<strong>WFO</strong> F@rmletterFARMELLANEOUSThanks to Expo <strong>2015</strong>, Feeding the planet, energy for life,themes such as food and water returned to be importantalso in politics, beyond expectations and women and men’scommon values from every part of the world.In looking ahead to the future, the global world returnsto investigate the complex system Nutrition-Agriculture-Environment, recognizing food, health and wellness as rights.The Cia (Italian Farmers’ Confederation), has contributed tothe Milan Charter by organizing a series of in-depth analysisnamed “The Territory as Destiny”.In the world it is necessary to review and to make innovationsin producing and distributing goods, exploring new paths,visions and relations between the productive sectors andbetween the city and the countryside.FEEDINGTHE PLANETWITH MOREAGRICULTURESecondo ScanavinoITALIAN FARMERS’ CONFEDERATION (CIA) PRESIDENTThe connection with the territory means combiningproductivity and competitiveness with sustainability; foodquality with the fulfillment of services, that values the naturalresources, the biodiversity, the landscape, the culture andthe knowledge of the communities.We have to direct to those productive models the policiesand also the scenarios of the scientific and technologicalresearch.The agriculture and the forestry are at the root ofmultifunctional industries that add essential services tothe primary food production for the mitigation of climatechanges, but also the production of renewable energies andof various raw materials, from the wood to textile fibers, asfar as exploring the new green chemical industries and greeneconomy.The agriculture and the forestry are central for a neweconomic circular vision that hinders at all levels thewastefulness, from food and water resources to rich soil,which is attacked by overbuilding or all too often abandonedto ruin.The Expo after decades appears to draw attention tothe agriculture and the food farming, but together withthe agriculture it is necessary to recognize the role andthe essential function of farmers, of those who practiceagriculture everyday in every part of the world.12
<strong>WFO</strong> F@rmletterFARMELLANEOUSEXPO <strong>2015</strong>AND THECOOPERATIVEMODELAldo MattiaACTING PRESIDENT UE.COOPThe cooperation is a business model, characterized by itspeculiarities and it is globally spread. In fact, FAO’s data estimatethat the cooperation around the world ensured more than 100million jobs (20% more than multinational companies) and thatabout a billion people have chosen the cooperation as corporatemodel to conduct its business in a collective manner whilesafeguarding its independence.That is why the cooperation assumes a leading role in agricultureand food industries, where about 32% of global markets inthe sector are managed in a cooperative way. The value of thisbusiness model is not limited in these data due to the fact thateven if they are respectable, according to us, they do not havethe true essence of the business cooperative model. It means tounderstand a model, strongly inspired by democratic values, thathas at its centre the person and its contribution, rather than thereturn on capital. Besides, the cooperative model does not presententry barriers and it is also accessible to young people thanks toa minimum capital contribution, which, in particular, has proved tobe able to come into line with cultural and social variable changes.The importance that this cooperative phenomenon has takenover the years is also confirmed by the attention that the highestinternational representatives have recognized. In fact, 2012 wasdeclared by the UN as the International Year of Cooperativesand the Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, has highlighted thestrong and inherent ability to contribute to the social inclusion,eradication of poverty and to enhancement of human dignity,leading characteristics to the achievement of the MillenniumGoals (post-<strong>2015</strong>).The European Union of cooperatives (UE.COOP) since itsestablishment has divided its activities based on a cooperativebusiness model and a growth model firmly based on principles ofsustainability, solidarity, subsidiarity and territoriality. Althoughmuch has been done and the mechanism is already operating,there are still many things to do. The cooperation needs policiesto promote the aggregate character, firstly including the need toarrange measures to achieve stable business collaboration for therealization of shared programmes both national and international,as well as credit instrument ad hoc, able to outdo the disadvantagethat the model suffers due to the fact of its endemic feature of lowcapitalization.Equal importance should be paid to the promotion of an efficientsystem, able to ensure the internationalization of cooperativesthat are already an aggregation tool of small and medium sizerealities, which alone would not be able to find a position intoforeign markets.It is the global dimension of views and objectives that allows tracinga parallelism between EXPO and the cooperative model: the firstone aims at connecting millions of people by raising their intereston universal topics, while the second one, because of the globalcharacter of the problems, wants to satisfy the collective needs.These needs are not only for the mere achievement of economicbenefits but are aimed to the promotion and the collectivemanagement of resources in order to promote the social welfare.In this situation, both EXPO – as a momentum of collectivediscussion – and cooperative movement, as a aggregate drivingforce of human energies and processor of production methods,are under the gaze of the global public opinion.We hope that both will be consistently able to reach theirobjectives.13
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