Through cooperatives and producer organizations, farmers can:

• Improve access to markets, finance, quality inputs, and technologies.
• Strengthen their bargaining power across value chains.
• Reduce production costs through shared services and resources.
• Adopt climate-smart and sustainable agricultural practices.
• Support entrepreneurship and expand opportunities for women and youth.
• Strengthen resilience to climate, economic, and social shocks.
• Improve access to social protection mechanisms.

• Regional stocktaking and situation analysis of cooperatives and collective action organizations in the NENA region.
• Strengthened partnerships between FAO and the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) and regional cooperative movements.
• Organization of the Strategic Dialogue on Cooperative Development in Casablanca, bringing together policymakers and cooperative leaders to develop a regional vision for cooperative development.
• Establishment of a regional platform for learning and dialogue among cooperative stakeholders.
• Engagement of young cooperators from the NENA region in global policy processes, including contributions to the Youth Declaration on Cooperatives in Agrifood Systems.
• Documentation of more than 70 stories from cooperators across the region in the publication Voices of the Cooperators, highlighting their experiences and innovations

FAO works with governments, cooperatives and development partners to strengthen cooperatives and other forms of collective action across the Near East and North Africa. By combining national and regional efforts, FAO helps cooperatives become stronger, more inclusive and better equipped to improve rural livelihoods and transform agrifood systems. FAO's support is structured around four complementary areas:

1. Capacity development, by strengthening cooperative leadership, governance and management capacities, supporting business development, and empowering women and youth to participate effectively in cooperative enterprises.
2. Knowledge generation and sharing, by promoting innovation, documenting and disseminating good practices, facilitating peer-to-peer learning, and fostering regional partnerships and cooperation.
3. Enabling environment, by strengthening cooperative legislation and policy frameworks, supporting institutions and partnerships that promote cooperative development, improving access to markets and value chains, and encouraging the sustainable management of natural resources.
4. Advocacy and awareness raising, by promoting the role of cooperatives and other forms of collective action in sustainable agrifood systems, elevating the voices of cooperative members and organizations, and fostering dialogue and engagement among policymakers and cooperative stakeholders. 

• Globally, more than 12 percent of the world’s population are members of one of the 3 million cooperatives operating worldwide.
• Cooperatives provide jobs or work opportunities to 280 million people, representing around 10 percent of the world’s employed population.
• In Jordan, the cooperative sector includes 1,476 cooperatives with around 130,000 members, including 25,000 women.
• Lebanon counts approximately 890 registered cooperatives, including 117 women’s food-processing cooperatives, one of the most active segments in the sector.
• Morocco has more than 65,000 cooperatives with nearly 789,000 members, including over 8,000 women-only cooperatives.
• In Saudi Arabia, the cooperative sector includes 198 cooperatives, mainly in agriculture, livestock, fisheries and environmental sectors.