured
enterprise lending.
“The risk is lower, so the price of money
is lower. The deal flow is greater, and
underpinned by peer review from SME
members, so access to capital is easier.”
The 2017 Co-operative Retail Conference,
organised by Co-operatives UK in
Stratford-Upon-Avon on 3-5 March, will
explore the future of consumer co-ops.
The event will feature James Walton
(chief economist at IGD, above), Rufus
Olins (chief membership officer at the
Co-operative Group), Dame Pauline
Green (former MEP and president of the
International Co-operative Alliance,
who chairs the National Co-operative
Development Strategy panel) and Unai
Elorza (lecturer on HR Management at
Mondragon University), among others.
u For more information and to book, visit
s.coop/retailconf17
u READ MORE: Unai Elorza discusses
productivity and engagement, p44
RETAIL
The Phone Co-op reveals
new branding
The law would enable small and
medium enterprises (SMEs) to form
mutual guarantee societies to secure
better access to finance.
The mutual guarantee society would
provide a guarantee on behalf of the SME,
serving as a bridge between the SMEs
and financial institutions. It will add a
definition to the Financial Services and
Markets Act 2000 of a mutual guarantee
society and adds mutual guarantees to
the list of regulated activities.
This is the norm across Europe, says
Ms Rees, where mutual guarantee
societies tend to have a co-operative or
mutual statute.
“This means that the mutual guarantee
societies’ capital is provided directly by
the SMEs that apply for a loan guarantee
in the form of co-operative or mutual
shares,” she said. “Each member has an
equal voting right and participates in
WHAT IS A PRIVATE MEMBERS’ BILL?
Private members’ bills are public bills
introduced by MPs and Lords who are
not government ministers. As with
other public bills their purpose is to
change the law as it applies to the
general population. A minority of private
members’ bills become law but, by
creating publicity around an issue, they
may affect legislation indirectly.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
A second reading is scheduled for 24
February. After that it gets scrutinised by
MPs in a committee and in the Commons.
If it passes a successful third reading it
will progress to the Lords where it will go
through the same process before being
given the chance for amendments and
receiving Royal Assent.
The Phone Co-op has launched a new
brand to ensure its compatibility with
digital platforms.
The co-op, which is owned by more
than 11,700 members, adopted the
identity to increase sales and boost online
reach, particularly among young people.
Chief executive Vivian Woodell said:
“We are delighted with the new brand,
and the board is fully behind the change.
“It creates a new visual identity,
which conveys the fact that we are a
modern technology and communications
business, but we are also part of the wider
co-operative movement.
FEBRUARY 2017 | 7

RETAIL
Radstock Co-operative expands into Wiltshire
Radstock Co-operative has extended its
trading area from Somerset into Wiltshire
with a purpose-built community store
in Hilperton village, near Trowbridge.
The society says the new store, the 16th
in its retail estate, is in a prime location,
and has been fitted to a high specification
with energy-efficient chillers, freezers and
lighting. The layout uses low-level fixtures
and wide aisles to provide a spacious
environment with plenty of natural light.
Heating with wood
The product range goes beyond typical
convenience offering with an instore
bakery and hot food to go, Costa Coffee
Express and a local supplier range.
Chief executive Don Morris said: “I
am delighted that we have secured this
particular site. It means that for the first
time we have extended our geographical
trading area from Somerset into another
county. We are approaching our 150th
anniversary in 2018, and remain
committed to growing the retail estate
to ensure the society is sustainable for
future generations.”
The new store has provided jobs for
more than 20 local people and the society
hopes to build relations and work with
local groups and organisations in the
community.
Over 540 households helped out of fuel poverty with a Pyrotec
biomass community heating system
LEFT Store manager Adam Wells at the opening with Castle Mead school head and pupils, who
received a donation from the society
HOUSING / ENERGY
Renewable energy project helps tackle resident fuel bills by fuel 20%. poverty
A housing co-op’s project to tackle
fuel poverty in South Lanarkshire has
received the top environment award from
the Chartered Institute of Housing in
Scotland.
West Whitlawburn Housing Co-op has
connected 543 of its homes to a large
renewable energy biomass boiler, which
burns woodchip. The installation has
cost the co-op £6.5m.
As a result energy bills have been frozen
for tenants over the past two years, and
will continue at the same level until April.
The scheme is also helping to prevent
48,600 tonnes of CO2 being released into
the atmosphere over its 30-year lifetime.
Judges were impressed by the way
the co-op, which manages a total of 644
Project overview
A housing co-operative in one of Scotland’s poorest
regions has invested in a district heating network to cut
West Whitlawburn Housing Co-operative (WWHC) in
Cambuslang has implemented a modern, affordable
heating system in partnership with npower, using
properties, had combined significant
environmental benefits by using biomass
fuel and helped address fuel poverty, a
big challenge for the region.
CO
Whitlawburn ² over its 30 year lifetime.
is recognised in the
Scottish Index
A cheaper
of
and
Multiple
sustainable heating
Deprivations
source
as within the 5% most deprived zones in
Scotland. According to a 2012 analysis
by South Lanarkshire Council Improve,
25% of households in South Lanarkshire
cheaper, more sustainable fuel source.
were in fuel poverty with a further 8% in
extreme fuel poverty.
Vice chair as enclosing Anne exposed balconies Anderson, in six high-rise blocks. who
collected the award with chair Susan
Anderson, said: “The project has been
very difficult to finance and manage.
“It was not without its difficulties in
the early stages, but it is delightful to see
greater comfort for West Whitlawburn residents.
very high levels of tenant satisfaction
with the project currently and also that
the Institute has chosen to honour us in
this way”.
products from Viessmann, which caters for 432 flats
in six tower blocks, 111 low rise flats and 14 tenement
closes. A Viessmann 740 kW Pyrotec biomass boiler,
backed up by three 1300 kW Vitoplex low temperature
gas boilers, is now on course to save 48,600 tonnes of
Previously using electric storage heaters exclusively, the
residents of West Whitlawburn were suffering from high
heating and hot water bills across the estate. Situated
in the bottom five per cent band of the Scottish Index
of Multiple Deprivation, the West Whitlawburn Housing
Co-operative faced a challenge in implementing a
Initially, the WWHC invested £22.4 million to improve the
energy efficiency of these buildings, work which included
cladding, insulation, new windows and re-roofing as well
The project, part funded through the Warm Homes
Fund, involved the construction of a new energy centre,
which contains a 740 kW Pyrotec biomass boiler and
50,000 litre thermal store. The system burns woodchips
or pellets at up to 92% efficiency and is fed via an
automated charging screw from an underground store
beneath the energy centre. The Pyrotec’s three pass
heat exchanger allows for maximum heat transfer and
Due to the combustion manager within the boiler, a
greater variety of wood fuel can be used to heat the
system. This ranges from dry (W10) to moist (W50). The
energy from the fuel is transferred from the thermal store
to each property via a network of insulated underground
pipes. This heats each unit’s individual heating system,
comprising of a heat exchanger, radiators and hot water
tank.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Tenants control the flat temperature with
a thermostat and radiators fitted with
thermostatic valves allowing room-byroom
control. In addition, all flats are
separately metred for heat and hot water,
which means tenants pay for their actual
use. Each flat has a smart meter allowing
tenants to monitor their consumption
and costs which has resulted in improved
energy behaviour.
The West Whitlawburn district heating scheme caters for 432 flats in six tower blocks, 111 low
rise flats and 14 tenement closes.
A Viessmann Pyrotec 740 kW biomass boiler was installed in the new energy centre, alongside
three 1300 kW Vitoplex gas boilers.
LEFT WWHC is a fully mutual housing co-op
providing rented homes in the Whitlawburn
area of Glasgow, Scotland
TOP The West Whitlawburn district heating
scheme caters for 432 flats in six tower
blocks, 111 low rise flats and 14 tenement
closes
ABOVE Anne Anderson and Susan Anderson
with the award from the Chartered Institute of
Housing in Scotland
WHC has already 8 | FEBRUARY invested £22.4 2017 million to improve
e energy efficiency of these buildings – work which
s included installing cladding, insulation and new

EDUCATION
Co-op College launches
e-learning courses
The Co-operative College has launched a
series of short co-op e-learning courses
that will be accessible on all devices.
The courses come it two packages,
which can be used in inductions or
workshops. The College developed the
courses with UpSkill People.
Joe Goddard, learning and development
co-ordinator at the Co-operative College,
said: “E-learning gives the learner agency
and control – they can learn when and
where they want and can take their time.
It’s open content that really empowers
the learner.
“The College has traditionally done
training for people who know and are
already passionate about the movement.
It has never done this kind of entry-level,
short, high-impact learning that explains
what a co-op is and the benefits of being
part of it.”
David Bird appointed Co-operative Energy CEO
Dorothy Francis receives MBE
Co-operative Energy, part of the
Midcounties Co-operative, has appointed
David Bird as its new chief executive.
Mr Bird joins the organisation from E.on
where he is currently managing director of
its UK residential and metering business.
He will be reporting to Ben Reid, group
chief executive of Midcounties.
Lord Victor Adebowale announced as chair of Social
Enterprise UK
Social Enterprise UK has named Lord
Victor Adebowale as its new chair for an
initial three-year term. He takes over from
Claire Dove, chair since 2008, who is now
appointed as a patron. Lord Adebowale
is chief executive of the charity Turning
Point and is on the boards of the Co-op
Group and NHS England.
The 2017 New Year Honours list included
an award for Dorothy Francis, chief
executive of Leicester-based Co-operative
And Social Enterprise support agency
(CASE). Ms Francis, who has worked
in the movement for 35 years, has been
given an MBE for “services to enterprise
and the communities of Leicester and
Leicestershire”.
u Read more: Meet Dorothy Francis: p24
Peter Couchman leaves Plunkett Foundation
The e-Learning suite includes two
packages, the Co-op Essentials package
and the Co-op Essentials Plus package.
The Co-op Essentials package includes
three short courses: What is a co-op?;
Values and Principles; and Membership
engagement. It is available in bundles of
licences for 20 people, at £229 for a year,
or £3.81 per learner per course.
Essentials Plus, which has six
short courses: What is a co-op?;
Values and principles; Membership
engagement; Good governance; Roles
and Responsibilities of directors; and
Monitoring Co-operative Performance,
is available in bundles of licences for 20
people, £428 for a year, the equivalent of
£3.75 per learner per course.
For a demo log-in to view the course,
contact Joe Goddard at joe@co-op.ac.uk.
Plunkett Foundation has announced
its chief executive, Peter Couchman, is
stepping down after eight years in the
role. He is relocating to Ireland to work
as an organic farmer. The organisation,
which supports rural co-ops and social
enterprises, says Mr Couchman leaves
Plunkett “in a strong position”.
Paul Flowers removed from Methodist roll of ministers
Paul Flowers, the former Co-operative
Bank chair disgraced by revelations
of drug use, has been dismissed as a
minister by the Methodist Church. His
dismissal, following an appeal period,
means he can no longer use the title
Reverend or lead services.
FEBRUARY 2017 | 9

RETAIL
Co-op Group opens nominations for Members’ Council elections
Nominations are open for this year’s
elections to the Co-op Group National
Members’ Council. The Council was put
in place to uphold the Group’s values and
principles and hold the board to account.
Members will mostly serve a three-year
term and take their seats following the
Group’s AGM on 20 May.
“If you’re a member then I’d like to ask
you to consider standing for election to
the Members’ Council,” said Nick Crofts,
president of the Council.
“As a member, you’re one of over five
million co-owners of our Co-op, and this
is your opportunity to have an even bigger
say in how we’re run.”
This year, there are 26 seats up for
election across 12 regions, and candidates
have until noon on 17 February to apply
and. To be eligible, they need to have:
Inside the Members’ Council:
What is it like being an elected member?
u been a Co-op member since 5 Jan 2014
u earned at least 1,000 trading points
from the Co-op between 3 January 2016
and 31 December 2016
u earned at least 500 of these points by
spending across any of the wholly owned
businesses in the Co-op Group (Co-op
Food, Co-op Electrical, Co-op Insurance,
Co-op Funeralcare).
Council members will receive an
annual fee of £3,000, plus travel costs
and expenses, and will also receive an
employee discount card, which can be
used at Co-op Food stores and other
Group businesses.
u Potential candidates can apply online
at www.co-operative.coop/get-involved/
councilelection
?
Where are the seats
up for election?
Cymru/Wales (2)
East Midlands (2)
East of England (2)
London (2)
North East (1)
North West (1)
Northern Ireland (1)
Scotland (3)
South East (3)
South West (4)
West Midlands (2; one seat
for a two-year term)
Yorkshire and Humber (3)
NAME: Sam Hale
OCCUPATION: Financial Complaints
Handler
REGION: North West
WHY DID YOU JOIN THE COUNCIL?
I joined the council because I wanted
to get involved with setting the
direction of the Group at a turning point
in its history. It’s a huge privilege to be
on the council at such an exciting time
for our organisation and the wider
co-operative movement.
WHAT IS ITS/YOUR BIGGEST SUCCESS
TO DATE?
The most exciting project since I have
been on the council has been the launch
of our new membership proposition,
underpinned by the 5% + 1% reward
on own brand products. As a council
we have been involved in the thinking
behind the brand relaunch, and overseen
the implementation of the scheme.
WHAT HAVE YOU FOUND CHALLENGING?
Although the council has progressed in
many ways, in others it is still finding its
bite, finding that balance to ensure we
are critical friend to the board while still
championing the issues our members
care about. It’s a challenge that we as a
council are actively working to overcome.
NAME: Barbara Vaterlaws
OCCUPATION: Designer
REGION: Cymru/Wales
WHY DID YOU JOIN THE COUNCIL?
Applying to join the council seemed a
natural progression from being involved
and active locally with the Co-op. I was
surprised at my election success but
delighted to take up the challenge.
WHAT IS IT’S/YOUR BIGGEST SUCCESS
TO DATE?
I regard my biggest success as being
accepted onto the food policy working
group. Here I have the opportunity to
influence what is probably the most
important matter to our members and
customers – what goes onto the shelves
in our stores.
WHAT HAVE YOU FOUND CHALLENGING?
The biggest challenge is managing in
a meaningful way all the council and
committee business – reading, analysing
and identifying opportunities to raise
questions at council meetings.
10 | FEBRUARY 2017

