The fieldwork was aimed at investigating challenges, limitations and the potential/strengths of the Malawian co-operative movement, which could significantly influence co-operative resilience. The fieldwork was designed on the basis of the theoretical framework produced by Sara and Alex in the first quarter of the project, published as OU working paper in mid-February.

The two researchers spent the first week in the capital city, interviewing key informants from the Department of Co-operatives (Ministry of Industry and Trade); international institutions and development agencies (such as FAO, Land O’ Lakes and JICA); externally-funded national projects (JICA’s ‘One Village One Product Project’; World Bank/IFAD’s ‘Irrigation Rural Livelihoods & Agricultural Development’ project; and the Scottish government-funded ‘Supporting Co-operatives in Malawi’ project, run by the UK Co-operative College) and national development associations (Farmers Union of Malawi and the National Association of Smallholder Farmers).

The fieldwork focused on four case studies chosen from the most important co-operative unions in the country. These are: the Mzuzu Coffee Planters Co-operative Union; the Timber Millers Co-operative Union; COMSIP (Community Savings and Investment Promotion) Co-operative Union; MUSCCO (Malawian Union of Savings and Credit Co-operatives).

Between February 17 and March 22, Sara and Alex stayed in Mzuzu, in the northern region of the country, and in Lilongwe, carrying out focus groups and interviews with members, board members and managers of both unions and affiliated primary co-operatives. Sara explains: “The fieldwork was a crucial opportunity for active learning and knowledge exchange. We will be ever thankful to the unions’ leaders, managers and members, for their great availability and active participation in the research activities. The fieldwork would have not been possible also without the essential support of John Mulangeni, the ‘Supporting co-operatives in Malawi’ project co-ordinator and Annie Nyirenda and Mudith Chisiye, project officers for the Northern and Central regions.

“Good synergies have been in place between this research project and the ‘Supporting co-operatives in Malawi’ project. Particularly, focus groups and interviews represented an opportunity for co-operative leaders to reflect on the future of the Malawian co-operative movement and on the need to come up with an apex organisation. The latter is in fact one of the actions of the development project that the College is running in the country.”

The investigation highlighted a co-operative movement that is taking off and has a highly reflective attitude towards its own weaknesses and potentialities – a fundamental component in building up resilience. Sara and Alex are now in the process of analysing the data collected. Among preliminary findings, there is one that is particularly interesting and unexpected: the role of women. As known, women’s participation in African co-operatives is a challenge, especially in the agricultural sector. Interestingly, as a general trend, women’s membership is increasing in almost all of the Malawian co-operative Unions. Women’s participation is seen as a strategy to overcome the lack of member loyalty – identified as one of the main challenges for co-operative resilience.

“Do you know why we want women to be members?”, a leader woman farmer, and a member of the Mzuzu Coffee Planters Co-operative Union Board, asked Sara and Alex. “Because women repay loans, they are better at managing financial resources and moreover they use what they earn to improve household well-being. Remember, you train a woman, you train a country.”

This finding was confirmed in many other interviews and focus groups. “We are taking on board women,” the Operations Director of the MCPCU explained, “Because we know that if the coffee farming is in the hands of women then it’s more sustainable: men can switch anytime and start a new business.”

On 8 March, International Women’s Day, a focus group with members of a coffee co-operative took place. Impressive active participation by women made it a great opportunity of celebrating. One woman said: “Before [being members] life was hard and we had to expect money from our husbands: now what we earn we can keep for ourselves and we can take care of our families, buying clothes, food and paying school fees.” “Since we joined the co-operative”, another woman added, “We have had the possibility to improve ourselves, sharing experiences with other farmers. Moreover, we have now gained the respect from our husbands.”

Similar findings have been found also in the other case studies and will be made available in publications that Sara and Alex will be producing over the next semester of the project.

For information about the Open University-Co-operative College research project ‘Understanding co-operative resilience. The case of Malawi’, please contact Dr Sara Vicari, Research Associate, at sara.vicari@co-op.ac.uk.

For information about the Scottish government-funded project ‘Supporting Co-operatives in Malawi’, please contact Dr Sarah Alldred, International Programmes Manager at the Co-operative College, at Sarah@co-op.ac.uk.

