By focusing on solidarity, democracy and the pooling of resources, agricultural cooperatives are at the core, along with trade unionism, of an agricultural model that stands out across the continent. Agropur, Exceldor, Sollio and others are impressive economic successes, playing a key role in preserving owner-operator farming. In a globalized agri-food economy, cooperatives are vital to promoting the interests of production chains and all their links, from processing to distribution.
The general challenges of agriculture are by necessity also those of cooperation. But cooperation has its own challenges. The pursuit of the mission, the attachment of members to their cooperative, and their commitment to and their participation in developing strategies to deal with hypercompetitive markets are not the least of those challenges. By their history and size, agricultural cooperatives have taken on a particular responsibility for the health of communities. The choice of concentration and integration in continental sectors can have a destructuring impact on villages. This poses major solidarity challenges that cooperatives have managed to overcome by being able to renew themselves over time.
What is true for “established” agriculture also applies to emerging areas. Solidarity cooperatives, machinery cooperatives, new producers, marketing cooperatives, etc., which forge links between producers and consumers, are useful in supporting pioneers and innovators. Pooling makes it possible to strengthen sectors, to densify the economic fabric of villages and even of neighbourhoods where initiatives emerge from urban agriculture. Cooperatives form an essential ecosystem in ensuring Quebec’s food security and sovereignty.
Wherever it is practised, cooperation helps keep wealth in the circuits that lend bring vitality to the environment. It offers the means and flexibility needed to meet the greatest challenge of our time, which is the economy’s ecological transition, an issue in which cooperatives specialize.