Thirty new trainers trained in My.Coop towards developing agricultural cooperatives in southern Haiti

My.Coop – Training on agricultural cooperative management was organized in Haiti within the framework of an ILO project on addressing education and skills gaps for vulnerable youth in the agriculture and fishery sectors.

News | 28 August 2019
Within the framework of the Norwegian-funded ILO project “Professional Training for Rural Development” (Formation professionnelle pour le développement rural - FOPRODER), a training for trainers (ToT) workshop on My.Coop – Managing your agricultural cooperative was organized in Haiti from 19 to 24 August 2019.

Particiapnts at the training session
The project aims to support young women and men in the rural and semi urban areas of southern Haiti to enter into the labour market especially in agriculture and fishery sectors. For this purpose, the project strengthens institutional capacities of vocational training centres, agricultural cooperatives and other associations in the South and in Grand Anse. The ILO implements the project in collaboration with the National Council of Cooperatives (CNC), a government organization in charge of formulating cooperative development policy, and Agriterra, a Dutch agency specialized in the development of agricultural organizations.

Participants at a group work
The first training was organized in May 2018 focusing on the first module of My.Coop: basics of management and governance of agricultural cooperatives. The August 2019 training focused on the rest of My.Coop modules: needs of members and provision of services for members (module 2); procurement and supply of inputs (module 3); and marketing of members’ produce (module 4). As with the first training, it brought together 30 trainers including chairpersons and managers of farmers’ and fisher people’s cooperatives and associations and officials of the CNC. Two Agriterra trainers, Ms Marine Umukunzi from Rwanda and Mr Alex Danissen from the Netherlands, facilitated the training.

The participants appreciated the participatory methodology and exchange of experiences. They moderated some sessions and received ‘sandwich’ feedback (positive – negative – positive) from their peers, which intends to help the participants become more comfortable and innovative with moderation.

Participants visiting the CAPOPAD
The one-week training concluded with a study visit to the CAPOPAD savings and credit union in Thorbeck. The participants acquired first-hand insights on the efforts of the CAPOPAD leaders in establishing and managing the cooperative and on the relevant services provided for its two hundred members. At the end of the training session, the participants developed action plans to strengthen their own organizations using knowledge and skills learned and received certificates as My.Coop trainers.

Group photo


---------
My.Coop is a training package and programme on the management of agricultural cooperatives, developed through a partnership of several organizations including the ILO, the FAO, the International Training Centre of the ILO, Agriterra, the Royal Tropical Institute and the Wageningen University and Research Centre. As of 2018, at least 64 countries and 154 organizations from around the world have participated in a My.Coop training of trainers (ToT) or made use of the materials.

For full modules see our website or the online platform. For more information on the My.Coop adaptation and implementation, see the guide for potential users and the stock-taking brief from 2012-2017.