NAME: Ayo Ogolo
OCCUPATION: African historian/creative
practitioner
REGION: North west
WHY DID YOU JOIN THE COUNCIL?
The Co-op Group’s headquarters at One Angel Square, Manchester
I joined the Co-op because of my
business skill base and experience
working with BAME communities,
and in identifying community cohesive
work which would allow for economic
equality within a marginalised area
of Manchester.
WHAT IS ITS/YOUR BIGGEST SUCCESS
TO DATE?
At a community level, a recent
breakthrough which helped me to
connect with local members relates to
my recent stint as a Christmas craft stall
holder, hosted by my local Co-op in
Whalley Range.
WHAT HAVE YOU FOUND CHALLENGING?
It’s been quite a challenge to explore and
share members’ BAME (black, Asian and
minority ethnic) experiences across the
Co-op, and it’s an area the Co-op needs
to discuss openly and honestly with its
customers and members through its
stores, membership events and at board
and council level.
NAME: Chris McCaughan
OCCUPATION: Seasonal Deep Sea
Fishing Captain
REGION: Northern Ireland
WHY DID YOU JOIN THE COUNCIL?
I was a local councillor who initially
helped to get planning permission for a
Co-op store in my town of Ballycastle.
On leaving politics, I was asked to
join the Antrim Area committee, and
was pleased to be elected by my local
members. I was elected to the Members’
Council during its first elections in 2015
for a three-year term.
WHAT IS ITS/YOUR BIGGEST SUCCESS
TO DATE?
My biggest success was being part of
the work to integrate our area
committees into our new members’
council. I’m very proud to represent
members from Northern Ireland in the
members’ council.
WHAT HAVE YOU FOUND CHALLENGING?
What I find the most challenging is
serving as on our local Co-op forum. I
work hard to ensure that local community
causes maintain a level of funding
provided to them. I love council work,
as there is a lot to gain from it and the
time and effort put into the work. It gives
you that feel-good factor and forms great
friendships along the way.
FEBRUARY 2017 | 11

RETAIL
Co-op’s iconic CIS tower in Manchester on sale for a reported £50m
The Co-operative Group’s former
headquarters in Manchester is for sale for
a reported £50m.
The site has been on the market for
several months, according to reports,
with JLL and Colliers International
instructed to oversee the sale.
The Group and Co-operative Bank
tenants will remain in the building after
the sale, with a change of landlord.
The tower now lies at the heart of
Manchester’s 20 acre NOMA project,
opposite the Group’s new Angel Square
HQ. The sale is part of the ongoing
strategy to regenerate the area, said a
NOMA spokesman.
He added: “This decision will not
affect the rights of the Co-op and the
Co-operative Bank as the tenants in
the building as it will simply result in a
change of landlord. The tower will remain
a crucial part of the wider NOMA estate,
while the team focuses on the wider
development of the area.”
Built: 1959-1962
Height: 387ft (At the time of completion,
it was the UK’s country’s tallest office
block – and the third-tallest in Europe)
Designed by: Gordon Tait of Burnett, Tait
& Partners and the Co-operative Group’s
own architect, G. S. Hay.
1990s: Granted Grade II listed building
status by English Heritage.
2004-5: Underwent a £5.5m renovation
and covered in 7,000 solar panels, which
feed electricity into the national grid.
This winter the Co-op
Group is celebrating
10
years of working
with the One
Foundation, which
works in developing
countries to give
people access to
clean water
55
local breweries
have been added
to the Group’s
drinks range as
part of its pledge
to double its
number of small
local UK suppliers
LEFT The Co-operative Insurance Society
building today – and during constriction
And the retailer
revealed plans to
invest £70m in
100
new stores across
the UK in
2017
12 | FEBRUARY 2017

Central England raises more than £200,000 for charities
RETAIL
Business rate rise could
kill us, say small co-ops
Co-ops are among small businesses who
fear they will be wiped out by April’s
business rate increase, which could
amount to thousands of pounds.
The revaluation of the England and
Wales business rate is the first since 2010
and has been affected by a sharp rise in
property prices over those years.
The rate is based on the rateable value
(RV) of a property, with rate relief for firms
in properties with an RV below £12,000.
Businesses in London and the south
east will be hard hit, with many losing
rate relief – including Craftco, a co-op
in Southwold, Sussex. It faces a rate rise
from £152 to £7,000 over three years.
Formed in 1982, Craftco supports local
craftspeople and because it only takes
36% commission on sales. Director and
founder member Julie Carpenter says
it would have to do an extra £80,000 in
trade to cover the new rates.
Backed by the local council, the co-op
has set up a petition for the matter to be
discussed in parliament.
“The way this is happening will destroy
small businesses,” says Ms Carpenter.
“Chains are pushing up property values,
and independents are paying for this in
rates. Rising property values are a cost to
small retailers, not a source of profit.”
Firms in London’s Lambeth borough
will see an average rise of 35% – and
in some cases an immediate 45% hike.
Its council is also working with local
businesses to challenge the government.
“Alongside increasing staffing costs,
rents and uncertainty over Brexit, the rise
in rates could prove crippling to many
businesses,” said a statement from the
council, which wants a phasing-in plan
or transitional relief to help business
cope, and a review of the tax itself.
Customers at Central England Cooperative
raised more than £200,000
by donating 1,413 tonnes of unwanted
clothing. The proceeds will be shared
between the Salvation Army and the
Society’s corporate charity Newlife,
which works for disabled children.
Awards for Midcounties’ Co-operative Childcare
Co-operative Childcare won best Nursery
Operations Manager – for nurseries head
Sally Mayer (pictured) – and Nursery
Recruitment Initiative from Nursing
Management Today. The business, part of
Midcounties Co-op, also had a clean sweep
of good or outstanding Ofsted scores.
Communities debate the future of Swindon’s Health Hydro
Greenwich Leisure Limited, the co-op
which runs Health Hydro in Swindon, is
considering developing flats within the
premises. This has sparked controversy,
with some groups criticising the plans to
alter the interior of the Victorian building.
Campaigners say the Hydro is significant
as it is associated with the Great Western
Railway Medical Fund Society, which
helped in the creation of the NHS.
Lincolnshire Co-op creates community hub at Holbeach
Lincolnshire Co-operative is preparing to
open a community hub in one of its stores
as part of a £1.2m project. The centre, in
the market town of Holbeach, will include
a post office, library and pharmacy, and is
scheduled to open in February.
Co-op Group responds to the crisis in Yemen
Between 15 December and 24 January,
Co-op Group members, colleagues and
customers raised £68,000 for the crisis
in Yemen, where months of civil war has
left 18.8 million people in urgent need
of humanitarian assistance. Responding
to an alert from the Disaster Emergency
Committee, the Group also directed
£50,000 from donations generated by
Co-op Fairbourne Springs bottled water
to help provide clean water supplies for
the country.
FEBRUARY 2017 | 13

DEVELOPMENT
Britain’s first authors’ co-operative launches
The first author-run publishing co-op in
Britain has launched with the publication
of two titles.
Gritstone Publishing has been
founded by four experienced writers
and journalists of the outdoors. It will
specialise in non-fiction and fiction
books relating to the landscape and the
countryside.
Andrew Bibby, Colin Speakman, Chris
Goddard and Chiz Dakin decided that, by
establishing Gritstone as a fully mutual
co-operative, they would be able to
exercise more control over the way that
their work is published.
Ms Dakin is an award-winning
freelance photographer and writer who is
also vice-chair of the Outdoor Writers and
Photographers Guild.
Mr Goddard has built a following with
his hand-drawn guides to Yorkshire’s
countryside.
“Gritstone is more than just a means
of reaching the market more effectively,”
said Mr Bibby. “Members of the co-op
are committed to supporting each other
and taking a keen interest in each other’s
work. Solidarity is an important part of
this co-operative endeavour.”
Mr Bibby, a journalist and writer
with strong links to the co-operative
movement, is the author of Gritstone’s
first two titles, which were launched in
November.
His previous non-fiction books include
a profile of the Pennine moorlands,
Backbone of England. His new titles
represent a move from non-fiction into
fiction. The Bad Step and In the Cold of
the Night are crime novels set in the Lake
District’s high fells.
Mr Speakman, the author of numerous
books on the Yorkshire Dales, is turning
his attention to the lesser-known
Yorkshire Wolds for Gritstone’s third title,
which will be published early in 2017.
“As authors we are very aware of how
quickly the British publishing and bookselling
trade is changing,” he said.
“Authors need to respond to these
changes, and we foresee other authors
also looking at co-operative options to
strengthen their position in the market.”
Although Gritstone is the first wholly
author-run publishing co-operative in
Britain, the model is gaining traction
elsewhere too.
OBITUARY
Edgar Evans (1933-2016)
A lifelong stalwart of the
co-op movement
Edgar Evans, a former president of Bath
Co-op Society, director at Co-operative
Insurance Society and vice-chair at the
Co-operative Wholesale Society, has died
aged 83.
He also served as secretary of Bath Cooperative
Party and was a Labour/Co-op
councillor on Bath city council – winning
his seat at the age of 22, in 1956.
The same year, he was elected to the
board of the Bath Co-op Society. In 1965
he became the president – at the time,
aged 32, he was the youngest person to
have held the role.
During his time at the head of Bath Coop,
he pioneered new retail innovations
including discount supermarkets, which
he had observed in the US on a 1961
delegation to study merchandising and
sales techniques.
Back home, he led Bath through the
opening of the first discount supermarket
operated by any co-op in the UK, and was
at the forefront of the introduction of selfservice
shopping.
His passion for innovation continued
over the decades, and he recently
campaigned successfully for student
discounts.
As a journalist, he was a frequent
contributor to co-operative publications
and a regular letter writer to Co-operative
News. Away from the movement, he
worked as an NHS administrator,
consumer relations manager for Cadbury
Schweppes and Justice of the Peace.
Pete Vallance, membership manager
for the Co-op Group’s South-West region,
said: “The Co-op is a special organisation.
It’s special because of people like Edgar;
people who passionately care about it
and what it does. These people give their
time to look after the Co-op for the future.
Edgar was one of those people.
14 | FEBRUARY 2017

LEFT Andrew Bibby, Chris Goddard, Colin
Speakman and Chiz Dakin have launched
Gritstone Publishing
BELOW The co-operative will specialise
in publishing non-fiction and fiction titles
relating to the landscape and the countryside
OBITUARY
Tom Agar (1931 to 2016)
Former Co-op Bank chair and Lincolnshire CEO
In the United States, World Branch
Publishing in Appalachia converted from
a privately owned business to a writerowned
co-operative.
In Wales, Honno Press is an
independent co-op run by women for
Welsh female authors, while the Cambria
Publishing Co-operative is a multistakeholder
family of authors and the
publishing professionals who support
them.
“Edgar’s passion for the Co-op never
wavered. And he was always meticulously
prepared.”
National Members’ Council member
Sofy Crew, who served on the Kennet
and Avon Area Committee with Mr
Evans, said: “Edgar was one of the first to
welcome me when I joined the committee.
His commitment and experience was
respected by everyone.
“He was always speaking up on
members’ behalf – for example he
repeatedly called for student discounts
for years before they were brought in.”
Edgar Evans died on 26 December
and leaves his wife of 57 years, Eunice,
two daughters and five grandchildren.
His funeral was held on 16 January at St
Philip and St James’ Church, Bath, where
tributes were given from the credit union
movement, House of Hope Charity and by
Pete Vallance.
Lincolnshire Co-operative has released
news of the death of Tom Agar, chief
executive of the society from 1977 to 1992
and former chair of the Co-operative
Bank.
Mr Agar, who also served as a director
of CWS, was born in County Durham
and spent his entire career in the co-op
movement. His time as the head of
Lincolnshire saw the society enjoy a
period of growth.
Current chief executive, Ursula
Lidbetter, said: “Lincolnshire Co-op
expanded significantly under Tom’s
leadership with major acquisitions in
dairy and pharmacy.
“His 15 years of stewardship gave us
a strong financial base and his abilities
were valued by the wider movement,
especially during his time as a director
of the CWS and as chairman of the Cooperative
Bank.
“Throughout his retirement he retained
his keen interest in Lincolnshire Co-op’s
progress and was a friend and wise
counsel to his many colleagues.”
Mr Agar, who came from a mining
family, left school at the age of 14 – which
landed his father with a £5 fine – and
took a job as a grocery apprentice with
the Crook Co-operative Society.
“Leaving school was a silly thing to
do,” he recalled in an interview on his
retirement in 1992, “but it worked out
well so I have no regrets.”
After a break to do his national service
with the RAF, he returned to Crook for
an office job before rising through the
co-operative movement in the 1950s to
become deputy chief executive of the
Guildford Society.
In 1964, he moved to the Lincoln
Society, serving as deputy chief officer for
13 years before becoming CEO.
He was also elected to the CWS board,
where he served on the Food Standing
Committee, in 1980. In 1989, he was made
chair of the Co-operative Bank, where he
had been a director for eight years.
He also served as president of Lincoln
Chamber of Commerce from 1984-1986;
as founder director Lincolnshire TEC;
director of Lincoln and Gainsborough
Adult Training Consortium and chair of
Investors in Lincoln, a private/public
partnership to revitalise neglected parts
of the city.
Over the course of his career, he received
many honours, becoming a Fellow of the
Chartered Institute of Secretaries and
Administrators, Companion of the British
Institute of Management and a Fellow of
the Chartered Institute of Bankers.
At the time of his appointment as
Bank chair, he told the press his recipe
for success was “mainly hard work plus
whatever ability you can muster”.
He showed similar modesty, and
lifelong dedication to the movement,
when he retired from the Lincolnshire
Society.
He told an interviewer: “I have
worked for 47 years in the co-operative
movement… and I have done all I set out
to do.
“This is not a job, it is a way of life – you
work whenever it is necessary.”
But, he added, “it is not all down to one
man, it never can be – it is a team effort.”
FEBRUARY 2017 | 15

GLOBAL UPDATES
ITALY
The future’s here
today at Coop Italia
Retailer Coop Italia has unveiled its
“supermarket of the future” offering a
personalised shopping experience.
Its flagship store at Milan’s Bicocca
University has interactive tables and data
screens with product information and a
personalised experience.
The shelving layout has also been
rethought for a look that “merges the
physical and digital” worlds and creates
the feel of an open-air market.
The co-op worked with professional
services firm Accenture on the project.
Alberto Pozzi, managing director of
Accenture’s retail practice in Italy, said:
“We are bringing to life how the physical
and the digital are capable of converging
to create an engaging and immersive
grocery shopping experience.”
Microsoft Kinect sensors use body
detection to interpret customer gestures,
letting them read more about the origin
of the product, nutritional facts, the
presence of allergens, waste disposal
instructions and any promotions.
Shoppers can also use real-time data
visualisation screens, which include
Coops’ brand values, daily deals, recipe
suggestions, a social media stream and
lists of top-selling products.
Meanwhile, Coop Italia has released a
survey of its customers. It found:
u 13% expect to increase food spending
u 8% expect to spend less.
u 93% were “intrigued” by the co-op’s
new products and services
u 20% buy safely sourced products
u Customers aged 18-29 prefer low-cost
products
u 74% would prefer a supermarket
without cash tills and lines.
Coop Italia’s pioneering Bicocca store
SWITZERLAND
Co-op retail giant to sell burgers made from
mealworms as a planet-friendly alternative
Swiss retailer Coop is launching a range
of burgers and meatballs made from
mealworm larvae.
The organisation, one of the country’s
biggest wholesale retailers, is teaming
up with Essento, a Swiss start-up which
makes food from insects, on the venture.
Essento offers insects as an alternative
protein source to meat, whose production
contributes to carbon emissions and
consumes valuable resources.
It claims that flourworm farming
has a lower global warming potential
– measured in kilos of carbon dioxide
released per kilo of protein produced–
than conventional sources. Its warming
potential is twice less than milk, 2.5
times less than pork, 1.8 times less than
chicken, and 8.5 times less than beef.
Cattle farming uses up ten times the
amount of feed needed for insects, and is
more wasteful, says Essento, with 80% of
an insect edible compared to around 40%
of a cow.
The venture has required regulatory
change, with insects previously not
approved for human consumption in
Switzerland. From spring, certain insects
can be sold, after being approved by
the Federal Office for Food Safety and
Veterinary Affairs.
“Tracking down trends and
implementing innovations is part of our
success story,” said Roland Frefel, head
of fresh products at Coop.
“With selected insects as ingredients
in processed products, we are promoting
forward-looking food production and
creating a relevant range of products from
the outset, which opens up new tastes to
our customers.”
Mr Frefel said the collaboration is part
of Coop’s efforts to “generate momentum
and shape the future”.
“This is enormously important if you
want to stay at the top,” he added.
The mealworm products will go on sale
at selected Coop supermarkets in May.
16 | FEBRUARY 2017

