MAY 2018

GLOBAL
Keynote speakers
announced for ICA
research conference
This year’s ICA global research conference
will look at the role of co-operatives in a
rapidly changing world.
The conference, held from 4-6 July at
Wageningen University in the Netherlands,
will look at internal governance, the rise
of producer organisations, resilience,
sustainability, education and big data.
Keynote speakers include Wiebe Draijer,
chair of Rabobank, who will look at the
history of European financial co-ops, to
mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of
Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen, the founder
of co-op banking.
Simel Esim, head of the Cooperatives
Unit at the International Labour
Organization, will focus the future
of work. She will reflect on changing
technology and the impact of climate
change on demographics, and the co-op
and solidarity economy response.
And Prof Murray Fulton, from the
University of Saskatchewan, will look at
new trends in co-op research, followed by
a panel discussion.
AUSTRALIA
Murray Goulburn
shareholders approve
sale to Saputo
Shareholders at Australian dairy co-op
Murray Goulburn have approved
the sale of its operating assets
and liabilities to Canadian dairy
giant Saputo for A$1.31bn.
The resolution was approved by nearly
98% of the vote at an extraordinary
general meeting in Melbourne, which
also approved an initial distribution of 80
cents a share or unit within 10 business
days of completion.
The sale, expected to be finalised on
1 May, has also been given the green light
by Australia’s competition regulator, but
has still to be approved by the Foreign
Investment and Review Board.
Murray Goulburn will keep about $235m
from the sale, with $195m set aside for any
legal action it still faces.
Coop Switzerland launches locally sourced ‘Hay Milk’
Swiss retailer Coop has launched
‘Heumilch’ (‘Hay Milk’), a new line of
milk, cream, cheese and butter products
that uses milk sourced from cows
fed exclusively on Swiss hay. “Cows
producing hay milk must spend at least 26
days a month on pasture in summer and
have access to outdoor areas all year,”
says the co-op.
Co-ops in Mauritius urged to adopt better governance
Co-operatives must embrace new
principles of good governance to avoid
financial scandals and malpractices,
the Mauritian minister of business,
enterprise and co-operatives has said. Mr
D. Kona Yerukunondu, chair of MCAL, the
apex body for co-ops in Mauritius, said
the organisation should be considered
the mouthpiece of the national
co-op movement.
Solar co-op transforms the economy of a farming community
A village in India has seen its fortunes
change after setting up a solar co-op
to power their irrigations systems. The
Dhundi Saur Urja Utpadak Sahakari
Mandali co-op (DSUUSM) was set up two
years ago and sees nine farmers irrigate
their fields using solar pumps; they also
sell surplus power to the Madhya Gujarat
Vij electricity company.
World Council offers courses via eLeadership AcademyTM
The World Council of Credit Unions
(WOCCU) is launching a series of online
learning programmes for members as well
as the global credit union community.
The organisation, which represents
credit unions from across the world,
is collaborating on the project with
eLeadership AcademyTM,
New co-op to help Canada’s indigenous fish harvesters
A co-operative is being formed in
Manitoba, Canada, by a group of
100 fish harvesters to market their
product. The group has set up a steering
committee to form the co-op, which will
support an industry mostly made up of
indigenous and Métis people, and has
sought legal advice on the model.
MAY 2018 | 21