Cogeca, the organisation representing 22,000 European co-ops in the agri-food and forestry sector, has published a manifesto featuring 23 aspirational objectives to support young farmers and co-operators.
The Tarragona Manifesto is based on consultations with young co-operators, their co-operative enterprises, and their stakeholders to anticipate trends for the agricultural and forestry sectors and be equipped to respond to the critical challenge of generational renewal faced by European agriculture and rural areas.
The manifesto was presented during the Cogeca Presidency Business Forum on generational renewal, held in November 2023 in Tarragona, Spain. The event gathered young farmers and forest owners, agri co-op leaders, and high-level policymakers, who discussed a range of issues, including the needs of new entrants in the agricultural sector, and exchanged best practices and strategies put in place by agri-food and forestry co-ops to secure generational sustainability of the sectors.
Participants concluded that while many good initiatives are already carried out within the sector, more needs to be done to stop a critical trend that may endanger the long-term sustainability of the sectors and cooperative enterprises, as well as food security in the EU.
‘’At the origins of this initiative there are two observations,” said Cogeca’s president, Ramon Armengol. “Today, young farmers and forest owners need agri-food and forestry co-operatives.
“As an experienced farmer, I always underlined to my son who is now running our farm that cooperatives are the tool to holistically improve farmers’ position in the food supply chain, add value to their products, reduce costs and boost the sustainability of the sectors in which they operate. It is the way forward.”
He added: “On the other hand, and in the longer term, against a backdrop of major transitions affecting our sectors and enterprises, they will need young people who are fully engaged in the co-operative governance structure and possess the abilities to carry out major transformations. In the future, without these young women and men, the relevance of our co-operative enterprises is at risk.”
