Here - Bond

Feature | Enough Food for Everyone IFFeature | Funding the future08 0909Who’s signed up so far?Over 100 member organisations havesigned up to the campaign so farrepresenting a significant number ofUK NGOs working on global food andhunger issues as well as many faithcommunities and diaspora networks.The broad range of memberorganisations will help the campaignto reach people from all walks of lifeacross the UK.The IF campaign gives us the opportunity toshine a light on the injustice of an unfair foodsystem which leaves young people hungry andstunts their development. I’m confident thattogether we can make 2013 the year whenworld leaders commit to tackling hunger.Tom Burke, Director of Global Youth Work, Y Care International100 NGOs and faith groups launch the Enough Food for Everyone IF Campaign at SomersetHouse, calling for action on the root causes of hunger. Join at enoughfoodif.orgTim Whitby for Getty ImagesLaunch eventsOn 23 January, launch events tooktake place across the UK.■■In London, the IF campaign waslaunched in spectacular fashion inthe courtyard at Somerset House.At the heart of the launch event was aspecially commissioned 3Danimation projected onto the facadeof the building which told the story ofthe campaign.■■A parliamentary launch was held atSpeaker's House whereparliamentarians from all partieslearnt more about the IF campaign.For a full list of organisations:www.enoughfoodif.orgContact Cara Bevington formore details about joiningthe campaign:cbevington@bond.org.uk■■Events took place in Glasgow, Belfastand Cardiff, with regional medialaunches in lots of cities and townsacross the country between 23-26January reaching thousands ofpeople across the UK.Looking ahead, we will be making asmuch noise as possible ahead of keyadvocacy moments including theBudget on 20 March, the HungerSummit and the G8 Summit on 17-18June to help persuade world leaders toact now. There will be opportunitiesfor organisations and individuals aliketo be involved and support thecampaign throughout 2013.Visit www.enoughfoodif.orgfor more details.Why Bond is involvedTim Whitby for Getty ImagesGiven Bond’s unique position in thesector, the IF campaign offers anexcellent opportunity to strengthenUK NGOs collective campaigningand to build public support. Bond isrepresented on the decision-makingbodies for the campaign: the Boardand Organising Committee. Bondalso organises the Assemblymeetings which are open to allcampaign member organisations.Funding the futureHaving built a solid reputation as a pioneer ofFairtrade, The Co-operative is determined to keepon pushing boundaries. Now, it’s leading a newinnovative approach to funding co-operatives thatis part of a master plan to go ‘beyond Fairtrade’.Yawa Dotse a market stall holder in Togo who usedher Lendwithcare.org loan to expand her stall.At a time when the developmentcommunity is considering new financemodels to maximise impact, theco-operative movement is pioneeringits own innovative approach, leveragingthe strength and generosity of theco-operative family worldwide.The United Nations estimates thatthe livelihoods of around half of theworld's population are improved byco-operative enterprise. However, theprovision of finance is a key barrier forthe expansion of co-operatives inmany developing countries. Toovercome this, The Co-operative hashelped spearhead a new fund, theGlobal Development Co-operative(GDC), which aims to gatherinvestments from both theinternational co-operative movementand development bodies, and thenredistribute these funds as affordableloans to co-operatives seeking to growand expand in the developing world.Affordable loans tothe ‘missing middle’Emilie Bailey/CAREMicrofinance has expanded massivelyin recent years, and is helping millionsof individual borrowers with their microenterprises, and large internationalinstitutions continue to provide supportto big business, however loans toco-operatives in the developing worldare in short supply. Lenders are eithersimply not active in this market, do notsufficiently understand the cooperativemodel, or place conditions onloans that are difficult to meet includingthe provision of collateral or evidence ofa good credit history. Opening up thismarket and providing affordable loanscan help this ‘missing middle’ to, forexample, buy machinery to increaseproduction, fund product diversificationinitiatives and purchase transport toaccess previously untapped markets.As a not-for-profit initiative, theGDC aims to maximise the benefitdelivered by each loan granted.Alongside the provision of affordableloans, the fund hopes to be able toprovide a package of technicalassistance for its borrowers which willinclude governance support,accounting assistance, and legalassistance to help overcome anybarriers to trade or ‘bankability’ thatco-operatives face.Over time the GDC aims to unlockfunding of US$50m and has so farreceived financial support fromco-operatives across the UK, France,United States and Canada as well asfrom emerging economies includingIndia and China. Advanceddiscussions are also under way with anumber of intermediary financialinstitutions which are active indeveloping countries and who will playa crucial role in ensuring funds areutilised to achieve maximum impact.Agriculturalco-operatives helpto feed the worldThe GDC aims to start granting loansduring the first half of 2013 and its initialfocus will be on agricultural cooperativesin Africa. These groupsrepresent not only some of the world’spoorest people, but can also play acrucial role in feeding the world’sgrowing population fairly andsustainably. Indeed, the United NationsFood and Agricultural Organisation hasnoted that one of the necessary steps toachieving food security is to supportand invest in co-operatives andproducer organisations because of therole they play in helping smallholderfarmers to increase food production,market their goods, create jobs, andimprove their own livelihoods 1 .This focus on agriculturaldevelopment fits very much withThe Co-operative’s own priorities ontackling global poverty. For example,in 2012, 75,000 of its members joinedits campaign with Oxfam calling ongovernments to unlock greater supportfor smallholder farmers andco-operatives. It has also been alongstanding pioneer of Fairtrade andcontinues to sell more Fairtrade for thesize of its business than competitors.Taking this a step further, it recently setits most ambitious target yet – that if itcan be Fairtrade it will be, and aims to be90 per cent of the way there by the endof 2013.Beyond FairtradeBuilding on this leading approach toFairtrade, The Co-operative is nowinvesting in a programme of projectsand initiatives that go ‘beyond Fairtrade’,which, to date, has seen it extendadditional support to 16 Fairtradeco-operatives and producerassociations. Over 100,000 people,including smallholder farmers, workersand their wider communities, arebenefiting in a variety of ways, be itthrough strengthening democracy,boosting productivity, diversifying intoother products, having a stronger voicein trading negotiations or improvingcommunity-wide access to basicnecessities like clean water andsanitation. Going forward, TheCo-operative is aiming to go full circleand see Fairtrade co-operatives in itssupply chain among the recipients ofGDC loans.Hannah Newcomb,International Development Manager,The Co-operativeReferences1FAO (2009) How to Feed the Worldin 2050.The Global DevelopmentCo-operative is welcoming partieswho wish to be involved insupporting its delivery to get intouch. For more informationcontact Stuart Coe, GDC FundManager: stuart.coe@cfs.coopthe networker 103 | January – March 2013bond.org.ukbond.org.ukthe networker 103 | January – March 2013