Private Sector Brown Bag Lunches Series: International Year of Cooperatives 2025 – A Crucial Sector for Transformation of Food Systems

On April 15, 2025, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) held the second session of its Private Sector Brown Bag Lunches, an initiative aimed at highlighting impactful collaborations with private sector partners. This session celebrated FAO’s long-standing partnership with the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) in Latin America and the Caribbean – an alliance that exemplifies the power of cooperation to transform food systems. The event was especially timely, aligning with the global momentum of the International Year of Cooperatives 2025. 

Opening the session, Ms. Annamaria Pastore, Team Coordinator of FAO’s Private Sector Unit, welcomed participants with a reminder that cooperatives are not just FAO stakeholders – they are deeply rooted allies in its mission to build inclusive and resilient rural communities. This spirit was echoed throughout the event by a distinguished panel of speakers including Mr. Ariel Guarco (ICA President), Mr. Jeroen Douglas (ICA Director General), Mr. Danilo Salerno (ICA Regional Director), Ms. Graciela Fernández (National Institute of Cooperativism of Uruguay), Ms. Maya Takagi (FAO Regional Programme Leader), Mr. Guilherme Brady (Family Farming Engagement and Parliamentary Networks Unit), and Mr. Adriano Campolina (FAO’s Rural Transformation and Gender Equality Division). 

Speakers emphasized that cooperatives are more than organizational structures; they are social equalizers and agents of change. As Ms. Takagi noted, cooperatives in Latin America and the Caribbean “show a strong commitment to sustainable agri-food systems,” enabling smallholder farmers to access markets, financing, and technology. By reducing power asymmetries, building social capital, and promoting inclusive participation, cooperatives help make communities more resilient to economic and environmental shocks. 

The International Year of Cooperatives is a “a gift’’ said Mr. Douglas, an opportunity to reassert the value of the cooperative model. He introduced the Cooperatives and Mutuals Leadeship Circle (CM50), a leadership initiative bringing together the world's most influential cooperative and mutual organizations to influence global policy and expand cooperative impact. 

Showcasing Uruguay's model where nearly half of cooperative members are women, Ms. Fernández emphasized the importance of digital transformation, youth engagement, and adapting economic processes for better access to financing. Uruguay, she noted, has made cooperativism a state policy, supported through a comprehensive national committee and legislative backing. 

FAO’s Adriano Campolina addressed a dual imperative: to strengthen cooperatives as drivers of equality, while also improving inclusivity within cooperative institutions themselves. He presented FAO’s four-pillar approach: capacity development, knowledge generation, enabling policy environments, and advocacy – anchored by a renewed MoU with ICA and strategic legal tools like the Model Law on Agri-food Cooperatives. 

Panellists also reflected on cooperatives’ practical role in food procurement. With ICA representing 313 cooperative organizations in 109 countries and giving voice to 1.2 billion members worldwide, Mr.Brady emphasized, cooperatives can bridge the gap between governments and small-scale producers, ensuring public food programs reach vulnerable communities, an essential pillar of the UN Decade of Family Farming. 

The session wrapped with concrete examples of cooperative success stories: Bolivian cooperatives introducing a new product line in major supermarkets, Latin American cocoa cooperatives collaborating with retailers, and women-led cooperatives in Asia and Africa securing procurement contracts. These stories illustrate how public-private collaboration with cooperatives delivers real, market-based solutions. 

The FAO-ICA partnership, built over 25 years, is steadfast in its alignment with the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. The year 2025 is not just symbolic; it is a catalyst for scaling up. FAO announced plans for regional events and a renewed push to elevate cooperatives within global forums like the World Food Forum and the UN Social Summit. 

As the world marks the International Year of Cooperatives, this event made it clear: cooperatives are not just part of the solution – they are a blueprint for transformation. With people at the centre and solidarity as the method, the FAO-ICA alliance is charting a path toward food systems that are more just, inclusive, and sustainable for all.