The Institute for Cooperative Credit and Development (IDECOOP) and the National Association of Cooperatives/International League of Cooperatives (NCBA CLUSA) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to strengthen the technical capacity of agricultural cooperatives , as well as the potential conversion of current producer associations into their corresponding cooperatives.
The signing of the memorandum also seeks to promote the business and administrative development of cooperatives of agricultural producers through the CLARITY evaluation of the cooperative law, technical assistance in good governance, management, business services, and other issues that allow management and operation sustainability of agricultural cooperatives.
Both entities will promote Public and Private Partnerships (PPPs) to increase investment in cooperatives in productive agricultural value chains, and commit to the design of a national proposal for the cooperative sector and IDECOOP in which Good Governance is transversal. and business development.
IDECOOP and NCBA CLUSA will work together in the Co-design and implementation of the first course on Good Governance in Cooperative Companies, so that IDECOOP technicians and officials can serve as trainers of trainers in future activities. Also, both will contribute efforts to carry out an independent evaluation of the Cooperative Law 127-64 and its Cooperative Code, with the purpose of strengthening the cooperative regulatory framework to benefit cooperative livestock companies.
IDECOOP will form part of the ProGana Consultative Committee, which will also include representatives from USDA, the Ministry of Agriculture and other entities of the Government of the Dominican Republic, as well as other key actors in the dairy and meat value chains of cattle farming. and porcine. The activities resulting from this agreement pursue the strengthening of a public and private extension system that ensures effective technical support on farms, both at the dairy and meat levels.
The agreement was signed by Professor Franco de los Santos, administrator president of IDECOOP and Cesáreo Guillermo, director of the ProGana project for NCBA/CLUSA; who agreed to point out that the signing of the memorandum is part of the initiatives of the superior government headed by President Luis Abinader, to encourage the model of social and solidarity economy provided by the cooperative sector.
In this sense, the administrator president of Idecoop, Franco De los Santos, affirmed that the institution will continue with the commitment to continue promoting the growth of the cooperative sector, thus collaborating with the economic reactivation plan of the country promoted by the government of Luis Abinader. For his part, Cesáreo Guillermo, director of Progana, highlighted “the importance of collaborating with IDECOOP to increase the capabilities and good business climate of the country’s agricultural cooperatives, and contribute to the expansion of the solidarity economy model.”
ProGana is a project of the Food for Progress Program (FFPr) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), executed by a consortium of local and international partners led by NCBA CLUSA. Under USDA oversight, NCBA CLUSA will lead the implementation of ProGana by bringing significant experience from more than 100 years working to build a more inclusive economy. NCBA CLUSA will ensure that all ProGana partners respond to the cooperative guidelines emanating from IDECOOP.
The signing of the MoU took place in the Churchill room of the Dominican Fiesta hotel, on Tuesday, July 12. With the signature, IDECOOP and NCBA CLUSA establish a general framework for inter-institutional collaboration. The objective of the agreement is to work together within the framework of their respective competencies and responsibilities, with an emphasis on the community of cooperatives of Dominican cattle and pig farmers through the ProGana project.
About ProGana
The Safe Agriculture/Food Export Project (SAFE), operating locally as Strengthening the Value Chain of Dominican Livestock (ProGana); is a seven-year project funded by the Food for Progress Program (FFPr) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). It is executed by the National Association of Cooperative Businesses/International League of Cooperatives (NCBA CLUSA) and a consortium of six (6) local and international partners.
This project seeks to strengthen Dominican cattle and pig farming in the provinces of Dajabón, Greater Santo Domingo, El Seibo, Hato Mayor, La Altagracia, Monte Plata, Puerto Plata, San Juan de la Maguana, and Santiago RodrÃguez.
Employ training, financial services.