Coinciding with the launch of Co-operatives Fortnight in the birthplace of the modern co-operative movement, which this year has the theme of ‘Local, Loved and Trusted’, Rochdale Co-operatives Day will both celebrate co-operative heritage and the ongoing legacy of co-operation in Rochdale. A series of activities, events and stalls for families, co-operators and the general public will enhance awareness of the town’s co-operative heritage, illustrate how working co-operatively is benefiting the town today and show how co-operation is shaping the face of Rochdale for the future, from rugby to housing.

Partners include the Co-operative College, Rochdale Pioneers Museum, The Co-operative Group, Rochdale MBC, Touchstones, Rochdale Boroughwide Housing, Rochdale Co-operative and Social Enterprise Forum, Co-operatives UK, Rochdale Hornets Rugby Football League Club and Unlimited Potential.

The Co-operative College’s annual meeting and open day will take place during the event, and will be open to all, offering participants a chance to see the Rochdale Pioneers Museum, take part in learning activities which highlight some of the College’s work.

Be inspired, have fun, get involved! For more information contact Angela.whitecross@co-op.ac.uk.

Since Janet Simms and Dr Linda Shaw from the Co-operative College attended a ‘kick off’ meeting in Trentino, Italy just before Christmas, work has focused on collecting information about formal and informal, accredited and non-accredited, specialist and non-specialist learning opportunities available for co-operative managers and directors from across the partnership. Another task has been fact-finding in relation to the ‘co-operative’ competencies regarded by managers and directors as being essential for them to be effective in their roles. Ultimately, the project will provide a common set of standards on which to build an ECVET (European Credit System for Vocational Education and Training)-recognised qualification framework for middle and senior managers and board members of co-operatives, allowing them mobility across Europe. The next meeting of the partnership takes place later this month in Athens, and will be hosted by the University of the Aegean.

The partners represent a range of co-operative development and support organisations, and the Co-operative College is contributing its expertise and experience of designing externally accredited learning and assessment programmes.

Angela is in the final year of a PhD looking at the Co-operative Party’s relationship with the Labour Party, jointly supervised by the Co-operative College in Manchester and the University of Central Lancashire in Preston. Spending a lot of time in the National Co-operative Archive, she has been exploring why the two parties have had a relationship historically, and why it continues today. Angela is now writing up her research, looking at themes such as policy and MPs, and will submit her thesis in October. Angela says that her experience of working with communities, combined with her passion for co-operative history, meant the chance to work with diverse groups of people in Rochdale was “a really interesting opportunity for me”.

Angela is currently working on programming events at the Rochdale Pioneers Museum, including a major multi-agency event which will build on last year’s International Year of Co-operatives, when the spotlight was on Rochdale and the Rochdale Pioneers Museum as the birthplace of modern co-operation, and events will also tie in with the theme of this year’s Co-operatives Fortnight (22 June-6 July), ‘Local, Loved and Trusted’. Part of Angela’s role involves developing activities for families and other groups who will be visiting the Museum over the summer; one activity will show what shopping was like at difference periods in time, and will involve not just reminiscing about the changing nature of shopping and society, but celebrating the ethical values demonstrated by co-operative societies throughout history.

Angela will also be working to set up a temporary exhibition space in the Museum to act as an evaluation and consultation space for people to share ideas, which she hopes will enable communities to “feel that they have a voice in the museum”. Exhibitions will change every six months, and Angela hopes the first exhibition will coincide with an exhibition at the People’s History Museum in Manchester to mark the 150^th anniversary of the Co-operative Wholesale Society (CWS), giving an opportunity to highlight the links between members of the Rochdale Pioneers and the CWS. Angela aims to work with local history groups on the exhibition, as a way of sharing knowledge and developing the heritage skills of different groups of museum visitors. The temporary exhibition space will also allow items to be brought out of the collection that aren’t usually on display.

As she settles into the job, Angela intends to build up a number of resources which can be used by Museum staff, both internally and externally, and she hopes it is the first step in a career where she can bridge the gap between academia and heritage learning.

School.coop features curriculum resources on subjects such as history, healthy eating, citizenship, faith, advertising, brand and financial literacy, all with a distinctly co-operative flavour. The resources were developed by staff from the Co-operative College with teachers from the nationwide network of Co-operative Business and Enterprise Colleges, and each resource features background information as well as a range of activities, from design and drama to writing, research and IT.

The ‘History’ resource draws on material held in the National Co-operative Archive in Manchester, including archive photographs, food packaging and historic documents. It is broken down into five distinct sections: the Second World War (Bombed, Blitzed and Bunkered), Co-operative films, Robert Owen, the expansion of the co-operative and the co-operative dividend.

