(4 July 2008) "Confronting Climate Change through Cooperative Enterprise" is this year's International Cooperative Day slogan, acknowledging cooperatives' contribution to reducing some of the causes of climate change and building creative alternatives to address their negative impact. Cooperatives can help farmers deal with the increasing challenges of production and provide more stability to their activity, at the same time respecting environmental resources.
Ecoorgânica, Cooperativa dos Produtores Familiares Orgânicos, (Ecoorganic, Cooperative of Family Organic Producers), located in the semi-arid zone of Vitoria de Santo Antao, state of Pernambuco, Brazil, is an association of producers that assumes a positive attitude towards climate conditions, as well as the challenges arising from the opening of the agricultural and livestock sector. It does so through certified organic production, serving new and profitable market niches.
This cooperative contributes to the inclusion of family producers in the formal market through the rational use of the environment and improving their quality of life and income levels. Its achievements led the cooperative to win fourth place in the 2005 "Experiences in Social Innovation" contest organized by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), with the support of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
Ecoorgânica began in the 1980's as an initiative of agricultural technicians who were training small producers in the areas of alternative agriculture, horticulture, medicinal plants, nutrition, fish and rabbit breeding y apiculture.
In 1989, the Alternative Technology Service (SERTA) was created to promote sustainable family organic agriculture more systematically, through training not only for producers, but also for other family members, particularly youths. Ecoorgânica was institutionalized in 2003, with the decisive support of the National Bank of Economic and Social Development (BNDES, acronym in Spanish).
The cooperative focuses on member training, technical assistance, promoting participatory organization, and consultancy in production and final commercialization. Today, it groups producers from seven cities in the Mata area, and commercializes 120 certified organic products, under the brands names Horta&Vida and Ecoorgânica.
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