A summary of an interesting article “Coops stress their role in bioeconomy”

Coops stress their role in bioeconomy: A workshop in Brussels on Monday (June 24) underlined the role of cooperatives in farming & forestry in driving the development of the bioeconomy. The event was organised by DG AGRI with the title “The role of cooperatives & cooperation structures of primary producers for mainstreaming the Bioeconomy”. It comes after a workshop on Sep 20-21, 2018*, during which it has been analysed the best way to integrate primary producers into bioeconomy value chains. The workshop ten business cases from the fruit & vegetable, livestock, wine, forest & industrial hemp sectors were evaluated.
Mr. Pekka Pesonen, Copa & Cogeca Secretary General, in a statement issued this week said that European farm & forestry cooperatives had “demonstrated how to be innovative, create additional revenue streams & set course towards a resource-efficient & sustainable economy.” Cooperatives could “successfully contribute to public policy objectives, such as improvement of farmers’ standards of living, the development of human capital, the enhancement of competitiveness, & sustainability,” he said, by “reconciling demands for sustainable agriculture, food security, & the sustainable use of renewable biological resources, with calibrated support & policy coherence.“ The umbrella organization said that cooperatives in agriculture and forestry rely on a powerful EU and domestic dedication to a consistent EU bio-economy strategy