USA
Organic Valley dairy co-op adds 2,000th farm
The USA’s largest independent co-op of
organic farmers, CROPP – which trades
as Organic Valley – has set up a 50/50
joint venture with Dean Foods, the
country’s largest dairy processor and
direct-to-store distributor.
The deal, which comes as the co-op
grew its membership to 2,000 farmer
owners in the first week of 2017, means it
can extend the reach of its products.
Chief executive George Siemon said:
“Consumers will enjoy the same Organic
Valley quality they’ve come to know and
trust – the same farmers will supply the
same organic milk. But now more Organic
Valley milk will be on more grocery
shelves across the country.”
Products include organic milk, cheese,
butter, spreads, creams, eggs, soy and
produce. Farming styles range from
cutting-edge dairies with solar panels
and biodiesel implements to farms using
the horse-drawn-plough.
“Now, more than ever, it’s time to
come together and co-operate,” added
Mr George Siemon. “Our strength has
always been in our unity and belief in the
collective good. In a world of divisiveness,
co-operation continues to be the key to
success.”
Founded in 1988 by seven struggling
farm families in south-west Wisconsin,
CROPP is owned by
2,000
farmers in 36 US states,
plus the UK, Canada and
Australia. Last year’s sales
register at
$1.04bn
In 2016 it added 300
family farms and 4,000
acres of land and now
represents 12% of US
organic farmers
One of Organic Valley’s 2,000 family
farms (Image: Meal Makeover Moms)
Organic Valley uses a democratic model
giving each farmer-member a say in
pay price, growth, profit sharing, best
practices, and other co-op fundamentals.
It says freedom from shareholders and
outside investors means it can prioritise a
USA
Sad farewell to
Minnesota’s
oldest co-op store
A cherished piece of co-op history came
to an end when the Godahl store, the
oldest retail co-op in Minnesota, closed
after 122 years.
The tiny store was built in 1894 to
serve farmers in Brown and Watonwan
counties. Listed on the National Register
of Historic Places, it had deep roots in the
Scandinavian community who settled the
area in the 1870s.
Formed as the Nelson and Albin
Cooperative and Mercantile Association,
its first bylaws were written in Norwegian.
Shares cost $20 and it stocked groceries,
dry goods, tools, and local produce.
The store, which installed one of area’s
the first telephones in 1905, was a focal
point of the community – and remained
so right until the end for Godhal’s 20
villagers and farmers.
“It’s always been a gathering place,”
manager Darlene Olson told the
Minnesota Star Tribune. “There is a
group of men that come for coffee every
day. There’s teams that play baseball
and softball in Godahl that come in and
are tied to it. It has a lot of historical
significance to the farmers in the area.”
stable price for farmers each month and
provide valuable shared services such
as world-class veterinary care and soil
improvement programs.
Other recent developments saw it buy
the former Farmers Cooperative Creamery
in McMinnville, Oregon, which will
process milk from 27 Organic Valley farm
families in the Pacific Northwest.
The co-op puts special emphasis on
farmers under the age of 35 – calling
them “Generation Organic”. The USDA
Agricultural Census found the average
age of farmers in the US is 58.
The co-op, whose headquarters is
in La Farge, Wisconsin, hired 110 new
employees last year, bringing its staff
total to 903 and keeping its place as the
largest employer in Vernon County.
Sadly it stopped turning a profit about
35 years ago as the number of local
farmers fell and improved transport links
lured customers away.
Managers fought to keep it afloat
with fundraising events and a Facebook
page but close for good on New Years’
Eve. Facebook follower Paul Berg
lamented a wider loss, saying: “Rural
demographics are proving the downfall
of many institutions, churches, schools,
businesses and sadly, a way of life.”
A public meeting is planned to discuss
future uses of the building, its historical
artefacts and documents.
Godahl’s historic store (Photo: Jatakuck)
FEBRUARY 2017 | 17

INDIA
Co-op banks
face laundering
probe
Co-operative banks in India are being
investigated for allegedly depositing
money in banned currency after
demonetisation.
The country’s Enforcement Directorate
revealed it was looking into the
transactions of more than 50 branches of
leading banks, including 14 co-ops.
In November 2016, prime minister
Narendra Modi announced the
demonetisation of Rs 500 (£6) and Rs
1,000 (£12) banknotes in a bid to stop
counterfeiting and reduce corruption.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the
country’s central bank, restricted the
banks from accepting banned notes
within a week of the announcement.
Authorities said this was because a lack
of automation meant the banks were
unable to detect fakes.
Now, the directorate is investigating
a case where more than a dozen co-op
banks are said to have deposited Rs
1,596 crore (£190m) of cash in old notes.
The department is also looking at a
situation where 205 new bank accounts
were opened in Allahabad where cash in
banned notes was remitted.
“After the audit of a private bank
branch in Mumbai, the sleuths found
that an amount of Rs 1,596 crore was
deposited by at least 13 co-operative
banks using the old notes within six days
time,” said a statement by the directorate
published on Indian Express. “A similar
bank in Surat deposited Rs 20 crore in
scrapped currency in an account with the
Bank of Baroda. These cases are being
probed under the Prevention of Money
Laundering Act and Foreign Exchange
Management Act laws.”
However, in response to a Right to
Information request by activist Anil
Galgali, the organisation said it had
no data on co-operative banks. The
request asked the RBI for details of the
NEW ZEALAND
For the first time, a $42bn movement is mapped out
New Zealand’s co-operative economy has
been comprehensively mapped for the
first time, highlighting the importance
of a movement with 1.4 million members
and 48,500 workers.
The New Zealand Co-operative
Economy report, commissioned by sector
body Cooperative Business New Zealand
from the Massey University and the
University of Auckland, found the sector
is worth NZ$42.3bn (£24.5bn) a year –
17.5% of GDP.
The report also points to the sector’s
role in people development, economic
stability and environmental and social
responsibility, and highlights differences
between New Zealand’s co-op economy
– which includes Fonterra, Foodstuffs,
Ballance Agri-Nutrients, Farmers Mutual
Group, and Southern Cross Healthcare
Society – and those of other countries.
Lead researcher Dr Elena Garnevska, of
Massey University, said: “The results help
us promote the co-operative business
model to policy-makers, consultants and
other stakeholders. They show how much
the co-operative economy is woven into
the everyday lives of New Zealanders.”
The study reveals a strong showing
for agri-food, accounting for 65.2% of
revenue, 67.6 % of assets, and 82.8% of
employment in the co-operative economy.
The next largest sector by revenue
is retail and wholesale, accounting for
30.3%. Compared to the world’s top
300 co-ops and mutuals, these sectors
account for twice as much of New
Zealand’s co-operative economy, and
three times that of Australia’s Top 100.
Dr Garnevska added: “We expected the
agri-food sector would be important but
we were surprised to find it is twice as
much as the global situation.”
New Zealand’s insurance, banking,
and finance sectors are comparatively
small – globally, these account for 45%
of revenue in the co-operative economy
but just 3.4% in New Zealand. However,
these sectors account for the bulk of the
country’s co-op members –nearly 90%.
Dr Lisa Callagher, researcher at the
University of Auckland, said: “New
Zealand does not have a research centre
with a clear focus on co-operatives
and mutuals to co-ordinate and deliver
research and training support, but these
centres are common in other countries.
“This study provides a broad snapshot
and a solid platform to develop new
training and education courses.”
18 | FEBRUARY 2017

irregularities or scams allegedly made
by co-operative banks in the exchange of
the demonetised currency notes of Rs 500
and Rs 1,000.
“According to its reply, the RBI does
not seem to have any data to justify its
conclusion of widespread irregularities
and scandals in exchanging the old
currency notes by state and district cooperative
banks,” said Mr Galgali.
But, she added: “More research and
education is needed to pinpoint strengths,
opportunities and evolving needs. Future
research could look at the sustainability
of the co-operative business model and
map long-term trends and cycles.”
Co-operative Business New Zealand’s
chief executive, Craig Presland, said:
“This confirms the importance of the
co-op business model to New Zealand.
“The co-operative ethos of working
together collaboratively for the common
good is part of who we are as New
Zealanders. We now have the opportunity
to extend our research on co-operatives,
and advocate even more strongly for
them, so that we ensure this enduring
and sustainable business model is better
understood and more widely utilised
across NZ business.”
“It’s the RBI directive that stopped
co-operative banks from operating
and now it is the same RBI stating that
they don’t have data,” added Balu Iyer,
director of the International Co-operative
Alliance for Asia-Pacific.
He argued the RBI needed to do a
deeper audit if it wanted to substantiate
the claims it had made regarding
co-operative banks.
THE NEW ZEALAND
CO-OPERATIVE
ECONOMY
The map of New Zealand’s co-ops
JANUARY, 2017
RWANDA
Co-ops take
steps to stop
embezzlement
External auditors and contracted staff
are being brought into Rwanda’s coops
to stop embezzlement and improve
management.
The plans were announced by the
Rwanda Cooperative Agency (RCA)
to ensure more accountability and
efficiency, Allafrica.com reported. This
follows losses suffered by some co-ops
because of rampant embezzlement and
poor accountability for funds.
RCA director general Apollo Munanura
told a news conference in Kigali the
agency had advertised positions for
external auditors to end mismanagement
of co-op members’ funds.
Rwanda has more than 8,000 co-ops,
made up of more than three million
members. Mr Munanura said it had been
hard for RCA staff to reach all of them for
monitoring but it was also hard for co-ops
to supervise themselves.
Embezzlement cases, particularly
in Umurenge Savings and Credit
Cooperatives (SACCOs), had led to the
loss of millions of francs.
“We are moving towards a
transformational agenda,” added Mr
Munanura. “We realised that funds of
members are mismanaged by heads of
co-operatives. But we plan to remove
them and hire contracted staff.
“However, change does not come at
once and one has to plan and come up
with solutions.”
RCA also introduced new guidelines
for the country’s 240 motorcyclist
co-ops, which Mr Munanura said
had suffered mismanagement, with
members complaining over unjustified
contributions imposed without consent.
Under the new guidelines, Mr
Munanura said, motorcyclists will pay
agreed monthly contributions.
“We focused on collecting
contributions, management and use
of collected funds,” he said. “We want
uniformity in this. All the contributions
are paid in financial institutions and
bank slips are issued to whoever pays
their contributions.”
FEBRUARY 2017 | 19

AUSTRALIA
Grain giant turns
down bid to ditch
its co-op status
Australia’s biggest grain export and cooperative
business, CBH Group, has ruled
out a share market listing, saying the
majority of its members wanted to remain
a co-op.
Last February the board received
a proposal from Australian Grains
Champion to take control of all of its
issued share capital. Chair Wally Newman
said the board rejected the proposal on
the basis that “it did not represent value
for Western Australian grain growers”.
CBH, which last year recorded a prerebate
surplus of $110.2m – up 10.6% on
the year before – said a poll found 78% of
members supported the decision.
Mr Newman said the co-op would be
exploring different ways to enhance its
non-distributing co-operative structure.
CBH, which dates back to 1933, is
owned by 4,100 grain grower businesses.
Last year they delivered 13.6 million
tonnes of grain into the CBH network,
and took a record $62.7m in dividends, up
from $16.9m the previous year.
CBH’s 4,100 member businesses delivers 13.6million tonnes of grain last year
The higher profits helped cut CBH’s net
profit after tax to $49.8m in 2015/2016,
from $82.7m in 2014/2015.
The co-op has launched a network
strategy and investment into oat
processing in Western Australia.
“The strategy underpins a $750m
investment CBH will make in the storage
and handling network over a five year
period, ensuring the network operates as
efficiently as possible,” said Mr Newman.
“During 2016 we continued to support
our local communities through $1.8m of
sponsorships and grants.
“We conducted an in-depth review
of CBH’s structure and governance,
which was a wonderful opportunity to
engage with our members and hear their
preferences about the future, with almost
eight out of ten members wanting CBH to
remain a co-op.”
Chair Dr Andrew Crane said the co-op
had also managed to improve efficiency
with recurrent annual savings of $16m
across the business.
“We’ll look to further reduce costs by
$10m over the coming year,” he added.
The co-op also saw falling returns on its
investments, such as its 50% ownership
of global flour business Interflour.
CBH’s share of profit fell to $300,000
from $8.4m in 2015 after a “tough year
for Interflour”, said Dr Crane. But he
said the operation had been able to
diversify, with new projects in Vietnam
and the Philippines.
EUROPEAN UNION
Co-op supporter elected EU parliament president
Antonio Tajani, a keen supporter of coops,
has been elected president of the
European Parliament.
The Italian politician, from the
European People’s Party centre right
group, served as vice president since 2014
and replaces Germany’s Martin Schulz
(Socialists and Democrats).
“We must devote our attention to all
those in tough living conditions,” he said
in a short speech after the election, which
he won with 351 votes.
His rival Giani Pitella (Italy, S&D), who
also expressed support for co-ops, polled
282 votes. The election ran for four rounds
to make the majority of 346.
An ex-officer in Italy’s air force who
has also worked as spokesman for
Italy’s former PM Silvio Berlusconi, Mr
Tajani has occupied several positions in
Europe. He was European commissioner
ABOVE Mr Tajani speaks after his election
for industry and entrepreneurship from
2009-2014 and a vice president of the
European Commission (EC).
In 2013 he created the working
group on the promotion of co-ops within
the EC, which drafted recommendations
for EU policy on co-ops’ potential to
generate jobs.
Mr Tajani says “the DNA of
co-operatives is based on solidarity”.
Cooperatives Europe, the European
office of the International Co-operative
Alliance, welcomed the result.
“As a supporter of the social economy
model and as an ex-commissioner for
industry and entrepreneurship, we hope
that Mr Tajani’s presidency will bring
further visibility and recognition to cooperative
entrepreneurship,” said Dirk
Lehnhoff, president of Cooperatives
Europe. “We look forward to working
with him.”
Under new powers granted by the
Lisbon Treaty in 2009, the European
Parliament has a bigger role in lawmaking
and deciding what the EU does
and how money is spent. It will also
have a final vote on whether to approve a
Brexit deal with the UK.
20 | FEBRUARY 2017

