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SPONSORED FEATUREORGANIC REVOLUTIONThe Paraguayan experience:innovative linkages for developmentWith support from the Dutch Interchurch Organisation forDevelopment Cooperation (ICCO Cooperation) the AsociaciónParaguay Orgánico was created as an innovative businessmodel. The association is made up of 22 organic producers’ organisationsfrom three different sectors: men and women from the family farming sectorgrouped in cooperatives and associations; private companies; and technicalassistance providers (NGOs). This alliance has been working actively since2010, positioning itself as a promoter of organic production as well as afacilitator, building links to access the market using the value chain approach.The alliance members focus on the promotion and sale of 10 products:cotton, sesame, stevia, sugarcane, sunflower, citrus fruits, passion fruit, chia,citrus fruit peels and medicinal herbs.Paraguay Orgánico is present in 10 of the 17 departments of thecountry, benefiting approximately 2,000 families that farm on 2,500hectares of organically certified land. It provides technical assistance inproduction and marketing; it encourages the opening of new markets; itpromotes participatory research and the exchange of experiences amongdifferent sectors of the chain; it raises financial support and it covers unionadvocacy actions in the political-strategic sphere, in partnership with otherorganisations working for the national organic movement. Thanks to thisinitiative, progress has been made in empowerment and ownership of amanagement model, with links among organisations in the production chain.One of the main successes of Paraguay Orgánico has been the accessto markets in a country where conventional production is expanding,generating the false belief that small-scale organic production is notprofitable and that its markets are not growing in the same or greaterproportion. Other accomplishments are the articulation between public andprivate stakeholders and the coordinated efforts for further development ofthe sector, achieving enactment of a National Decree on Plant Traceabilityas well as establishment of an Organic Agriculture Directorate within theMinistry of Agriculture.ICCO also contributed €290,000 to a Technical Assistance Fund,which was used to support the production and marketing of 18 projects ofup to $20,000 each, with a counterpart contribution of 25% coming fromindependent and organised producers. The fund was implemented over twoyears and benefits 1,461 families, achieving a value of more than $3 million insales of organic export items.Photo: Granular PY“I was about to abandon farming because I had many problems, such as pestattacks, low yields, uncertainty in commercialisation – this affected us verymuch as a farming family. When our organisation was about to fall apart, theproject arrived and gave us a more positive outlook, making it possible for usto work together once more.“In my case, my farm and my family have joined a very strict productionsystem, with innovative technical assistance, thanks to which we have beenable to strengthen our farm work with organic sesame and chia production.We have learned best practices and how to manage a written control system,breaking with the oral farm planning tradition, which is deeply rooted in ourculture. Nonetheless, the challenge now is to extend this organic productionsystem to the entire farm and for more families to join and thus producegreater volumes.”Esteban Mena - farmer of Correa Ruguá,neighbourhood of María Auxiliadora, district of San PedroICCO Cooperation heading towards the 50-year global commitmentICCO Cooperation is a non-governmental organisation for international cooperation. ICCO wasestablished on 30 December 1964 and became a cooperative in 2012. In 2015, ICCO will celebrateits 50th anniversary; special attention will be paid to the dialogue on human rights and developmentwith businesses. ICCO’s core business is worldwide financial support, lobby and brokerage servicesto local non-governmental organisations, the private sector, churches, and other networks that workon securing sustainable livelihoods and justice and dignity for poor and marginalised people. Moreconcretely, ICCO implements partnership programmes on fair economic development, democracy andpeace, and food and nutrition security.The organisation is based in The Netherlands (Utrecht) with seven regional offices in Southern Africa,West Africa, Central and Eastern Africa, Central and South Asia, South East Asia, Central America andSouth America. ICCO is a member of the ACT Alliance.More information:www.paraguayorganico.org.pywww.iccosudamerica.orgwww.icco-international.com/int/