Rural organizations in focus for the International Year of Cooperatives

nternational years are declared by the United Nations to draw attention to and encourage action on major issues. The International Year of Cooperatives is intended to raise public awareness of the invaluable contributions of cooperative enterprises to poverty reduction, employment generation and social integration. The Year will also highlight the strengths of the cooperative business model as an alternative means of doing business and furthering socioeconomic development.

In 2012 the United Nations celebrates the International Year of Cooperatives. As important partners for the International Fund for Agriculture (IFAD), cooperatives are helping to improve the lives of millions of smallholder farmers and their families. On the occasion of the International Year, Tom Anyonge and Monica Romano , who are leading IFAD’s work with cooperatives, offer a background brief on the organizations of rural people: