FCM International
Partnership
Beaumont – Koh Thom
COOPERATIVES
A COOPERATIVE
IS A FOR-PROFIT CORPORATION
It has:
a corporate board of directors,
a profit motivation,
a service orientation,
A cooperative is a user-owned and usercontrolled corporate business in which benefits are
received in proportion to use.
User-Owner Principle:
• The people who own and finance the cooperative are
those who use it.
• The people who use the cooperative are those who
control the cooperative.
• The cooperative’s sole purpose is to provide and
distribute benefits to members on the basis of their
use.
• It is a fair
together
way for producers to go into business
• It is a locally
corporation
owned and controlled
• Its business
members
purpose depends on its
History of Cooperatives
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The first modern cooperative was founded in Rochdale, England in 1844.
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Canada's first co-operative businesses were mutual insurance companies, which were
established by farmers in what is now Quebec and Ontario as early as the 1830s.
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Between 1860 and 1900, dairy farmers in Quebec, Ontario and Atlantic Canada developed
over 1,200 co-operative creameries and cheese factories to process their products.
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In the early 1900s, prairie grain farmers created co-operatives to sell their grain directly to
millers and exporters. Other farm groups, such as fruit growers and livestock producers, also
organized co-operatives in the years before the First World War.
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In the early 20th century, people worked together to create retail cooperatives in many
towns in the four western Canadian provinces (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British
Columbia).
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In the 1930s, the movement continued to expand to include the creation of credit unions,
fishing and housing co-operatives, and co-operative stores
Cooperatives in the Global Economy
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Worldwide more than 1 billion people are members of cooperatives.
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Cooperatives provide 100 million jobs worldwide, 20% more than multinational
enterprises.
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In India and China combined, more than 400 million people are part of cooperatives.
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In Germany and the United States, one in four people are cooperative members while
in Canada that number is four in 10!
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Canadian maple sugar cooperatives produce 35% of the world's maple sugar
production.
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In Vietnam, cooperatives contribute 8.6% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
7 Cooperative Principles
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Voluntary and Open Membership
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Democratic Member Control
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Members' Economic Participation
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Autonomy and Independence
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Education, Training and Information
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Cooperation among Cooperatives
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Concern for Community
Cooperative Information
• Foundation of Cooperatives
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Voluntary / open to everyone
Democratic power to the members
Economic participation of members
Autonomy and independence
Education, training and information
Cooperation between cooperatives
Community engagement
Cooperative Examples
• Cooperatives– examples
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Agriculture
Arts and culture
Retail
Environment
Finance
Leisure and tourism
Child care
Research
Cooperative Information
• Cooperative Model in Canada
– Exist in different sectors
• Financial
• Construction
• Electricity
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Owned by it’s Members
Members have common needs
Democratic: 1 Member / 1 vote
Members share advantages
Cooperative Information
• Importance of cooperatives in Canada
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10 000 cooperative businesses
160 000 jobs
167 Billion in assets
15 Million members
Types of Cooperatives
• Producer-owned cooperatives
are owned by farmers, producers or small businesses.
• Consumer-owned cooperatives
enable consumers to secure a wide array of goods and services.
• Worker-owned cooperatives
are businesses owned and controlled by their employees.
What Cooperatives Do
• Production – produce commodities
• Purchasing – buy and sell inputs
• Marketing – buy and sell commodities
• Service - Banking
What Cooperatives Do
• Production – produce commodities
• Purchasing – buy and sell inputs
• Marketing – buy and sell commodities
• Service - Banking
Production Cooperatives
Production cooperatives are sharing resources to produce a
commodity for sale.
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feeding cattle
grazing
agricultural machinery,
animal reproduction,
forestry
handicraft
There are 603 production cooperatives in Canada
What Cooperatives Do
• Production – produce commodities
• Purchasing – buy and sell inputs
• Marketing – buy and sell commodities
• Service - Banking
Purchasing Cooperatives
• Purchase supplies
–operate farm supply store (retail)
South Country Co-op
UFA
–joint purchasing programs
(wholesale)
Federated Co-operative
Purchasing Cooperatives
• Allow those buying the goods to receive benefit from
sales as profits are shared with all the members.
• The more you support and buy goods from the
cooperative, the more return you receive.
• Retail co-ops can sell many different things and are
particularly strong in the farm input sales giving
producers better prices and more access.
Cooperatives - Retail
Sell many different things
Food
Tires
lumber
hardware and tools
petroleum
agricultural inputs
Agricultural Co-ops
• farm inputs including fertilizers and chemicals, animal feed,
seed, building materials and petroleum products.
• The 216 supply co-operatives have nearly $5 billion of all farm
supply market share.
What Cooperatives Do
• Production – produce commodities
• Purchasing – buy and sell inputs
• Marketing – buy and sell commodities
• Service - Banking
Marketing Cooperatives
• Market products
–acquire and sell commodities
Gay Lea Foods in dairy
Exceldor in poultry slaughtering and
processing
Grain marketing
–bargain for price, terms of sale
–151 marketing cooperatives in Canada
Agricultural Marketing Cooperatives
• processing and marketing
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grains and oilseed,
dairy products,
poultry,
fruits,
vegetables,
livestock,
honey
maple products.
What Cooperatives Do
• Production – produce commodities
• Purchasing – buy and sell inputs
• Marketing – buy and sell commodities
• Service - Banking
Service Cooperatives
• Largest number of cooperatives are in this area
• Provide needed member services
Banking – Credit Unions
Water supply
Insurance
Housing
Day cares and nurseries
Health care
Funeral services
Management of facilities
Key Organizations
• International Cooperative Alliance (ICA)
The International Cooperative Alliance is an independent,
non-governmental organisation which unites, represents
and serves cooperatives around the world.
http://www.ica.coop/al-ica/
• World Council of Credit Unions
WOCCU is the global trade association and development
agency for credit unions. http://www.woccu.org/
Cooperative Information
• Advantages of Cooperatives
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Economic and social growth in communities
Creates more employment opportunities
Possibility to change something that’s not working
Better access to products and services
Strong customer loyalty
Access to new markets
Bring solutions to problems
Cooperative Information
• Process of Cooperatives
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Mobilize people around one project / need
Share information and promote the movement
Support to start of new cooperatives
Work with the community
Steps to Organize
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Determine what groups would benefit the most from
a co-op in your area.
Hold exploratory meeting with potential members
Analyze the market
Evaluate the feasibility – discussion with other
organizations who have experience in such
organizations.
Prepare a business plan
Implement the business plan
Thank You / aw kohn
Questions / Comments