Evidence is growing that farm and forest producer organizations are at the heart of sustainable rural development, because it is only through organized groups that locally-controlled forestry can be scaled up to meet growing global demand for forest products, including environmental services and non-timber items. Forest and farm producer organizations can have a unique role in delivering the SDGs worldwide: although they are ‘merely’ local organizations they are capable of contributing to universal goals. Many SDG targets have direct or indirect links to forests and landscapes (particularly under...

The 2014 Annual Report on FAO's projects and activities in support of cooperatives and producer organizations (POs) provides evidence of how cooperatives and POs can be strategic partners for FAO and important agents of change, as clearly stressed in the FAO Strategic Framework 2010-2019. It is a yearly publication, now on its seventh edition. In the first place the 2014 Annual Report highlights key achievements obtained by FAO in 2014 in maintaining cooperatives and POs high on the global development agenda. Main attention is paid to acknowledgments achieved...

This module concerns the organizational dimension of capacity development, and hence how to strengthen the capacities of organizations. Topics include assessment of organizational capacity, change management and tracking organizational change. Tools are provided.dfdf  

More than a billion of the world’s poorest people rely on forests and trees on farms to provide food, energy and cash income. By forming producer groups and cooperatives, forest farmers can take collective action and enjoy economies of scale.

Agricultural cooperatives (AC) have proved to be an effective mechanism for engaging young people in agriculture while increasing youth employment opportunities through on-farm and off-/non-farm activities. As highlighted by the 2011 International Day of Cooperatives with its theme of “Youth, future of cooperative enterprise”, equitable and efficient ACs can play an important role in helping young farmers overcome specific challenges to engage in agriculture.