ABOVE Oxfam’s Enrich Sahan with a shrimp farming co-op the charity is supporting in Vietnam
Co-ops can build a “human economy” around the world says Oxfam
Co-ops have a key part to play if the world
is to move to a “human economy” says
Oxfam after it revealed that eight people
are now as wealthy as the poorest half of
the world’s population.
The charity’s report on global inequality,
released as the World Economic Forum
began in Davos, Switzerland, says eight
men share $426bn (£350bn) between
them – equivalent to the wealth of the
world’s 3.6 billion poorest people.
Blaming corporate tax evasion,
widening pay differentials within
companies, crony capitalism and a
“supercharged shareholder” business
model, the report calls for a “human
economy” which works “for the 99%”.
This would include environmental
sustainability, gender equality and more
worker-owned businesses.
The report follows on from Oxfam’s long
history of working with co-operatives,
says Enrich Sahan, head of the charity’s
private sector team.
“Co-operatives fit in with our work
with social enterprise and Fairtrade,”
he added. “It’s part of our DNA to be
supporting enterprises around the world
that are co-owned.”
This work also includes Oxfam’s
Enterprise Development programme.
“We have been supporting enterprises
in Nepal, Ethiopia and Rwanda, for
example,” said Mr Sahan. “It’s a big
part of our approach to inequality…
Profits aren’t going to line the pockets of
billionaires, they go to the workers.”
In the report, Oxfam says workerowned
businesses such as Spanish
multinational co-operative Mondragon,
Peruvian alpaca farming co-op
COOPECAN and worker-owned US
clothing brand Eileen Fisher “generate
more employment growth and higher pay
for employees”.
It adds: “Government has a key role to
play in driving a vision of an economy
with a majority of such enterprises; not
confining them to the social economy,
but helping them to become mainstream.
“Businesses that promise to channel
ever-increasing profits to rich investors
attract more and cheaper finance,
while co-operatives, social enterprises
and employee-owned businesses
are often confined to accessing debt
or philanthropic finance. A human
economy would tip the scales and favour
these business models over the relentless
pursuit of profit.”
Mr Sahan said there has been some
progress. “In the UK there’s signs of
impressive co-operative growth as a
result of government policy with tax
breaks for employee-owned enterprises
and a government-funded scheme for
small enterprise.”
The UK also needs a favourable trade
and development agenda to encourage
co-ops in poorer countries, he added.
“If we want a more equal system we
need to develop partnerships that are
going to deliver those results,” he added.
“Co-ops should be jumping up and
down, they need to remind people that
they’ve been here doing this for 200 years,
that they already have an alternative to
this inequality.
“And they need to be taking an
innovative approach to the world’s
problems if we want to see alternatives to
our current system.”
One area of progress, he added, is
Oxfam’s research on company supply
chains, with some big-name retailers now
keen to put co-ops in their supply chains
“as long term business partners”.
FEBRUARY 2017 | 21

YOUR VIEWS
CO-OPERATIVE MSP COUNTS
In your review of 2016, you noted that
the number of Co-op Party MSPs in the
Scottish Parliament had increased.
While there are indeed 7 MSPs who are
members of the Co-op Party, they were
elected on the Labour Party additional
member list, with no mention of the
Co-op Party on the ballot sheet.
Where they presented themselves as
Labour/Co-op members in constituencies,
they all lost ...
Alastair Thomson
via email
A NEW PRINCIPLE FOR CHRISTMAS?
Recently there seems to have been a lot
of concerns about shopworkers having
to work Boxing Day. However, the Co-op
Party’s 2016 Christmas card shows
the Rochdale Pioneers in their 1844
photograph, but adorned with Santa hats.
Inside is the caption ‘Party like it’s 1844’.
The Rochdale Pioneers met for their
meeting on Christmas Day. I hope that this
does not herald Christmas Day working as
a co-operative principle.
Ken Cole
via email
CO-OP BANK CONCERNS
(Responding to: Co-operative Bank said
to be looking for buyers for a portfolio of
non-core operations)
I have a background of living in housing
co-ops and working in worker co-ops.
When the thriving co-op movement
was displaced and watered down by
the introduction of CDAs, I became a
co-operative development worker to try
to make the least worst thing happen –
but without success as more powerful
interests were to the fore.
I do remember the story they tell at the
Rochdale Pioneers Museum, of how one
of the original founders of the consumer
co-op died of starvation. Within a co-op!
There was no explanation as to why.
I don’t think that the co-op movement
– if indeed it is moving – has any real
democracy at its heart. Last Friday I was
trying to make a money transfer and it
took two and a half hours with bouts of
mind numbingly awful muzak before I
was told they couldn’t help. We can only
hope that this is a genuine appeal and
not another shafting by the back door.
Jacqueline Podevin
via website
WHEN A CO-OP ISN’T A CO-OP
(Responding to: What did Obama do for
co-operatives in the White House?)
Correct to point out that most of the
Consumer Oriented – Operated Plans
(CO-OPs) were not co-operatives. As they
have been undermined and reported as
failures, much of the public incorrectly
assumed that these were health care
co-operatives. In 2016 a programme
for loan guarantees to finance worker
ownership of businesses in rural areas
was approved, but that approval was
difficult to obtain.
Bruce J. Reynolds
via website
CO-OPERATIVE SOCIOCRACY
(Responding to: Is hierarchy the enemy of
co-operation?)
Wonderful article Jenny and Bob! I have
been doing a lot of study on sociocracy
and see it as a great model for all
co-operatives. Even non-worker co-ops
benefit from a democratic operational
and governance structure.
Johnny Mac
via website
EU PRESIDENT CONCERN
(Responding to: Co-op supporter elected
EU parliament president)
I am rather concerned that you have
written such a glowing report of Antonio
Tajani and his support of the co-operative
movement. His rival Giani Pitella would
have been a much better choice to work
Get in touch
Please include your address and
contact number. Letters may be edited
and no longer than 350 words.
Co-operative News, Holyoake
House, Hanover Street,
Manchester M60 0AS
with the co-operative movement. As Anca
Voinea wrote, he is also supportive of the
co-operative movement.
A blog by Richard Corbett MEP
highlights that Antonio Tajani does not
have a good record on women’s rights.
We must be careful who we offer our
support to.
John Maltby
via website
letters@thenews.coop
@coopnews
Co-operative News
FAIRTRADE FURORE OVER CADBURY
(Responding to: Co-ops react to Cadbury’s
controversial swap of the Fairtrade logo)
Now, what has come from changing
international trade rules? The Fairtrade
Mark – which was promoted aggressively
in the UK as ‘the new easy-to-choose fair
trade purchase’ – has now, 25 years on,
formed a monopolistic synergy scheme
with Mondolez. Remember Naomi Klein’s
‘No Logo’... This decision goes against
the core principles of the grass-roots
Fairtrade movement.
Steven Schepers
via website
A CALL FOR COMMUNITY
(Responding to: Lincolnshire opens
community hub in Holbeach)
This is the future for the co-operative
movement – hopefully there will be access
eventually to all co-op products, services
and Fairtrade items. Also, community
hubs are forming quite spontaneously –
like the Golden Lion in Todmorden.
Bill Howard
via Facebook
22 | FEBRUARY 2017

A collaborative,
economy
is coming...
Meet the people co-creating a
collaborative, democratic, economy at
OPEN 2017, a two day conference at
Goldsmiths, University of London on the
16 - 17 February 2017.
Find out more and follow the outcomes
at www.open.coop

MEET...
... Dorothy Francis, a
co-operative community builder
Dorothy Francis is CEO of CASE (Co-operative and Social Enterprise)
development agency, a workers co-op offering business advice, support and
training to individuals and communities. Here she talks about the changes
she has witnessed, how being a co-op has been integral to CASE’s survival –
and the dilemma of accepting an MBE as a woman of colour.
HOW DID YOU START IN THE SECTOR?
24 | FEBRUARY 2017
My introduction to co-operatives was through
being a client of a Co-operative Development
Agency (CDA), a support organisation for people
setting up and running co-operatives. Some
friends and I sought advice from Coventry CDA
in the early 1980s on how to set up a bookshop
selling literature for, and about, people of colour. I
was very impressed by the service at Coventry CDA
and knew that I wanted to work in a similar role
once I’d gained business experience. A few years
later a job came up at what was then Leicester and
County CDA (now renamed CASE). I applied with
the intention of staying two years and never left!
WHAT DO YOU DO AT CASE?
We do a lot of liaison work to deliver our service.
We are a small organisation so partnership working
is very important for synergy of services and to
build relationships for joint bids and working
together. I started as a business adviser and still
operate within that role, meeting with new-start
businesses and existing clients to help them
establish, grow and develop their enterprises. As
an agency we aim to maintain contact with our
clients and I have worked with some businesses
for over 30 years.
CASE is a workers co-operative so all members
take ownership of running the business. My role
as CEO is to be a figurehead and a point of contact.
I undertake a number of functions within my job
including bid writing and creating and delivering
training courses – at the moment I’m running a
programme to deliver training to women to help
them enter business, employment or training.
“”
IT’S NOT JUST AN AWARD FOR
ME, BUT FOR MY COMMUNITY,
MY FAMILY AND MY COLLEAGUES
Helping women to get into business is one of my
driving passions; getting people of colour into the
co-op movement is another.
WHAT IS CASE’S CO-OP DIFFERENCE?
At the start, what made us stand out was that
Leicester was one of the few CDAs constituted
as a co-operative. We wrote a set of rules (the
‘Leicester Model Rules’) to suit our needs and sold
these to ICOM (the Industrial Common Ownership
Movement, which merged with the Co-operative
Union in 2001 to become Co-operatives UK) for
other small co-ops to use.
We firmly believe that having a co-operative
structure has allowed CASE to adapt to changes
and has contributed to CASE’s longevity.
WHAT IS THE BEST – AND THE HARDEST – PART
OF YOUR JOB?
The best part is working with people and helping
them develop their business ideas. Seeing a
business flourish and knowing that CASE has
played a part is a great feeling.
The hardest part is accessing the finance to keep
CASE going. A lot of people think we are funded
but we are not; we bid for contracts and seek work
on the open market. It’s a challenge, but we like
challenges! This can also be a positive aspect
when talking to clients because they know that we
are also a small business and that we offer advice
from the experience of running an enterprise,
rather than from a purely academic basis.
HAS IT BECOME EASIER OR HARDER FOR
ENTERPRISES TO DEVELOP?
In the UK it is relatively easy to set up in business.
However there are fewer support agencies than

there used to be so if people need additional help
– for example if they come from disadvantaged
communities, have a disability, are long-term
unemployed etc – they may find it harder to set
up due to the barriers they face. They may lack
assistance to overcome obstacles in their way.
join our journey
be a member
One of our roles at CASE is to smooth the path so
that people who want to set up in business are
able to do so more easily. CASE excels in assisting
people from disadvantaged communities into
business and we gain great job satisfaction from
doing so.
We find that we are always busy as there is great
interest in co-operative ways of working. We
promote co-operative values and principles in the
work that we do as it is the crux of the movement.
More people are now aware of social businesses as
a viable alternative and we find that we do not need
to explain co-operatives and social enterprises as
much as we used to.
WHAT DOES RECEIVING AN MBE MEAN TO YOU?
I am delighted to have been recognised for my work
and it’s a great honour to receive an MBE although
I had to think long and hard about whether or not
to accept. An MBE commemorates ‘empire’, and as
a person of colour, with Jamaican heritage, that is
not something that I particularly wish to celebrate.
I decided to accept after doing a lot of thinking and
some informal consultation (without letting on to
the real reason as I was sworn to secrecy!) I asked
friends and family what they thought, in principle,
and the overwhelming response was that people of
colour should be recognised for what they do and
should feel free to accept awards and honours. It
was felt that when we turn down awards we also
turn down opportunities for people of colour
to be recognised for their achievements and
contributions and to be seen as influential role
models for other people – of any colour – within
society.
I accepted as I feel it’s not just an award for me, but
for my community, my family and my colleagues,
past and present, at CASE. The deciding reason
why I accepted is that I knew that it would have
tremendous significance for my mother and would
contribute, in a small way, to repaying the courage
and faith that she showed in leaving Jamaica to
make a life in Britain so that her children could
have a better future. I’m pleased to accept on her
behalf and gratified that 33 years of doing a job
that I love has been recognised in this way.
news
On 1 March, we are relaunching our membership,
to make it easier for our member-owners to help us
sustain our independent co-operative journalism,
insight and research. Be the first to know more.
Register your interest at:
thenews.coop/join

HOMECOMING
After 61 years, residents of a mobile home
park now own their site as a co-op
HOUSING
DAVID J THOMPSON
President, Twin Pines
Cooperative Foundation
Residents of a mobile home park in New
Hampshire are celebrating after forming a
co-operative and taking ownership of the site.
The co-op signed the mortgage on Polly Ann
Park, in Dover Point, on 16 December and switched
from renters to owners for the first time since the
site opened in 1955.
The change came for the 79 families living in the
park last February, when each resident received
a letter from owners Frank and Ann Torr. They
wanted to sell the park but – more importantly –
wanted the residents to buy it. New Hampshire law
requires residents be given the first opportunity to
buy but in this case, the Torrs purposefully wanted
the long time residents to become the owners.
By April, the residents had organised themselves
as Dover Point Cooperative, elected a board,
and engaged the Resident Owned Communities
team (ROC) at the New Hampshire Community
Loan Fund (NHCLF) to guide them through the
$3.125m purchase. They were helped by the fact
that the Torrs had already approached NHCLF
about making the sale before telling the residents.
When park owners do this, it allows for a smooth
transaction.
“We can’t thank Frank and Ann Torr enough for
coming to us about buying the park,” said Steve
Sheehan, park resident and the first president of
the co-op’s charter board.
“When we started this process, my wife and I
told everyone we would have a cookout when we
had a signed purchase and sales agreement.
“The agreement was signed in August and we
had that cookout in front of the garage that we are
converting to our meeting hall.”
Steve said the residents “all had a great sense of
accomplishment” when they finally signed the deal.
“This was a nine-month process with a lot of ups
and downs,” he added. “Knowing that our future is
secure is a great feeling. Once we renovate the garage
26 | FEBRUARY 2017

into our meeting hall, we are going to have another
celebration for the community.”
Ownership of the land beneath their mobile
homes means the 200 residents of the Dover Point
Cooperative will see a dramatic change to their
economic status – and to guide them through it,
NHCLF offers a range of programmes to help them
effectively save and borrow.
In most American states, residential buyouts are
rarely considered by park owners or the residents,
and are almost impossible to achieve. But New
Hampshire state’s encouragement for such transition
of ownership means it has become a pattern – with
Dover Point following 120 other mobile home parks to
convert from private ownership to a member-owned
co-operative.
Last year, with the help of NHCLF, residents of six
mobile home parks – 351 families in total – made the
switch from long-term renters to co-owners.
This means 22% of New Hampshire’s 558 mobile
home parks are co-operatively owned, according
to figures from NHCLF ROC-NH; this is the highest
proportion of any American state.
To put it another way, 6,800 of the state’s 25,968
mobile and manufactured homes – 26% – are now in
resident-owned parks. New Hampshire has by far the
highest percentage of resident-owned parks of any
state in America.
It was not always this easy. In 1984, the 14 members
of the Meredith Center Cooperative patched together
the funds to be the first residents in New Hampshire
to buy their mobile home park. The origins of the
NHCLF were tied into that first loan. Today, the role
of the NHCLF and ROC is to give the residents of
New Hampshire the tools and resources to buy their
mobile home park if it comes up for sale.
And thanks to lobbying by NHCLF and mobile home
owners, New Hampshire’s laws are the strongest of
any state in providing a process for residents to buy
their park when they come up for sale; without this
regime in place, Dover Point Cooperative could never
have happened.
Steve Sheehan said: “I know I can speak for
everyone on the board in saying we couldn’t thank
ROC and the Community Loan Fund enough for all
their work and guidance throughout this process. We
couldn’t have done this without them.”
u Twin Pines Cooperative Foundation, which helps
to fund residents buying their parks as co-ops, is a
long-term investor in the New Hampshire Community
Loan Fund. Since 2009, TPCF’s dollars invested in
NHCLF have helped the renters at 29 parks (serving
over 1,900 families) to form co-ops to purchase their
parks. More information at www.communityloanfund.
org and www.community.coop
LEFT AND BELOW
Member-residents
of Dover Point
Cooperative are
now proud owners
of their mobile
home park
FEBRUARY 2017 | 27

