São Paulo – In the city of Cafelândia, in the interior of Paraná, the same engine is responsible for moving 70% to 80% of the local economy. It is not a great multinational that is installed there, but Consolata Agroindustrial Cooperative , Copacol. "Copacol is responsible for approximately 70% of the jobs in the community,” said Antoninho Skura, Management and Planning secretary at the City Hall. “If it were not for the cooperative, Cafelândia would still be a district of Cascavel,” said Skura.
Cafelândia produces and sells chicken, maize, soy, wheat and, as is the case in several other cities in Brazil, it is the cooperative system that boosts income and local development. In Cafelândia, the growth of the cooperative means autonomy from Cascavel, the city of which it was a district until 1982. With over 4,700 associates, Copacol revenues reached R$ 1.27 billion (US$ 719 million) in 2011, with R$ 15 million (US$ 8.5 million) distributed among the associates. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Cafelândia – R$ 822 million (US$ 466 million) – is smaller than the cooperative’s revenues, as it has units in other cities too.
Conscious of the benefit of these structures to the quality of life of populations, the United Nations (UN) has decreed that 2012 is the International Year of Cooperatives. The fact is gaining special weight in Brazil due to the strength agricultural cooperatives have in small cities and among their populations, who use them to sell their soy, maize, pork or chicken and who trust them.
The force of agricultural cooperatives is specifically the joint trade of products, in greater volume, with structured distribution channels. In the cooperative system, revenues are reinvested in the enterprise and a share goes to the associates. Currently, there are 1,548 agricultural cooperatives in Brazil. Among those depending on them as associates are 943,054 farmers.
Paraná is the Brazilian state in which agricultural cooperatives are strongest, with a total of 240 cooperatives, 82 of which in the agricultural sector. "The agro-industrial model in Paraná is based on cooperatives. They are responsible for 55% of production and 60% of infrastructure available in the state,” said José Roberto Ricken, superintendent of the Union and Organization of Cooperatives of the State of Paraná (Ocepar). The gross value of agricultural production in Paraná is R$ 44.1 billion (US$ 25 billion).
The Rural Economics professor at the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), Eugênio Stefanello, stresses the services cooperatives offer their associates. “To associated small- and medium-scale farmers, cooperatives are a fundamental mechanism for purchase of better quality inputs and higher sales price, as they gain in bargaining power. They also have access to services, like storage, cleaning and transportation,” he pointed out.
Over the last 30 years, cooperatives have also been trying to generate greater income for farmers. They industrialize agricultural products and place them on the market for a greater price. "They add value to our soy, coffee milk, sugar and alcohol, fruit and cotton. Sector income is much greater and increases the investment potential in production and also in technology, which individual producers could not do,” said professor Stefanello.
Agricultural cooperatives also offer specialized professional assistance to help farmers in their work. "Every cooperative has a technical team which includes agronomists, agricultural technicians and vets who provide assistance to farmers. Furthermore, these professionals also operate as a link to transfer technology generated at research institutes for application in the country,” said Renato Nobile, superintendent of the Organization of Brazilian Cooperatives (OCB).
Giant
In 2010, the cooperative sector in Brazil had revenues of 97 billion. According to figures disclosed by the OCB, sector revenues represent around 6% of the national GDP. Exports of cooperatives also appear in the country’s trade balance, answering to 2.4% of foreign sales. Figures disclosed by the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade show that cooperatives had revenues of US$ 6.1 billion with foreign trade last year, with growth of 39.8% over 2010.
According to specialists, however, the figure does not reflect the sector’s reality. "Cooperatives started exporting in the 90s and with greater strength from the 2000s on. Before that, the focus was on the domestic market. A good share of the products of cooperatives was exported through trading companies, not directly. When that takes place, the products are not recorded as being cooperative products,” said Stefanello.
However, this scenery seems to have changed. “Companies from China and the Middle East are buying directly, without going through trading companies. This is very evident in the trade missions that have been taking place,” said the professor. Foreign sales of cooperatives are mainly in the sugar and alcohol sector, soy complex, coffee and chicken.
According to OCB, Brazil has 133 export cooperatives. "Many have brands and the cooperative brand is very strong,” said Marco Olívio Morato, Business and Market analyst at OCB. "The term ‘cooperative’ has great acceptance among the European nations. In developing countries, like those in North Africa, the Middle East and Asia, they seek product quality,” said Morato. Brazilian cooperatives exported US$ 1.034 billion in products to the countries of the Middle East and North Africa in 2011.
Moving economies
And these figures, considering revenues and exports, are spread out, in the form of income, throughout small and medium cities in the country. In the city of Coruripe, in Alagoas, the largest agro-industrial cooperative in the Northeast, Pindorama, may be found. Currently, it has 1,160 associates, generates 2,242 jobs, of which 900 fixed and the others temporary, for cane grinding. Pindorama brings together producers of fruit, like passion fruit, acerola and cashew, as well as producing manufactured products like juice, coconut milk and grated coconut and producing ethanol.
In 2011, revenues reached R$ 153 million (US$ 87 million). These funds, apart from benefiting producers, also serve to maintain initiatives like the training centre, which helps prepare associates and youths in the region. One of the courses offered qualifies the kids of associates, from childhood, to foster the idea of cooperatives, and the aim is for them to take over from their parents or take on management positions. "Some of the students are already employees, said Abel Guimarães, assistant to the Pindorama board.
The wives of associates have also become economically active, establishing a sewing group that produces the uniforms for farmers. Apart from involving men, women and youths, the presence of the cooperative has also resulted in development in the region. “The quality of life of the people has changed. In the past, conditions were precarious, with no electric supply. Due to the cooperative, other businesses have been established, like a bakeries, chemists, furniture shops and banks. Little by little, the community has grown due to the cooperative,” pointed out Guimarães.
Paraná also has good examples of the force of the cooperative sector in small cities. Capanema Agricultural Cooperative (Coagro) had 5,700 associates in 2011 and revenues reached R$ 103.57 million (US$ 58.5 million). " Coagro distributed R$ 2.9 million (US$ 1.6 million) in bonuses in 2011,” said Sebaldo Vaclawovsky, the cooperative president. "This was a good result for producers. There were associates who received over R$ 10,000 (US$ 5,700) in extra revenues," said Vaclawovsky.
According to the mayor of Capanema, Milton Kaser, Coagro establishes prices in the region. As they sell together, they end up getting better prices for local produce. “Not only the city, but also the region surrounding it has been getting great return from Coagro,” finished off the mayor. Coagro also provides other benefits to farmers, like training in new technologies, technical assistance for crop management and days in the field, in which farmers receive information from producers of seeds and pesticides.
*Translated by Mark Ament
