The covid-19 pandemic situation that we have lived in during the last 4 months, the end of which is still uncertain, allows anticipating the contours of a serious social and economic crisis that will affect our country.

It is therefore important to reflect on the most effective, consistent and lasting responses that must be put in place to mitigate their consequences.

At CONFAGRI we understand it is opportune to highlight the strengths of the cooperative model, especially of the agricultural cooperatives that we represent, in response to some of the challenges that this crisis poses to us.
 
COMBATING ASYMMETRIES

As in previous crises, the covid crisis will affect the most vulnerable populations and companies and the most fragile territories with greater intensity, worsening social and territorial imbalances. 

Agricultural cooperatives counteract this phenomenon, insofar as they provide scale, economic dimension and promote access to the market for thousands of micro-, small and medium-sized companies and even large companies engaged in agricultural, livestock or forestry production.

On the other hand, their distribution in the territory (64% of Portuguese agricultural cooperatives are located in municipalities in the interior), their permanence there (generally long) and the diversity of services they provide (technical support, supply of production factors, vocational training and agricultural advice, among others) are capital gains, hardly secured by entities of a different nature, which greatly contribute to boosting economic activity in these regions. 

PROMOTING NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION

One of the lessons of the covid crisis is the evidence that the country needs to guarantee reasonable levels of self-supply to make us less vulnerable to adverse international circumstances. Ensuring essential, healthy, safe and affordable food for the population should be a priority.

On the other hand, Portugal has good conditions to produce high-quality foodstuffs (wine, olive oil, dairy products, fruit, vegetables…), internally and externally renowned, which one must continue to value, conquering new markets and strengthening its production and export.

Many Portuguese agricultural cooperatives are already doing excellent work in this field, continuously investing in innovation, quality and internationalisation. Their dynamics induce, upstream, the development and modernisation of large hundreds of farms of its members, and the positive economic results that they obtain are to the benefit of the cooperative members and the reinforcement of the cooperative structure. Few economic entities have this ability to aggregate such a large number of economic agents – in this case, farmers – and lead to their development.

The structural characteristics of our primary sector, namely the dimension of ownership, make the importance of cooperatives even more evident, as catalysts for more inclusive economic development.
 
ACTIVE ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY AGENTS

Portuguese agricultural cooperatives are active agents of sustainability and their action can be further enhanced.

Firstly, because they deal directly with the environment and are aware of the importance of protecting resources such as soil, water, air and biodiversity.

Secondly, because they know the aspirations of current society and new generations, who increasingly value “environmentally friendly” production methods and demand their certification.

Thirdly, because the action of cooperatives in conjunction with their members, due to their scale of action, tends to be relevant and particularly effective action at the environmental level.

Fourthly, because cooperatives have “Interest in the Community” in their identity matrix (7th Cooperative Principle), which states that cooperatives work for the sustainable development of their communities.
 
The challenges facing Portuguese society before the covid crisis were already difficult and demanding. This crisis has highlighted these challenges and stressed the need to give priority to situations of greater vulnerability and strengthen our productive fabric.

However, we need to move towards more inclusive development, to promote greater economic, social and territorial cohesion. Agricultural cooperatives are active agents of this design and their action can be clearly enhanced through public policies that support their activity and do not forget or make them secondary, as is so often the case.


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