News
Asovita: strength through unity
Agriculture in central Chuquisaca (Bolivia) is marked by an uneven orography which provides small plots of arable land that historically have been partitioned to even tinier patched through inheritances among siblings.
That is the reason why 217 small farmers of Chuquisaca joined their four small associations to commercialise together their small productions of amaranth, chili pepper and maize through a new association called ASOVITA, supporting the motto behind all cooperativism and associativism initiatives: strength through unity.
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How to stimulate bottom-up, member-based dialogues in Vietnam?
Last week, Agriterra worked with the Hue Cooperative Alliance (HCA) in Vietnam on a Guideline to stimulate member-based dialogues. Wendy Vorstenbosch, communication expert at NCR - the Dutch Cooperative Council - joined the Agriterra team that consisted of Nguyen Ba Cuong, Le Thi Thu Hien (business advisors) and Susanne Coolen (corporate communication). HCA forms a bridge between the Vietnamese government and the cooperatives in the Hue region and wants to change its focus from top down government-based to bottom-up member-based. This creates stronger cooperatives and more continuity. Improving the dialogue leads to more solidarity and member-backed decision making.
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Philippine-Dutch Agricultural Cooperative Learning Exchange
10 guests from the Philippines visited The Netherlands for a ‘Philippine-Dutch Agricultural Cooperative Learning Exchange’. They are representatives from 4 cooperative organisations we support in the Philippines: 2 in cassava, 1 in organic fertilizer and 1 in pineapple (juice and fiber).
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Support on social media
Last May till July Annelie Lekkerkerker stayed in Nepal for an internship for Agriterra. The aim of the internship was to develop the lobby and advocacy procedure at NACCFL (Nepal Agricultural Co-operation Central Federation Ltd.). NACCFL is the umbrella organisation of Small Farmer Agriculture Cooperative Limited (SFACL) and similar other agriculture cooperatives. She wrote a blog about her experiences.
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Studytour for Chinese delegation
Over the past half year, business advisor Aijun Yang in China worked on building up a relationship with the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation (CFPA), an influential Chinese NGO, focusing on poverty alleviation, raising funds from national and international companies and organisations. To date, CFPA has raised total funds and materials worth USD 5.7 billion, and delivered aid and assistance in 33 million individual cases. After a period of trial by error, they are now looking for a sustainable way to contribute to China’s Rural Vitalization strategy. The foundation wants to help 1,000 cooperatives with a total investment of € 640 million euro in the coming years, and is interested in Agriterra as a partner in cooperative capacity building.
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