The ‘Healthy Eating’ resource covers topics such as pre-prepared versus fresh food, food miles, adulteration of food and diet past and present, as well as information and activities for maintaining a healthy, balanced diet.

The ‘Financial literacy’ section of the website looks at different types of financial services on offer, and offers a number of real-life scenarios to help students understand the options which are available.

The ‘Co-operation and faith’ resource discusses each of the major belief systems, including their faith services and festivals, and their stance on a number of key issues, ranging from abortion to war. The resource considers the similarities in attitudes and values between faiths and co-operation.

The ‘Brand’ section of the site looks at the importance of branding to organisations, and how co-operatives can make their brand stand out, whilst ‘Advertising’ considers how organisations such as co-operatives can promote their work.

School.coop also features information and resources for about co-operative schools, including case studies, news and information about events and training. Whilst all resources are free to access, users will need to take a few seconds to register to see all areas of the site.

There are now more than 450 co-operative schools across the country, in addition to a network of specialist Business and Enterprise Colleges which have opted to focus on the co-operative enterprise model and values and principles. Co-operative schools embed co-operation into all levels of their school, from the membership structure to the curriculum, and are characterised by a democratically accountable membership structure drawn from key stakeholders such as staff, students, parents/carers, members of the local community and representatives of local business.

Start exploring at www.school.coop. We would love to hear any feedback you have about the website and resources, as well as any suggestions on how you would like to see it develop in future: please email schools@co-op.ac.uk.

Co-operative College Chief Executive and Principal Mervyn Wilson commented: “Co-operative schools are the fastest growing part of the co-operative and mutual sector in the UK today. They are major economic enterprises – often the biggest employers in deprived communities. Co-operative schools thus have a double benefit – they not only provide a democratic and accountable model of school governance and build social capital but also provide a learning ground where a new generation can learn and practice co-operation. That in turn should assist the development of the co-operative and mutual sector in the future.”

The collection of essays calls for a new economic model that extends ownership to all. It proposes mutual ownership as a way of boosting British economy competitiveness in all sectors. Besides Mervyn Wilson’s contribution on education, the publication counts on the participation of Dave Boston, Chief Executive of the Schools Co-operative Society, who writes about the development of the national network of co-operative schools.

Making it Mutual: The ownership revolution that Britain needs can be downloaded at ResPublica website, www.respublica.org.uk. It includes essays that cover all areas of policy – energy, financial services, education, infrastructure, welfare, public services, competition – and proposes entrepreneurial and innovative policy proposals for structural reform. As well as a keynote from Cabinet Minister Francis Maude, it draws together essays from a range of policy-makers and practitioners, including Dame Tessa Jowell; Graeme Nuttall, Government Advisor, HM Treasury Employee Ownership Advisory Group; and Professor Julian Le Grand, Chair, Mutuals Taskforce; Andrew Burnell, Chief Executive of City Health Care Partnership CIC; Kate Bull, co-founder of The People’s Supermarket, many of whom argue that deregulation and tax cutting is simply not enough.

The project, which is called CooperACTION, aims to support and train new youth co-operatives in eleven local communities across Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America. It hopes to educate young people about co-operatives an alternative form of enterprise, raise awareness of Fairtrade and its benefit to communities, share experiences, challenges and successes between young co-operators around the world, encourage and support partnerships between young people and local producers and offer an alternative future to young unemployed people and those at risk of unemployment. Around twenty unemployed young people in each community will set up new co-operative enterprises, supported by participants in the CooperACTION project, gaining new self-confidence and employability and resulting in a new global network of young co-operators.

Members of partner projects from each country involved – the UK, Sweden, Finland, Latvia, Austria, Senegal, Cameroon, Indonesia, India, Chile and Colombia – are in Bogota to receive training on co-operatives, Fairtrade and international development, which they will use to educate their peers at home to set up co-operatives in their communities.

A high-profile CooperACTION event will take place in Manchester in August 2013 to share ideas for co-operative enterprises, discuss how co-operation and democratic forms of business can reduce inequality and learn how to develop and implement participants’ business plans. Support and inspiration will be provided by professionals from co-operative and Fairtrade organisations, and ethical and co-operative enterprises will be promoted to the public during a Public Action Day. Educational materials on setting up co-operative enterprises are also being produced for use in schools and youth groups.

