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Partnerships and Funding

Supporting a cooperative means supporting a structure that does not dissolve

COOPERANTE - Cooperativa Carvalho Beans brings together rural producers in the Amazon transition zone of northern Mato Grosso. This page is written for public agricultural programmes, development agencies, foundations, organisations and companies evaluating support for producer organisations.

The case for supporting organised producers

In the transition zone between the Cerrado and the Amazon, keeping families on their land and keeping forest standing are the same problem. A family that cannot earn a living from land it manages ends up under pressure to sell, to lease to monoculture, or to clear new ground.

A cooperative changes that equation. It gives a small producer access to market, to inputs at scale and to technical assistance, three things they cannot reach alone. And because it is a society of people, with elected governance and accounts approved in assembly, it remains after any one-off project ends.

What follows is the financial and control structure that backs up that claim, taken directly from our Bylaws.

Where the resources go

The cooperative has no shareholder taking profit. Resources coming in and results recorded in the social year have destinations fixed by the Bylaws, in two mandatory funds.

FATES

Technical, Educational and Social Assistance Fund

Funds technical assistance, education and social assistance for members, their families and the cooperative's employees.

Sources of the fund

  • 5 percent of the surpluses recorded in each social year
  • Results from operations carried out with non-members
  • Positive results from participation in non-cooperative companies
  • Donations received on behalf of FATES, made by cooperatives and entities operating within the cooperative system

Reserve Fund

Statutory Reserve Fund

Set aside to repair losses of any nature and to support the development of the cooperative's activities.

Sources of the fund

  • 45 percent of the surpluses recorded in each social year
  • Member credits left unclaimed after one year
  • Aid and donations without a specific destination

Areas of interest for partnership

Areas in which the cooperative is seeking technical and financial cooperation. Detailed scope, budget and indicators for each project are provided on request.

Technical assistance and producer training

Expansion of agricultural technical assistance, technical projects, inspections, field days and technology transfer to the membership, activities already set out in the Bylaws and eligible for FATES funding.

Agroforestry and reforestation

Production of seeds and seedlings, nursery, planting and establishment of agroforestry systems on member properties, aligned with the statutory objective of encouraging environmental preservation.

Post-harvest infrastructure and storage

Drying, processing and storage capacity. This is the classic bottleneck for a small producer: without storage, they sell under harvest-time pressure and lose on price.

Quality and pathway to certification

Building quality control capability and preparing the cooperative and its membership for certification processes. The cooperative holds no certifications at this time.

Youth and women in agriculture

Training and productive inclusion of young people and women in the membership, focused on farm succession and income generation, eligible for FATES funding.

Traceability and technology

Systems for identifying origin by property, controlling receipt of production and tracing it through to the final buyer.

Ways to partner

Institutional grants

Calls for proposals, agreements and support from foundations, organisations and development agencies, with scope, accountability and indicators defined in a formal instrument.

Public agricultural programmes

The cooperative may enter into agreements with public authorities and related entities, as provided for in its Bylaws.

Technical cooperation

Partnership in technical assistance, research, agricultural experimentation and field days. The cooperative may lease areas for experimentation.

Equipment donation

Donation of machinery, implements and processing or storage infrastructure, incorporated into the cooperative's assets.

Commercial partnership

Medium and long-term purchase contracts, harvest pre-financing and direct commercial relationships with buyers.

Transparency and accountability

The cooperative's administration is supervised diligently and in detail by the Fiscal Council, made up of 3 regular members and 3 alternates, renewed annually by election with only one third eligible for re-election. Each year's accounts are submitted for approval to the General Assembly, the supreme body of the society, whose resolutions bind all members.

See governance structure and documents

Under Article 60 of the Bylaws, the cooperative is prohibited from engaging in religious, social or political party matters. Partnerships are established exclusively on technical, agricultural and commercial grounds.

Talk to the cooperative about a partnership

Describe the programme, call for proposals or type of cooperation under consideration. The cooperative will respond with the institutional documentation needed for your review.

Area of interest

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