The Federation of Development Co-operatives (FECODESA), founded in 2007, is a third-degree co-operative organization, made up of 15 unions and central co-operatives and a specialised development organization known as Centro Para la Promoción, la Investigación y Desarrollo Rural Social (CIPRES). FECODESA represents 144 grassroots cooperatives and 5,802 members (2,911 women and 2,891 men). The objectives of the federation are to strengthen organizational capacities and entrepreneurship; to provide training and technical assistance for the production, marketing to its members; and to engage in political advocacy work. In this process, FECODESA has implemented different actions and strategies, such as the ‘Collaborative Participatory Plant Breeding Program’, which was initiated by CIPRES in 2000 and continued by the federation from 2014 onwards; this program has allowed, inter alia, to strengthen capacities and build alliances for the implementation of a strategy for conservation, development and use of local agrobiodiversity. Activities included participatory collection and conservation of local varieties; the development of new varieties of crops using participatory methods; local seed production; as well as local and national advocacy work to promote strategies and policies that are favourable to small and medium farmers in the country.