Ken Loach tells
co-ops to join
the Labour
movement
CONFERENCE
ANCA VOINEA reports
from the Ways Forward 5
conference
“”
ECONOMY
Award-winning filmmaker Ken Loach, who
directed 2016’s I, Daniel Blake, has called on cooperators
to join the Labour movement.
Mr Loach was one of the keynote speakers at
the Co-operative Ways Forward conference in
Manchester on 20 January. A keen supporter of
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, he talked about the
role of co-ops in Labour’s agenda.
“Co-ops embody the ideas of socialism, collective
ownership, democratic control and products or
services for the common good,” he said. “Clearly,
we need a political movement for the long-term
success of the co-op economy.”
He added that Mr Corbyn’s policies were
consistent with co-operative principles. “They’ve
got to go further, I think, to demand utilities
should become publicly owned, or co-ops, such
green energy co-ops.”
Asked how the co-operative movement could tell
their story through films, Mr Loach said films on
CLEARLY, WE NEED A POLITICAL
MOVEMENT FOR THE LONG-
TERM SUCCESS OF THE CO-OP
co-ops or campaigns would have to be a concrete
expression of a political idea. “Co-ops embody
values of common ownership, equal access,
equality, that’s what we have to stress.”
He argued that when telling a story from history
the same ideas occur, particularly the idea of
revolution, with one side wanting to wait and
another wanting to drive change. “The point is
for a film to get to that core idea rather than do a
detailed account. Basically, the story is the same.”
Alongside classics such as Kes, Cathy Come Home,
Riff-Raff and The Navigators, Mr Loach directed
Looking for Eric, which features supporter-owned
co-operative FC United. He thinks the co-op sector
will continue to flourish.
“Clearly the co-op movement is growing –
the football club I follow, Bath, is on its way to
become a co-op, largely due to the inspiration of
FC United,” he said.
The club was set up by Manchester United fans
as an alternative model of football ownership.
Supporters own and manage FC United, a semiprofessional
football club based in Moston.
Quoting Gerard Winstanley, whom he
described as “one of the earliest proponents of
the co-operative movement,” Mr Loach said:
“True freedom lies in community in spirit and
community in the earthly treasure, that’s what the
co-op and the Labour movements are about. We
have a glimmer of light, let’s seize it.”
28 | FEBRUARY 2017

THE FUTURE OF THE WORLD OF WORK WAS A
KEY TOPIC AT THE CONFERENCE, with delegates
exploring how co-ops can help address the decline
in wages and living standards and provide better
employment.
u Ieva Padagaite, member of the Blake House
Filmmakers Cooperative said co-ops needed to
claim the narrative of the future of work “so that
people in the growing creative, tech, freelance and
other service industries can identify as ‘workers’,
without cringing”.
u Cilla Ross, vice principal for Co-operative
Education & Research at the Co-operative College,
agreed that the notion of work was changing. “Coops
to me should be beacons of decent work,” she
said. She thinks there is some uneasiness about
using the word ‘worker’, but it’s something co-ops
are very proud about.
u MEP Molly Scott Cato spoke on how “Co-ops are
about ensuring that those who create the value
benefit from the goods created,” adding that cooperation
was a form of economic democracy.
“It’s important that we recognise how crucial our
movement is to defending the future of democratic
life, with the rise of the far right.”
u Vivian Woodell, chief executive of the Phone
Co-op and board member of the Midcounties Cooperative,
described how the trend in the online
economy was towards unnatural monopolies, with
businesses like eBay, Google, Amazon, AirBnB
or Uber “displaying monopolistic behaviour”. He
called on the co-operative movement to carve out
a role in some of these sectors.
A SEPARATE SESSION LOOKED AT HOW HIERARCHY
CAN IMPACT ON CO-OPERATION. Bob Cannell and
Jenny Carlyle are members of Suma Wholefoods,
an equal pay worker co-operative based in Leeds.
u “Once you’ve worked in a flat structure, you
realise how ridiculous that hierarchic structure is,”
said Ms Carlyle.
u Mr Cannell highlighted how one of the big cooperative
development challenges is putting
people first. You don't start a co-op with rules and
a business plan, you start with people. How are
they going to get along together?”
“BUSINESS AS USUAL ISN’T AN OPTION
ANYMORE”, Rebecca Long Bailey, MP for Salford
and Eccles and the shadow chief secretary to the
Treasury, told delegates.
u She highlighted that the UK’s co-op sector was
worth £37bn and added that Labour under Jeremy
Corbyn saw co-ops as integral to their agenda,
particularly around the areas of renewable energy,
the gig economy, technology and banking.
u Ms Long-Bailey said she would like to see greater
financial support for co-op enterprises: “We have
the economic capability there, co-ops will play a
central role and we will ensure we deliver the fair
economy that we deserve.”
Ways Forward
5 took place on
20 January
in Manchester
Additional keynote
speakers and workshop
leaders included: Iain
Macdonald (former
director general, ICA),
Cheryl Barrott (vice chair,
Co-operative Party),
Josef Davies-Coates,
Frances Coppola, Cliff
Mills (Anthony Collins),
Jenny Carlyle (SUMA),
Syed Maqsood (NWHS),
Dr Paul Redgrave (Co-
Housing, Leeds), Jo Bird,
Bob Cannell, Ed Mayo
(secretary general, Cooperatives
UK)
CLOCKWISE FROM
OPPOSITE Film director
Ken Loach; Bob Cannell
(Suma); Rebecca Long-
Bailey (MP (Labour) for
Salford and Eccles); MEP
Molly Scott Cato; Ieva
Padagaite (Blake House
Filmmakers Co-operative)
Photographs:
Charles Leek
(www.charlesleek.com)
FEBRUARY 2017 | 29

28 | FEBRUARY 2017
FAIRTRADE
THE ROAD TO
Kindness in
strangers and hope
in co-operation
FAIRTRADE
BY ED MAYO
Secretary general of
Co-operatives UK,
who was involved in
Fairtrade from the start
There are always plenty of reasons to keep apart
from strangers, to hold back from building
relationships with people that we don’t
know, including time, distance, privacy and
convenience.
Fairtrade started with relationships between
strangers – to begin with the people who
were working as smallholder farmers. Those
challenges of time, cost and convenience are real
when your livelihood is tough and depends on
your self-reliance. Coming together in the form
of co-operatives gave a payback to those efforts,
because working together meant a better chance
of getting their goods to market.
But there was another level of co-operation that
was possible, another set of strangers to meet.
Drawing on some longstanding pioneer models,
in 1988, coffee farmers in Oaxaca, Mexico, joined
together in a co-operative with solidarity groups
based in the Netherlands. Together, they launched
the first ever certified Fairtrade product, sold to
consumers under the label of Max Havelaar.
I was a link in this chain of strangers in the
early 1990s as one of the team that got the Fairtrade
Mark going. One task that I and a wonderful
and wise woman, Belinda Coote, then working
for Oxfam, were tasked with was to write the
criteria for Fairtrade. Out of my office in Brixton,
South London, we crafted something which
was, in retrospect, astonishingly ignorant. But it
was a start.
The Max Havelaar had been a solidarity
model – they didn’t need to know exactly how it
benefited people, it was enough for those with
the political and ethical motivation to know they
were supporting co-operatives overseas in tough
circumstances. But to take the Fairtrade Mark out
“”
FAIRTRADE IS ONE OF THE GREAT
CO-OPERATIVE INNOVATIONS OF
OUR GENERATION

wider, worldwide indeed, we felt that there was
a need to overcome the distance of strangers, by
having an assurance system to underpin this.
Perhaps it was a more British approach, an
empirical view that we wanted to be able to put
things down in chapter and verse. That we could
say to consumers – this is not just marketing hype
– there is a positive impact and can be evidence
to show that.
In truth, the Fairtrade model today relies on both
strands – the sense of connection and solidarity
and the criteria and assessment process.
At times, each strand has got us into trouble in
the Fairtrade movement. A sense of solidarity has
contributed at times to overlooking issues that
need addressing, such as the working rights of
seasonal farm workers who are not co-operative
members. A sense of process around accreditation
can go too far and create a bureaucratic system
and costly experience for producers.
Either way, the culture and practice of
co-operation remains at the heart of Fairtrade. On
figures that Co-operatives UK compiled with the
international fair trade movement, three quarters
of all fair trade is produced by co-ops.
And much of that is sold through co-ops too –
with the British movement having a proud record
of action, as do consumer retail co-operatives
across Europe.
Today, Fairtrade is the most loved brand in the
UK. Every household buys Fairtrade products.
Thousands of people are drawn in, too to activism
on the injustice of international trade. Fairtrade is
one of the great co-operative innovations of our
generation.
And it comes down to a single fact. That even in
a complex, unequal and stressful world, there is
kindness in strangers and hope in co-operation.
ABOVE Guadalupe
Intriago Mera has been
a cacao grower all her
life in Manabi, Ecuador
and is president of
Chone’s Fortaleza Co-op
(Photograph James A.
Rodriguez/Fair Trade USA)
FEBRUARY 2017 | 31

EXPLOITATION
How is
Fairtrade
addressing
worker exploitation?
FAIRTRADE
ANCA VOINEA
This year’s Fairtrade Fortnight is themed around
fighting the exploitation of small-scale farmers.
But what about the workers employed by these
farmers and other larger producers?
FAIRTRADE: FINDING EXPLOITATION IN YOUR
SUPPLY CHAIN
One of the risks behind the Fairtrade label can be
the treatment of workers employed by producers:
whether they are working for a large co-operative
or a smallholder farmer, the rights of these ‘wage
workers’ can go unnoticed.
The treatment of these workers is taken into
account for Fairtrade certification, but it’s
difficult to police, says Dr Carlos Oya, a lecturer
in political economy at SOAS University of
London, who has researched the issue in Ethiopia
and Uganda. He found that people
employed by smallholder farmers were not
being monitored and that Fairtrade did not have
a positive (or negative) effect on their wages or
working conditions.
“The problem is the assumption that small
producer organisations are producers only – so
the certification only applies to producers … the
people missed out completely are casual and
seasonal workers who work for smallholder
producers,” says Dr Oya.
“Fairtrade’s response is that it is impossible to
monitor, and we agree, it’s really difficult – but
that doesn’t remove the problem.”
A study by the United States Agency for
International Development (USAID) also
discovered that Fairtrade is highly ineffective in
reaching those who depend on a wage through
agricultural labour.
Fairtrade
FAIRTRADE LABELLING ORGANIZATIONS INTERNATIONAL
(FLO International, or Fairtrade International): Established 1997. An
association of 3 producer networks, 19 national labelling initiatives and 3
marketing organizations that promote and market the Fairtrade Certification
Mark in their countries.
FAIRTRADE FOUNDATION: Established 1992. The British member of FLO
International. An independent charity that licenses use of the Fairtrade Mark
on products in the UK in accordance with internationally agreed standards.
WHAT IS FAIRTRADE DOING?
The issue of exploitation fits in with the theme
of this year’s Fairtrade Fortnight, which is
fighting the exploitation of small-scale farmers.
There are over 1.4 million farmers and 204,000
workers spread across more than 74 countries
participating in Fairtrade.
What does the Fairtrade Foundation mean
when it talks about addressing exploitation?
Adam Gardner, communities campaign manager,
explains: “The food on our tables, the tea and
32 | FEBRUARY 2017

coffee in our mugs, all come from farmers who
work hard but are not paid what they deserve.
“Whether in the UK or in Malawi, no one
deserves to be short-changed for a hard day’s
work. When we reach for the cheapest products,
we may be unconsciously feeding exploitation.
We become part of the problem, but we can make
a conscious choice to be part of the solution and
support trade that is fair.”
Fairtrade’s revised standards for hired labour,
which came into effect in 2015, said that all workers
must be on the Fairtrade Premium Committee,
which is responsible for the management of the
Fairtrade Premium.
In addition, they have the right to join an
independent union to collectively negotiate their
working conditions. Another criterion is that
salaries must be equal or higher than the regional
average or than the minimum wage in effect.
In 2016, Fairtrade, together with the Global
Living Wage Coalition, published a number of
living wage benchmarks.
The organisation also provides additional
training initiatives and multi-stakeholder
dialogues to form consensus on the measures
needed to close the gap between living wage level
and current wages from an industry point of view
and with groups on the ground.
THE ISSUE OF HIRED LABOUR
Many Fairtrade producers, such as those producing
coffee, have fixed seasons and require temporary
workers. Wilbert Flinterman, senior advisor on
Workers’ Rights at Fairtrade International, says
this is a challenge and the organisation works
closely with farmers in many ways.
“In terms of standards we say that employers
have to ensure that wages and benefits are similar
for permanent and seasonal workers,” he says.
“It’s clearly more challenging to verify
compliance of contractors but that’s what we
expect of operators. Many farmers certified are to
an extent operating in the informal sector, where
they are not receiving social benefits. They are
small producers so that impacts on our ability to
collect information from them.”
Mr Flinterman added: “Our aim is improve the
economic justice in the value chain so that u
BELOW Teresa Riviera
Palacios, coffee farmer
and president of Dantanli
Los Robles co-operative,
Nicaragua (Photograph:
Eduardo Martino)
WHAT DOES THE RESEARCH SAY?
u A 2013 study by researchers at the University of Göttingen
found that Fairtrade certification cuts the likelihood of being
poor by 50% in Uganda – but the impacts of standards and
certification systems largely depend on many factors at
local level.
u A study by LEI Wageningen (commissioned by Fairtrade
International) found that Fairtrade workers feel more
empowered than their non-FT counterparts, though no strong
differences are found for all empowerment issues. However, the
report could not conclude whether overall working conditions
(in terms of worker rights) on Fairtrade-certified plantations
were better than non-certified plantations.
u USAID research suggests a key issue to consider over the
effects of Fairtrade is the assumption that rural poverty is
mainly a problem for smallholder farmers rather than
wage-workers employed by producers. Wage work is
included in certification standards, but the research said
Fairtrade has been shown to be highly ineffective in reaching
the poorest members of the respective communities. The
USAID report warned: “Simply raising farm gate prices
does not automatically raise wages or improve working
conditions, and as a result a well-intentioned initiative such
as Fairtrade has failed to improve the lives of the poorest
people in rural communities.”
u Another recent study on Fair Trade, Employment, and
Poverty Reduction (FTEPR) in Ethiopia and Uganda assessed
Fairtrade’s effects on wageworkers and employment. The
research compared rural areas dominated by Fairtrade-certified
producers with areas where Fairtrade is absent, focusing on
coffee, tea, and flower production. The findings confirmed
that households that are engaged in agricultural wage labour
are likely to be among the poorest in their communities. In
addition, the study argued that Fairtrade certification had no
statistically significant positive effect on the working conditions
of manual agricultural wageworkers.
FEBRUARY 2017 | 33

