SEPTEMBER 2018
The September edition of Co-op News looks at how co-ops cab maintain co-operative values and principles while operating in competitive markets and how this can be a challenge for large co-ops. We examine current research into what influences a co-op’s take on the traditional values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity.
The September edition of Co-op News looks at how co-ops cab maintain co-operative values and principles while operating in competitive markets and how this can be a challenge for large co-ops. We examine current research into what influences a co-op’s take on the traditional values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity.
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ARGENTINA<br />
Agro-industrial<br />
co-ops head for Buenos<br />
Aires for world summit<br />
Co-ops from around the world are meeting<br />
together on 11 September at the first<br />
international agro-industrial co-operative<br />
conference in Argentina.<br />
Organised by the Confederación<br />
Intercooperativa Agropecuaria Limitada<br />
(Coninagro), the conference will be held<br />
at the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange –<br />
and co-operatives from Brazil, Uruguay,<br />
Chile, Spain, Italy and the Czech<br />
Republic will take part. Among those<br />
to confirm attendance is Mondragón,<br />
the Spanish federation of worker co-ops<br />
based in the Basque Country.<br />
A Coninagro spokesperson said: “It will<br />
be an opportunity to explore the synergies<br />
between the members of the international<br />
agro-industrial co-operative movement.<br />
And we will gather key players from the<br />
co-op movement here in Argentina, who<br />
embody co-operative values and recognise<br />
the potential for further development.”<br />
p Argentina has a diverse, export-oriented agro-industrial sector<br />
The conference, which will look<br />
at where the agro-industrial co-op<br />
movement stands in the world economy,<br />
and where it is heading, opens with a<br />
political session with governors of leading<br />
Argentine agro-industrial provinces.<br />
Later, representatives from public sector<br />
co-ops will explore opportunities for<br />
Argentine and international co-operation.<br />
Organisers said: “We want the<br />
conference to highlight co-operative<br />
enterprise success stories. It’s an<br />
opportunity to showcase examples of<br />
how the social economy has succeeded<br />
in Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, Spain, Italy and<br />
other countries.”<br />
Delegates will be presented with case<br />
studies, including Vlastníku Puklice in<br />
the Czech Republic. Created in 1952<br />
during the forced collectivisation of the<br />
communist era, the co-op comprises 42<br />
small and medium-sized producers, with<br />
90% of its economic activity coming from<br />
pork and biogas production.<br />
“This measure hits Andalusia in<br />
particular, which is heavily penalised by<br />
the economic crisis.”<br />
She added: “The increase of the Spanish<br />
sector’s competitiveness results from the<br />
efforts made by manufacturers to reduce<br />
costs by means of investments in<br />
cutting-edge technology and not as a<br />
consequence of the European subsidies.<br />
“It is deeply worrying that the USA is not<br />
respecting WTO rules. There is a strong<br />
fear that the next custom duties of the<br />
Trump government may apply to any<br />
European sector: French cheeses, Italian<br />
wines or German sausages could be<br />
targeted next. We have to give a strong<br />
response to America’s action and not just<br />
turn the other cheek.”<br />
<strong>SEPTEMBER</strong> <strong>2018</strong> | 19
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