Attendees have been hearing about the Rochdale Pioneers and playing co-operative games. Julie Thorpe has been blogging about her experiences in Colombia on the Co-operative College’s blog. Keep up-to-date with her adventures at www.co-op.ac.uk/blog-posts/blogota and at www.co-op.ac.uk/2013/03/santa-cecilia.

Looking down on Bogota

Where the public transport network ends you have to take one of the private 4×4 taxis which ply for hire in a dusty compound near the bus terminus.  There are a few concrete roads but most are unmade and the drivers skillfully weave up the one-in-four slopes and around the hairpin bends, managing, most of the time, to avoid potholes and oncoming vehicles.

The view from the top is breathtaking (although the 10,000’ altitude has something to do with that too!) and the air is noticeably fresher and cleaner than in the smog-bound city below where many people wear a mask over their nose and mouth while out in the street.

Mimi explains the history of the library

Further around the mountainside Bogota’s weathly pay high prices to look down on the city but the panorama is one of the few riches which the people of Santa Cecilia can boast, as Raúl, a volunteer from the Fundacion Acacia points out to us.

The Fundacion was working with street children and poor families here when, in 200? , it opened a tiny, one-room, library and began offering English classes. After one month the computers they had installed were stolen but the thieves clearly had no thirst for reading and shelves of books, donated by a youth organisation from Austria, remain.

Another of the Fundacion’s volunteers, Mimi, described how the children first started to come to the library. Their parents were suspicious initially and felt they should be at home doing chores. But over time the library became a focus for community activity. It has raised aspirations amongst the young people of the area – now they want to become doctors, nurses, and teachers.  Many of those who first came along as young children are now helping to run the centre and teach the next generation.

Outgrowing its premises, the city council helped out by providing a new building higher up the hill where regular children’s activities now take place.  The library is still heavily used and a recent development has been the establishment of a women’s co-operative amongst mothers of its original clientele.  They make jewellery which is sold at ‘ferias’ (fairs) and other events and which brings in a few welcome extra peso to poverty-line households.

The women are keen to develop their enterprise and the Fundacion Acacia will be providing extra support to them through the EU-funded Co-operACTION project. Mimi is one of the group attending the project’s seminar this week to learn more about how to set up and run a successful co-op. Income generating projects are clearly needed here. And the sense of solidarity in this struggling community will be an important asset.  If only they could bottle the view and sell that…

Dame Pauline Green, President of the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA), called for everyone to be valued in building a better world, and for each individual to be allowed to “flourish and fulfil their potential”. Women, she said, would play a key part in this: “Having more women in key decision-making places in political, economic and social decision-making at all levels in society is the way to move away from the sort of decision-making that has served us so poorly in recent years.”

Co-operatives, too, she said, are key as they have people not profit at the heart of decision-making, and have already helped women “onto the ladder of economic activity”.

María Eugenia Pérez Zea, Chair of the ICA Gender Equality Committee, added that it was time to acknowledge the fundamental role of women in achieving development, peace and security, calling for stereotypes around leadership and power to be redefined so women could receive equal treatment in the decision-making process and contribute fully to economic development. She said that equal rights for women could help reduce poverty, improve health and education, alleviate climate change and aid sustainable development.

Pérez Zea described the co-operative business model as an ideal platform to break down the barriers of inequality and enable women to have access to a participatory democracy, decision-making bodies, markets and technology and protect them from the injustice of the current dominant development model. She asked co-operatives to prioritise the equal recognition of rights and opportunities of women in their policies.

Pérez Zea said: “ICA recognises that the Gender Agenda has gained more relevance than ever before and it is our opportunity to seek even more equality for women – by showcasing that our leadership is the most effective model for socio-economic development.”

Read or listen to the full speeches here.

During two weeks (28 June to 13 July) the travellers will not only enjoy the breathtaking scenary of Nicaragua, but also visit co-operatives around the country and find out more about the role of ALBA (Bolivarian Allliance for the Peoples of our America) in the fair trade between Venezuela and Nicaragua.

Deadline for registration is 30 April. For more information, including costs, please visit www.nicaraguasc.org.uk and www.nicaraguasc.org.uk/tours%20&%20volunteering/index.htm.

NSC has aimed to relieve poverty in Nicaragua since it was set up in 1978 to support the Sandinista Revolution, and “remains commited to the fundamental values of democracy and justice”. It works with organisations in Nicaragua raising awareness in the UK about social and economic issues affecting the country, through speaker tours, study visits and other campaigning and lobbying activities.