farmers are able to gain income and support
workers. Our focus is to help farmers make the
transition from formal to informal sector in such
a way that is economically sustainable for them.
“For example, we provide training to banana
farmers on HR practices so that they gain skills
and knowledge to provide better employment
conditions to workers and put policies and
procedures in place.”
Fairtrade International also ran an HR training
programme in Peru in 2014 that will be rolled out
in other countries in Latin America. According
to Mr Flinterman, the project was a “significant
success judging from the feedback”.
He added: “We worked with local people,
strongly supported by producers themselves.
We developed training in such a way that is
relevant to smallholder farmers. We helped them
to set up a very basic database for personnel
administration, policies and procedures, dispute
resolution, informing farmers about workers’
rights and occupation health and safety. This
all works toward the objective of treating people
equally.
“We have to make sure that Fairtrade is
accessible to smallholder farmers, so that
thresholds to enter Fairtrade and benefit from
instruments, support services and market access
“”
WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT
FAIRTRADE IS ACCESSIBLE TO
SMALLHOLDER FARMERS
provided by Fairtrade are not too high and we
have to understand that after certification we
still have to work with farmers in the process of
development.”
A PROBLEM OF CONTEXT?
London University’s Dr Carlos Oya says that
alongside the labour monitoring issues, a problem
is the existing context in each country and the
specific characteristics of smallholder producer
organisations.
“Despite interventions of Fairtrade and other
certification systems, a lot of the dynamics of
these producer organisations cannot be changed
rapidly –the power inequality in them is very hard
to tackle,” he says.
Dr Oya says the reporting mechanisms of these
certification systems are not enough to alter
those conditions. “Yes, a co-op can give evidence
of assembly with members, where they make
decisions democratically about using premiums,
but that is a formality, are they actually working
democratically?
“The fact these members in co-ops have greater
power than others, shape what others think, is
a very important aspect of this project. Producer
organisations are complex, there are a lot of power
relations in them and a system of formalities in
auditing doesn’t necessarily alter the system of
power, most members inactive, the ones who call
the shots are in the headquarters of the co-op.”
Dr Oya pointed out that in the region covered
by his research, co-operatives tend to have been
set up by the government as a way for state to
organise distribution.
34 | FEBRUARY 2017

“The notion of co-operative is stretched to
any collective of producers who share some
infrastructure for marketing purposes,” he adds.
“It is not possible to say co-ops are better
because the boundaries are blurred. It is difficult
to know if it is a co-op or normal producer
organisation.”
But he welcomed the work done by Fairtrade in
collaboration with other organisations on as part
of the Global Living Wage coalition. He added
that setting out living wage standards for different
countries would require a lot of research.
SUPPLY CHAIN INVOLVEMENT
Stirling Smith, who has worked as a consultant
with the ILO, Fair Labour Association, Ethical
Trading Initiative, trade unions, NGOs and the
Co-operative College, says the potential of trade
between co-ops to help ensure a fairer supply
chain was often neglected.
He believes co-ops should consciously ask
themselves how they can reshape the supply
chain and seek to find co-operative suppliers for
the products they need. He gave the example
of FinTea, a Fairtrade project involving 11,000
Kenyan tea farmers.
After receiving the Fairtrade certification,
FinTea Growers made its way to the shelves,
becoming part of the Co-operative Group’s iconic
99 Fairtrade Tea in the UK.
The Co-operative College designed the
training to help the farmers to establish their
own co-operatives, in collaboration with the
Co-operative College of Kenya. The Co-operative
Group co-funded the project and is buying from
the producers.
“It’s an interesting example because if you look
at the increase of income for those tea farmers, it
was cutting out the middleman rather than the
Fairtrade Premium that really helped them. They
sold to the co-op and kept the margin.”
Simel Esim, chief of the ILO’s Cooperatives
Unit also believes co-ops have a part to play in
the supply chain: “Unleashing the potential of
co-operatives for fair trade is something that needs
to be on the national, regional, international
policy makers’ agendas,” she says.
“And at the same time, co-operatives need to
do more to – and do better at – improving their
labour and environmental practices toward a
more sustainable future.”
What co-ops can do
Employers with a turnover in excess of £36m are obligated under the
Modern Slavery Act 2015 to eradicate modern slavery in their business
and supply chain. But what else can co-operatives do?
u Voluntarily adopt an anti-slavery statement and carry out their own
investigations into the supply chain. Wholefood co-operative Suma,
for example, ensures producers are compliant with the Ethical Trading
Initiative Base Code, which dictates, among other things, that working
conditions are safe, child labour is not used and that living wages
are paid. In helping to eradicate modern slavery it asks suppliers
to complete ethical questionnaires to ensure there is no slavery or
trafficking in the supply chain.
u Create your own statement: Co-operatives UK has designed a series
of resources, including an anti-slavery statement template, to get
co-ops started, which is available online at s.coop/modernslavery.
Other useful resources:
u International Labour Organization on modern slavery
s.coop/forcedlabour
u Sedex – empowering sustainable and ethical supply chains
sedexglobal.com
u Sustainable Development Goals
sustainabledevelopment.un.org
u Alliance 8.7 – eradicate modern slavery
alliance87.org
FACING Many Fairtrade producers, such as
coffee farmers, have fixed seasons and require
temporary workers
RIGHT FinTea’s board of directors
FEBRUARY 2017 | 35

LIBERATING
World’s first Fairtrade nut-farming co-op
celebrates tenth birthday
CASE STUDY
SUSAN PRESS
One of the biggest Fairtrade success stories in
recent years is Liberation Foods, which celebrates
its 10th anniversary in 2017.
It was founded by Twin – the Fairtrade charity
which set up Cafedirect and Divine Chocolate,
In 2003, the organisation brought together
global nut producers from Bolivia, El Salvador,
India, Malawi and Nicaragua to develop the first
ever Fairtrade standards for nuts.
The first certified consignment arrived in the UK
in 2005 and two years later, Liberation Foods was
launched. The world’s first farmer-owned ethical
nut business, it was backed by the International
Nut Cooperative (INC), representing 22,000
farmers across Asia, Africa and Central America.
Liberation Foods is a community interest
company – 44% of which is owned by the nut
producer co-ops in the INC.
Any profits and dividends go back to them and
are invested in tools, equipment and community
projects such as health care and education
facilities. Twin owns a 23% share, with the rest
held by other ethical investors including Cordaid
and Equal Exchange.
Ten years on from the launch of Liberation
Foods, managing director Kate Gaskell is proud
of the progress made, with a current turnover of
more than £4m and more than 500 tonnes of nuts
produced and packaged for the UK and Europe
every year.
“We were the first to introduce Fairtrade
nuts to the market,” she says, “and we now
supply retailers like Tesco, Sainsbury’s and
Waitrose as well as Oxfam, Traidcraft and other
ethical outlets.
“Every kilo we sell is very valuable to small-scale
producers and gatherers. The market continues
to increase and we are very optimistic about its
future. It is very much in the current zeitgeist
of replacing less healthy snacks like chocolate
and crisps.
“People are realising nuts are a very
sustainable kind of protein which can be very
valuable in their diet.”
Since the launch, the producer/shareholder
ownership ratio has increased, she says, rising
from a third to 44%. “We continue to work with
our producer representatives,” adds Kate, “and
36 | FEBRUARY 2017

each organisation has very different strengths and
characteristics.
“For example, in Kerala where our cashews are
produced there is a fantastic focus on women’s
roles. They have set up community credit schemes
managed by women who 10 years ago did not
handle money.
“They have been empowered and liberated by
getting together to share issues and collaborate on
ideas like growing different crops and becoming
more self-sufficient. The whole concept of organic
farming was under threat and Fairtrade business
put energy into it.”
Kate trained as a food technologist and her first
job was in the desserts department at M&S.
“I have always worked in the industry and I had
a deep-rooted desire to make some contribution
to redressing the awful imbalance in power
and wealth between developed and developing
countries,” she says.
“I did a voluntary stint in Belize and it was
there I came across the beginning of Fairtrade
with cocoa producers for Green & Black’s. That
inspired me to work as an inspector and I got a
job at Twin in 2004.
“I worked setting up Liberation Foods and
became MD in 2010. We have an eight-strong team
and because we care we are very mission-driven,
we exist to represent our producers.
“My role is challenging, fun and varied; it
ranges from negotiating with Tesco, to visiting
producers from Bolivia to Malawi.”
Liberation Foods is at the forefront of several
global training programmes, carried out in
partnership with Twin. These include fair rewards
and recognition for women, and promoting best
practice in quality standards, land use, planting
and water conservation.
And the company has expanded its range to
include peanut butter and chasing the growing
market for healthy convenience food with ‘smart
snacks’ incorporating dried fruit and chocolate
with a variety of nuts.
“We are on an upwards trajectory and we are
very proud of our range which is good for
the producer, the consumer and easy on the
environment,” says Kate.
Another Liberation Foods initiative is National
Nut Day; held every October, it started in the US
and was introduced to the UK in 2010.
“That and Fairtrade Fortnight are our two
linchpin events and very important in raising
awareness and communicating our theme of
liberating lives and the impact we can have on
producer communities,” she says.
“We do that in a variety of ways including
social media, cartoons and animations and also
films of producers in places like Bolivia. It is all
about our mission to bring nut producers together
with consumers and show them as ordinary
people trying to make a living with good products.
“Fairtrade Fortnight gives us an opportunity to
raise sales and awareness among the mainstream
population and our retailers are pretty
supportive.”
She says Liberation Foods is now in talks with
the Co-op Group and hopes to see its products on
sale there “in the very near future”.
“At last year’s AGM there was a specific request
from members for a wider range of Fairtrade
goods and we hope to be a part of that,” she adds.
“In the future I hope to see our nuts getting the
recognition they deserve as a sustainable healthy
nutritional snack, with the vast majority supplied
by Fairtrade producers. Much of the production
is done at origin or owned by community so it is
end-to-end sustainable food production.”
And she has high hopes for the future of the
pioneering venture.
“In 10 years’ time I would love to see us
with a turnover of £10m,” she says, “having
converted more UK consumers to the virtues of
healthy, environmentally friendly Fairtrade nut
consumption – and, in the process, sustained
and empowered nut-producing communities
and families in Bolivia, El Salvador, India, Malawi
and Nicaragua.
“Our vision is a world in which smallholder
farmers can enjoy secure, sustainable livelihoods
and plan for the future. Our mission is to bring
nut producers and consumers together so that
everyone gets a better deal.”
ABOVE Liberation
nut farmer
LEFT Kate Gaskell
with Liberation
members in
(Photographs: Kate
Gaskell)
“”
FAIRTRADE FORTNIGHT GIVES
US AN OPPORTUNITY TO
RAISE AWARENESS
FEBRUARY 2017 | 37

How Fairtrade helped my fight for
women’s rights
FAIRTRADE
BY MARÍA EDY RIVERA
María is a board
member of
Coordinadora de
El Salvador de
Pequeños Productores
Organizados de
Comercio Justo
(CESPPO)
I grew up on a coffee farm in El Salvador and have
been surrounded by coffee bushes for almost
my entire life. When I was a child, my mother
belonged to the La Florida coffee co-operative and
when she died in 2007, I took over her role and
became an active member of the co-op.
I strongly believe that I am an empowered
woman, a woman who has tried to set an
example; I have fought to belong and represent
the rights of rural women in public spaces where
decision-making takes place. I am the first
woman producer to sit on the board of Fairtrade’s
national organisation in El Salvador, and I have
achieved this because I discovered how to value
myself as a woman.
It’s not been easy to make my way in a culture
dominated by men. But it’s been worth the
struggle, because I know that standing behind me
there are many rural women who not only need to
be represented, but also to know their rights and
reach a deeper understanding of the importance
of their role as women.
One of my greatest achievements in the past
year has been bringing together a group of women
with whom I share everything I learned at the
leadership school run by five grass-roots farming,
local development and women’s organisations
including CLAC, the Fairtrade producer network
for Latin America and the Caribbean.
It’s a massive challenge. When the school
started in 2014, there were women who would
not even raise their eyes when someone spoke to
them. But we’re making steady progress – it isn’t
easy, but it’s not impossible.
The leadership school is hugely important
because it highlights how women have been
made invisible over time. It gives women the
opportunity to find their voice, to move beyond
mere objectification and to become agents of
change in the global movement for fairer trade.
38 | FEBRUARY 2017

The school has taught me the importance of
self-esteem, leadership, women’s and human
rights, economic empowerment of women and
the fair division of labour between the sexes.
Among other things, I’ve learned how to advance
women’s participation in decision making,
the principles of co-operative values ​and legal
frameworks, women’s entrepreneurship, popular
education and group management techniques.
Encouraged by the success of the first
participants, the school programme has been
extended and so far nearly 400 women have
attended. Some of them have formed a group for
savings and credits; another group are diversifying
their farming activities such as producing and
selling pickles. For me this is the biggest source
of satisfaction – seeing us come together, working
for the common good, and introducing new ways
of working which mean we don’t have to travel so
far and leave the kids alone at home.
On the UN International Day of Rural Women,
it’s encouraging to be able to point to success
stories which show that rural women are crucial
for achieving the economic, environmental
and social changes needed for sustainable
development.
But many still have to struggle with limited
access to credit, technical assistance and
education. The majority of them still do not own
land – the source of their livelihood – as the
ownership of the land remains in the hands of
men, even though in many countries women are
the ones who work the land and those responsible
for supporting the family.
My challenge, and the challenge of millions
of women farmers and workers in developing
countries, is how to advance, step by step, towards
having an equal say in decision-making, running
our businesses and our lives. Only then will
we be able to bring about truly democratic and
sustainable farmers’ organisations and co-ops,
which in turn will enable us to realise the
fundamental values of Fairtrade.
u This article was originally published by Fairtrade
International
FACING PAGE (LEFT-RIGHT) Rahel Mhabuka, tea
worker at Kibena Tea Estate, Tanzania (photography:
Simon Rawles); Teresa Kurgat, tea farmer and member
of Sireet OEP co-operative, Kenya (photography:
Simon Rawles); Elizabeth Chepkwony harvesting
coffee in Kenya (Photography: David Macharia)
RIGHT Maria Edy Rivera finishing the leadership
school run by five grass-roots farming, local
development and women’s organisations
FEBRUARY 2017 | 39

Where does the money go from the
Fairtrade Premium?
COLUMBIA
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
GHANA
To find out just how much of a difference
the Fairtrade movement has made, Fairtrade
International and the Fairtrade Foundation
commissioned a study, looking at Colombia, the
Dominican Republic and Ghana.
The research, by LEI Wageningen UR, explored
the difference certification makes to workers
on banana plantations, and highlights the
benefits the Fairtrade Premium has brought to
farm workers. In all three countries, it found,
most Fairtrade wageworkers are aware of the
FT premium – 97% in Colombia, 93% in the
Dominican Republic and 87% in Ghana.
Workers taking part in the survey said the
premium has been used for different purposes in
their countries.
In Ghana, 90% of those spoken to said the
premium was spent on food subsidy. In Colombia,
the premium was mostly used for education,
training and housing. In the Dominican Republic,
training was also a priority, but many reported
the premium was spent on cash payments and
health.
Asked how future premiums should be spent,
workers from the three countries had similar
ideas, with cash payments, education and
housing seen as priorities.
Workers told researchers how important
education is to them. One woman said: “I want to
become a professional in psychology and work on
occupational health at banana plantations. I can
achieve this goal because Fairtrade gives me the
opportunity to study at low cost without quitting
my job.”
On several plantations in each country, a large
part of the premium was spent on administration
% of wageworkers aware of the Fairtrade Premium
% of wageworkers who attended a Fairtrade meeting in the past year
costs – such as initial certification, audits
or premium committees, but none of the
wageworkers reported this.
Another key area of Fairtrade is for workers
having a say – and here, the results from the three
countries presents a mixed picture.
Wageworkers were asked if they had submitted
any ideas for the use of the Premium; whether
they attended the last Fairtrade meeting; and
how many Fairtrade meetings they attended in
the past year.
In Ghana, only 30% of wageworkers had
attended the last meeting, and they had attended
an average of only one meeting the past year.
Figures were better in the Dominican Republic
– with 65% attending the last meeting, and an
average of four meeting attended in the past
year, and Colombia, where 91% of those surveyed
attending the last meeting, and an average of nine
meetings attended.
The proportion of wageworkers suggesting
ideas for how to spend the Premium was low –
44% in Ghana, 51% in the Dominican Republic,
and 35% in Colombia.
The report adds that participation is not always
easy – in Ghana, one plantation is so large that
the participation of each worker would not
be feasible – but says this raises “some doubt
on the individual decision-making power of
40 | FEBRUARY 2017

wageworkers, especially the low percentage of
wageworkers who proposed an idea for spending
of the premium”.
But several workers told researchers they were
happy with how the funds are managed.
One said: “Funds administration has been
very good, and I am confident that there are
many wageworkers who are qualified to manage
this money.”
Another told interviewers: “At the beginning it
was difficult for us to accept the way the funds
have to be spent, but when we saw the results we
changed our minds. We thought it was what the
plantation owner wanted us to do, but when we
saw the benefits we started believing.”
PROTECTING COFFEE GROWERS IN A CHANGING
MARKET
A report from Fairtrade International shows how
Fairtrade protects coffee farmers who would
otherwise be vulnerable to fluctuations in price
in a volatile market.
The reports, looking at Indonesia, Mexico,
Peru, and Tanzania found that in 2013, when
prices were low, Fairtrade farmers received
higher prices than their non-Fairtrade
counterparts – ranging from 8% higher in Peru
to 30% in Mexico.
But at times of high prices, such as 2011 and
2012, “only POs with very high quality coffee
were able to negotiate higher prices than those
offered by other buyers”, the report adds.
WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO FROM THE FAIRTRADE PREMIUM?
SMALL PRODUCER
ORGANISATIONS ARE
ASSOCIATIONS OF FARMERS
47%: Investing in producer
organisations (including 24% on
HR/admin and 22% on facilities and
infrastructure)
42%: Services for farmers (including
20% on payments to farmers, 5% on
agricultural tools and inputs, 4% on
implementation of on-farm good practices
and 4% on credit and finance services)
9%: Services for communities
(including 2% on education, 2%
healthcare, 1% on community
infrastructure 1% on environmental
services)
2%: Other
HIRED LABOUR ORGANISATIONS
ARE COMPANIES THAT HIRE LABOUR
WHICH HAS BEEN CERTIFIED TO MEET
FAIRTRADE STANDARDS
64%: Services for workers and their
families (including 22% on education, 14%
on worker housing, 8% on financial and credit
services, 4% on healthcare and 15% on other
services for workers and their families)
15%: Training and empowerment
of workers (including 12% for Fairtrade
Premium committee or other workers’
organisations and 2% on training for workers)
20%: Services for communities
(including 6% on community infrastructure,
5% on education, 4% healthcare and 4% on
social and economic services)
1%: Other
FEBRUARY 2017 | 41

How is the Fairtrade movement
preparing for the future?
Since the first fair trade label was introduced in
1988, the movement has been working to improve
the lives of producers around the world. But with
economic uncertainty and climate change adding
to the challenges ahead, where does Fairtrade go
next?
To address these problems, Fairtrade Foundation
has drawn up a five-year plan, Changing Trade,
Changing Lives, which chair Michael Jary calls “an
ambitious global response to a changing world”.
“We have 20 years of evidence showing how
fair terms of trade can enable farmers to achieve
sustainable livelihoods and realise their hopes,” he
says in his foreword to the strategy.
“Nevertheless, global trade continues to
offer only a precarious existence for millions
of producers who face daily the challenges of
poverty, price volatility, climate change and
unequal balance of power. Price deflation and
the huge shifts in the UK retail sector are only
increasing these pressures.
“The fact that half the world’s hungry are
themselves farmers is a scandal.”
To tackle these issues, he adds, the
organisation’s plan for 2020 “presents the
opportunity for us all to work together in new
ways, to drive even more impact and tackle the
urgent challenges farmers and workers face”.
By 2020, the foundation wants farmers and
workers to enjoy more value from their products
and earn a “sustainable, dignified livelihood”, to
empower men and women and help farmers deal
with the effects of climate change.
STARK CHALLENGES
But it paints a stark picture in the strategy of the
challenges to be met.
“Climate change is resulting in the loss of 12
million hectares of productive land each year.
Young people are abandoning agriculture,
swelling the ranks of the urban unemployed and
economic migrants,” it warns.
“Women work to produce 60-80 percent of the
world’s food, yet the number of women living
below the poverty line has increased by 50
percent since the 1970s. About 168 million boys
and girls around the world are engaged in child
labour, mostly in agriculture.
“Artisanal mining, while producing the most
highly priced precious metals, remains one of
the most dangerous and poorly rewarded jobs in
the world.”
To combat this, the foundation is focusing
on eight of the UN’s Sustainable Development
Goals: end hunger; achieve gender equality;
decent work and economic growth; reduce
42 | FEBRUARY 2017

inequality; sustainable consumption and
production; urgent action on climate change;
promote peace and justice; develop partnerships
to help reach the goals. And the strategy sets out
four goals of its own:
1. FOCUS ON IMPACT
This includes empowering coffee farmers; a living
wage for all Fairtrade banana producers; improved
productivity and organisation for West African
cocoa smallholders; living wage and gender
pilots on Fairtrade flower plantations; improved
workers’ rights and welfare on North East India
tea plantations.
2. MAKE FAIRTRADE PERSONAL
The strategy aims to move the public to act against
unfair trading practices by raising awareness. It
will work with policymakers and the media to
amplify the voices of farmers and workers, and
with its global partners to rigorously measure and
evaluate its impact, building on what works and
changing what doesn’t.
3. IMPROVE AND INNOVATE
Moving beyond its core work under the Fairtrade
Mark, the foundation will look at areas such as
product labelling and enabling business impact
to develop a “portfolio of services”. It has created
a new services and partnerships team which is
expanding existing commercial relationships and
creating new ones.
4. BUILD A STRONG ORGANISATION
The foundation will work with producer networks
in the South to deliver more services locally,
channelling power back into the hands of farmers
and workers, with more investment in monitoring
and education and a new fundraising strategy.
“How incredible,” the strategy concludes,
“would it be if in five years we can say that
the principles of equity, inclusiveness and
transparency, along with respect for human
and environmental rights and a commitment to
fair pay, have been embedded in the way
businesses operate?”
Fighting for Fairtrade workers as
Britain prepares for Brexit
The outcome of the EU referendum, with the UK preparing to withdraw, has
already created significant uncertainty for trading partners in developing
countries – and problems are only set to increase.
u LABOUR RIGHTS: Stirling Smith, an independent consultant on ethical
trade says that if the UK is going to go for bilateral trade deals, they are
unlikely to raise the question of workers’ rights to international labour
standards. “The EU is not great at doing this but at least it’s on the agenda,”
he says. Mr Smith adds that the way this is being lost from trade deals
undermines the Modern Slavery Act which Theresa May achieved during
her time as home secretary.
u FINANCE: Fairtrade organisation Traidcraft says producers are already
suffering – with the pound falling in value, their goods have become more
expensive in the UK and aid, investment and remittances have lost value.
When Britain does leave, producers will also face an increase in the cost of
trading with the UK.
Britain imports £34bn of goods from developing countries – and 47% of
these could face extra tariffs after Brexit, with and extra £1bn imposed in
import taxes.
u BUREAUCRACY: Traidcraft believes there will also be a reduced demand
for producers’ products and increased bureaucracy to meet the demands
of multiple markets.
HOW CAN FAIRTRADE WORKERS BE PROTECTED FROM BREXIT FALLOUT?
To tackle these issues, Traidcraft has come up with a set of demands to
MPs to protect farmers and workers in the developing world from the effects
of Brexit.
WHAT IS TRAIDCRAFT DOING ABOUT IT?
Traidcraft is lobbying MPs to write to the international trade secretary, to
call for a fair deal for poor farmers and workers in developing countries as
well as for consumers in the UK.
It also wants a “gold standard for development-focused trade policy”,
with “non-reciprocal preferential market access for developing countries”.
The government should ensure future trade negotiations support
sustainable development, it adds.
FEBRUARY 2017 | 43

RETAIL INNOVATION
What is the relationship between
employee engagement and productivity?
INNOVATION
ANCA VOINEA
ABOVE Dr Unai Elorza,
who will be speaking
at Co-operative UK’s
Co-operative Retail
Conference
RIGHT Dr Elorza’s
study looks at 480
organisations –
including some that are
part of the Mondragon
Group
Can employee engagement lead to higher
productivity?
One person who knows the answer to this is
Unai Elorza. The lecturer in HR management
at Mondragon University has spent eight years
looking at employee engagement across 480
organisations with 5,000 employees, 60% of
which are co-operatives.
Some of the organisations are part of the
Mondragon Group, while others come from the
Basque country’s industrial sector, the education
sector, distribution or consulting.
“Employee engagement is like supporting a
football team”, says Dr Elorza. “One is feeling
the team’s colours, always with the team,
ready to make efforts for the overall good of the
organisation, willing to sacrifice self-interests for
the good of the organisation, feeling proud of
being part of it and feeling owner of it.”
When employees are engaged they are
more likely to be involved in actions
that are good for the organisation, he
added. “For example, they are staying
and extra 20 minutes or doing things
they are not necessarily supposed to
do for the good of the organisation.
All these lead to satisfaction.” When
engagement is not materialised the
business can lose opportunity, he said.
The causes of disengagement can be
very complex. Dr Elorza’s research shows
that engagement is connected to different
experiences that enrich the workplace experience,
such as working with other colleagues to develop
professionally or working with clients.
The sector in which businesses operated can
also play a role in engagement. In the industrial
sector, when employees are asked to do less
qualified roles or do repetitive and simple work,
they are less likely to develop professionally. “In
these types of jobs, no information is needed.
You are the extension of a robot. You do not
develop professionally but accumulate a year
of experience repeated 30 times rather than 30
years of experience. In these contexts there is no
engagement,” he says.
So far his research has shown certain differences
between co-operatives and non-co-operatives.
“Employee engagement tends to be a bit higher in
co-ops but they still face the same issues as other
businesses,” says Dr Elorza.
While co-ops operate in accordance to their
values and principles, they can also import
principles of management from other companies,
which means that sometimes co-ops can act like
regular enterprises.
The difference lies in how an enterprise is
managed, he explains. “You can be a member of
a co-op – but identity does not simply come with
membership. The enterprise needs to maintain
that co-operative identity in daily management.”
Engagement also differs depending on the
sector in which an organisation operates. For
example, in the distribution centre, where
employees engage with clients on a daily basis,
they are more likely to be more engaged.
This in turn affects productivity. Dr Elorza’s
research shows that in most sectors the
relationship between productivity is positive;
higher engagement leads to higher productivity.
However, in sectors such as distribution,
44 | FEBRUARY 2017

productivity is higher when people are less
engaged. The explanation is that often-higher
rhythms of production imposed on employees
can affect them negatively. In this scenario higher
productivity leads to unhappy staff. Another cause
is enterprises trying to increase productivity by
hiring fewer people but expecting the same level
of productivity.
Dr Elorza also stresses that enterprises should
take into account long term and short term goals
when assessing productivity. “If a store wants
to hire two less people but expects the same
productivity then yes, on the short term, it will
have higher productivity. However, customers
may not be attended very well due to the staff
shortage and on medium and long term this could
have a negative impact,” he says.
What are the key steps to building a successful
engagement strategy? Dr Elorza’s initial research
indicates that a successful engagement strategy
depends on the management of the enterprise.
“They need to assume there are other ways to
manage, they have to delegate power to people,
let them make mistakes and learn from this. This
implies having faith in people. The managers
will no longer be the ones taking all decisions.
There needs to be a cultural change in how one
perceives managing a store”, he said. “If this does
not occur an management level, then it will not
happen”.
While some managers may want to take
measures in this direction, they may fail to trust
people. “In this case changes ended up hurting the
enterprise because they lacked the determination
needed and they generated expectations among
employees that could not be met. The key is
that managers assume they are embarking in a
process that does not have going back. A change
in philosophy.”
Other important steps are integrating
employees, providing autonomy, opportunities
for training and enable them to take decisions,
says Dr Elorza. “To do this well management
need to be clear that best is change is within
themselves.”
u Unai Elorza will be exploring this issue at the
Co-operative Retail Conference in Stratford-upon-
Avon on 3-5 March. For more information, and to
book, visit s.coop/retailconf17
ABOVE A worker at
Copreci, which is part of
the Mondragon Group.
“The sector in which
businesses operated
can also play a role in
engagement,” says Dr
Elorza. (Photograph:
Mondragon Group)
FEBRUARY 2017 | 45

Lessons from the past: Co-operative retail
societies as supply chain innovators
INNOVATION
ANCA VOINEA
Co-operatives have been global trade innovators
for over a century, according to Professor Tony
Webster of the Northumbria University, who is
conducting research into the history of British cooperative
retail societies as supply chain pioneers.
In January he gave a lecture at Northumbria
University, presenting some of his findings.
In 2013 Prof Webster, with John F. Wilson and
Rachael Vorberg-Rugh, published Building cooperation,
A business history of the Co-operative
Group, which looks at the story of the retailer, from
the days of the Rochdale Pioneers to the present.
“When doing research work on the Co-operative
Group, I realised the international dimension of
societies had really not been covered,” he says.
“Now I am looking specifically at the international
actions of co-op wholesale societies and see how
they fit in.”
The existing literature on supply chain
management focuses on the 1990s. However,
according to Prof Webster, British co-operative
retailers succeeded in developing a system of
supply chain management as early as the 1880s.
“In many ways British co-operative societies
had a way of managing supply from overseas that
gave them advantage to win the market,” he says.
19TH CENTURY INNOVATORS
From the 1890s, the Co-operative Wholesale
Society (now the Co-operative Group) focused on
owning key sources of supply. It set up a number
of branches and depots around the world, in New
York (1876), Copenhagen (1881), Hamburg (1884),
Rouen (1879), Spain (1896), Montreal (1894) and
Sydney (1897).
In addition, the CWS bought tea plantations in
India and Sri Lanka in the early 1900s and started
to invest in palm oil and cocoa production in West
Africa. WWI interrupted developments in West
Africa to some extent, but these were carried on
after the end of the war.
“Many people sent to manage branches spent
their years going to local co-operative societies so
they knew what they would buy,” explained Prof
Webster.
The overseas managers also became heavily
involved in local politics. In New York, CWS
branch manager, John Gledhill, was elected
manager of the New York Produce exchange
in 1882. Under his leadership, CWS became an
important international player among New York’s
merchants and brokers. In 1883 he moved the HQ
of the New York CWS into the Produce Exchange
Building. This enabled him to get the best deals
for co-op societies, heavily embedded in local
commercial institutions.
“They were extremely innovative, very
outgoing as well as new in some of the things they
developed – they were people who went out to get
new contracts,” says Prof Webster. He described
how CWS staff travelled overland across Europe
on their way to Turkey and Greece, where they
were looking to find dried fruit producers.
“As they passed through, they signed deals
with others so they began sourcing potatoes from
Germany and wheat from Hungary. They were
very entrepreneurial at a time when a lot of this
wasn’t done”
ETHICS FROM THE START
CWS’ international supply chain also had
an ethical dimension, says Prof Webster, who
gave the example of how the CWS approached
trading butter with Denmark in the 1870s and
1880s. John Andrews, the head of the new
46 | FEBRUARY 2017

anch in Copenhagen established contacts
with local people, including the president of the
Royal Agricultural Society of Denmark. As an
experienced traveller for CWS, he was aware of
the tastes and demands of retail societies.
His strategy was, where possible, to source
goods at the point of production. Rather than
source the cheapest goods through merchants
and brokers, he sought to establish supply chains
with farmers directly.
He started working with creamery cooperatives,
and by 1885 CWS was receiving butter
from 101 farmers across Scandinavia.
INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION
In the 1920s and 30s, the CWS was heavily
involved in supporting the International Cooperative
Alliance as part of the attempt to create
an international co-operative society.
“The great problem was that the interwar
period caused major disruptions of international
trade,” says Prof Webster. In Nazi Germany
and Italy the state attempted to crush the cooperative
movement. “In many ways this is why
an international co-operative society didn’t come
into existence.”
After WWI, British co-operative retailers tried
to support co-op movements abroad in Belgium,
Poland, Romania and Austria to help existing coop
movements or set up new one.
Prof Webster thinks the movement today can
learn important lessons from the past. “Coops
were highly competent, and innovative,”
he says. “In many senses, if the Co-op Group
is to become successful again some of that
spirit of entrepreneurship needs to be revived.
International co-operation is also important with
the current descent into protectionism.
“One of the things to understand is that the
co-op movement is international. If we want to
main good relationships across national borders,
the co-op movement of Europe may well have an
important role to play.
“Over the next few years there is a danger that
the relationship between Europe and the UK
could become frosty. The co-op movement can put
forward an alternative voice though organisations
like the International Co-operative Alliance, and
promote European co-operation and goodwill.”
This focus on retail innovation is authored
by Co-operative News, with support from
Celtech (www.celtechgroup.com). Celtech is a
world-class retail technology company that is
renowned for inventing the true real-time retail
business solution.
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• Membership
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• In-store
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- Click-and-collect / delivered
• Warehouse
- Bulk / Picking / Packing / Ship
• Enterprise
- Master data management
- Stock and replenishment
- Live insights and reporting
Celtech’s proven co-op transition
service to real-time that:
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accuracy across the business
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it happens
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implement change, instantly
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optimum efficiency and control
• Enables unique member
experiences
Mission-critical enterprise reliability and scalability
proven and trusted by co-ops, independent retailers
and wholesalers with billions of transactions
FEBRUARY 2017 | 47

REVIEWS
Ours to Hack and
to Own
Edited by Trebor
Scholz and Nathan
Schneider
(OR Books, 2016)
If you’ve ever wondered about how a new,
collaborative, sustainable, democratic economy
might work, Ours to Hack and Own: The rise of
platform cooperativism, a new vision for the future
of work and a fairer internet, is for you.
Edited by Trebor Scholz and Nathan Schneider,
who have really put this movement on the map,
the book includes thought-pieces from scores
of contributors, case studies of working platform
co-ops, and guidance for any would-be platform
founders and designers. Ours to Hack and Own
provides the most comprehensive summary of the
burgeoning platform co-op movement to date.
Just like traditional co-ops, platform co-ops are
organisations that are owned and managed by
their members – but while traditional co-ops are
normally based around a physical community of
members, platform co-ops live online and are
normally populated by online communities of
members. It’s a simple concept which, ultimately,
provides a model for a completely new economy.
That may sound grandiose but, unlike other
movements or start-ups claiming they will disrupt
the norm, this model genuinely has the potential to
kick-start a new way of organising life as we know
it, because it is rooted in collective ownership.
Bringing the co-op movement up to date for the
internet era and equipping ourselves with the right
tools to organise effectively, collaboratively and
democratically is what Ours to Hack and Own, is
all about.
The book starts with intros from Scholz and
Schneider who define the main tenets of platform
cooperativism as ‘communal ownership and
democratic governance’. Part two takes us on a
whistle-stop tour of ‘platform capitalism’ with
insight from a range of authors, and part three
of the book rattles through some case studies of
existing, successful, platform co-ops, (such as
Stocksy United and Fairmondo) before covering
how we can build an ‘internet of our own’ with
specific guidance for would-be platform founders
and designers.
Part four, the final section covers ‘Conditions
of possibility’ with another 12 case studies on
interesting projects and some condensed wisdom
from a host of further authors.
Ours to Hack and Own is an extremely timely
publication covering every aspect of the legal,
social, technical and economic aspects of the
platform co-op movement. Although its focus is on
platform cooperativism it is key reading for anyone
with an interest in creating a more collaborative,
equitable and sustainable world.
u Review by Oliver Sylvester-Bradley, co-founder
of the Open Co-op, organisers of the Open 2017
conference on platform co-ops (15-16 Feb)
THREE
READS
Oliver Sylvester-Bradley co-founded The Open Coop
in 2004 with the purpose of “building a worldwide
community of individuals and organisations
committed to the creation of a collaborative,
sustainable economy”. Here, he shares three
inspiring reads.
1. Owning Our Future - The Emerging Ownership
Revolution by Marjorie Kelly (Berrett-Koehler,
2012) uses the example of a house whose owners
were forced to move out due to foreclosure on
their mortgage to chart the madness of our
present economy. It’s a brilliant read which
explains how the present economy works to
maximise financial income for the few and how
a new economy, based on collective ownership,
is ushering in a completely way of organising the
way we live and work.
2. The Internet of Ownership (ioo.coop) is a website
that provides a wealth of information about the
collaborative economy. Featuring a directory of coowned,
co-operative and collaborative businesses
and organisations, as well as a blog, library
and event listings, IoO is a great starting point
for anyone looking to find out more about the
burgeoning online collaborative economy.
3. STIR magazine (quarterly, £3.95) describes
itself as “The magazine for the new economy”
and focusses on the people, the progress and
the organisations that are building the solidarity
economy. Featuring beautiful illustrations and
photography as well as in-depth discussions,
interviews, analysis and reviews STIR is a high
quality, inspirational, read.
48 | FEBRUARY 2017

Energy Democracy: Germany’s
Energiewende to Renewables
By Arne Jungjohann and Craig Morris
(Palgrave Macmillan, 2016)
The first chapter of Energy Democracy is titled
‘Energiewende: The Solution to More Problems
than Climate Change’. This sets the tone of the
book – for the success of Germany’s energy
transition (‘Energiewende’) project lies not just
in the fact that it is helping to drive the country
towards renewables at an astonishing rate,
but that by involving citizens in the creation and ownership of energy,
community cohesion and democracy is also getting a boost.
As the result of the Energiewende, there are now over 1,000 energy cooperatives
in Germany, and the scheme has been very successful in driving
down the prices of renewables. It has also been integral in public (self)
education. “The Germans are teaching themselves and each other about
energy and politics, thereby developing skills that could be useful in the
future,” write the authors.
But, they warn, citizen involvement must remain at the heart of the
initiative, if the Energiewende is to succeed in more than just headline
figures (targets includes greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions of 80–95% by
2050 (relative to 1990) and a renewable energy target of 60% by 2050).
“If Germany reaches its official targets for 2050, but does so primarily
with utility projects, sidelining public participation in the process, then the
original spirit of the Energiewende – the driving force since the 1970s – will
have been lost.”
The Little Pioneers
By Pippa and Joel Pixley
(The Co-operative Childcare, 2016)
The Co-operative Childcare has
launched a series of picture-books
designed to teach children the values
of co-operation.
The Little Pioneers is a set of five
picture-books featuring five characters
who have different backgrounds. Ping,
Ella, Alice, Charlie and Ebo are aged
between three and five and represent the co-operative values of democracy,
openness, equality, social responsibility and co-operation.
Each book focuses on one character, depicting a day in their life at the
nursery. The little pioneers work together to overcome obstacles, show they
care, include everyone and make a difference in the world.
The books, written and drawn by Pippa and Joel Pixley, were designed
for children of pre-school reading age (3-5) and include bold and colourful
illustration.
The authors worked with children and colleagues from five Co-operative
Childcare nurseries, gathering ideas and incorporating them into the
narrative. Together, the authors have made over 30 storybooks, pop-ups &
practitioner handbooks, including Harmony the Honey Bee series and The
Toad Lane Time Travellers.
From the author...
Arne Jungjohann on how democracy
in Germany is the true Energiewende
success story
The Energiewende (Energy Transition) is the
transition by Germany to an affordable, low carbon
energy supply. But it “gets a lot of attention for
wrong reasons,” says Arne Jungjohann (above),
who co-authored Energy Democracy: Germany’s
Energiewende to Renewables with Craig Morris.
What is special – and often overlooked – is
that the Energiewende is not only a technical
shift, but also one in terms of politics, culture and
ownership. The reason for this is that Germany’s
state of democracy is “in very good health”.
Federalism in Germany divides authority
between the federal government and the states,
and has a character of rewarding compromise.
Coalition governments are the norm – so, says
Mr Jungjohann, “your political enemy also has to
be considered as a partner who you work with in
making things happen”. This political culture has
two effects.
“Firstly, there has to be broad consensus; for
example consensus that climate change is real,
that we must take responsibility and ramp up
renewables. All Germany’s climate targets were
agreed by all parties.
“Secondly, such an agreement generates
political certainty, – which translates into
investment certainty. In the case of renewables,
businesses know that with a new government,
there won’t be any radical changes in terms of
policy – because it has been agreed by everyone.”
But it’s not just a government initiative:
communities have been central to the
Energiewende from the start.
Its origins can be traced back to the 1970s
when rural communities stood up and fought the
construction of nuclear power plants, against
big corporations and politicians who acted in an
authoritarian manner.
“Thus,” he says, “in Germany the fight for
renewables has always been a fight for a better
democracy.”
FEBRUARY 2017 | 49

DIARY
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT
The 2017 Worker Co-op Weekend takes
place in Derbyshire in May; Fairtrade
Fortnight begins on 27 February; Rob
Hopkins, co-founder of Transition Town
Totnes will be speaking at Future Co-ops
17 in May; and poet Lemn Sissay is a
keynote speaker at the Co-operative
Education Conference in April.
3-4 Feb: Future Co-ops 17 – Post Carbon
Co-ops
Post Carbon challenges – co-operative
solutions? Activists from a variety of coops
and other progressive organisations
look at how co-ops can help the
transition from fossil fuels. Speakers
include Rob Hopkins, co-founder of
Transition Town Totnes and the Transition
Network; and Dr Mark Simmonds – cofounder
of Co-op Culture.
WHERE: Jurys Inn Hotel, Cheltenham
INFO: futures.coop
4 Feb: The Phone Co-op AGM
Includes results of election of directors
and a presentation on the co-op’s new
brand.
WHERE: The Station, Silver Street, Bristol,
BS1 2AG.
INFO: s.coop/25o3v
16-17 Feb: Platform Cooperatives
Conference
A conference organised by the Open
Co-op, bringing the discussion about
platform co-ops to the UK. Speakers
include Brianna Wettlaufer (Stocksy
United, Emer Coleman (Disruption Ltd,
Coop Digital) and Trebor Scholz (who
coined the term ‘platform co-op’ in 2014)
WHERE: Goldsmiths, London
INFO: s.coop/open10
27 Feb - 12 Mar: Fairtrade Fortnight
3-5 Mar: Co-operative Retail Conference
With keynote presentations from industry
specialists, best practice from retailers
and sessions for delegates to discuss the
co-op retail environment.
WHERE: Stratford Manor, Warwick Road,
Stratford-upon-Avon CV37 0PY.
INFO: email leoni.merrifield@uk.coop
8 Mar: International Women’s Day
10-11 Mar: ABCUL AGM and Conference
A diverse conference programme
to provide a thought-provoking and
constructive few days for members.
WHERE: The Midland Hotel, Manchester
INFO: s.coop/abculagm2017
5-6 Apr: Co-operative Education
Conference
The Co-operative College’s annual
conference will focus on how cooperative
learning can challenge
inequalities and contribute to building
co-operative authenticity, sustainability
and resilience around the world. Keynote
speakers include Prof Keri Facer and
Lemn Sissay, MBE.
WHERE: Manchester Metropolitan
University
INFO: s.coop/24hqg
24-28 Apr: Responsible Business Week
The annual awareness week for
responsible business, run by Business in
the Community to inspire and challenge
more businesses to take action which
creates positive change in society.
LOOKING AHEAD
2 May: International Workers’ Day
5-7 May: Worker Co-op Weekend
20 May: Co-op Group AGM
5-17 Jun: ILO Labour Conference 2017
30 Jun - 1 Jul: Co-operative Congress
1 Jul: International Day of Co-operatives
4-5 Jul : Intl Fair Trade Towns Conference
50 | FEBRUARY 2016

Join us for our Education and
Research Conference
Learning for Co-operative
Transformations
5 and 6 April 2017
Geoffrey Manton Building,
Manchester Metropolitan University
Keynote speakers include:
Professor Keri Facer
Lemn Sissay, MBE
For more information and to book online
visit: co-op.ac.uk/coopedconf17
#coopedconf

It’s time to Put
fairtrade in your break
Photo: Scott Grummett Registered charity no. 1043886
Millions of farmers in developing countries
who grow our food aren’t paid enough to
feed their own families. They deserve to be
paid fairly for their hard work.
choose fairtrade
fairtrade
fortnight
27 FEBruary – 12 March