Co-operative Farming: August-September 2021 news

09 September 2021

Bushfoods are booming

Spotlight on the Northern Australia Aboriginal Kakadu Plum Alliance

Aboriginal communities have been harvesting an ancient food for thousands of years, yet people around the world are only just discovering it.

Recent surveys show the Australian bushfoods sector is booming, however data suggests that the majority of this wealth is channelled back to non-Indigenous producers.

It’s one of the reasons the Northern Australia Aboriginal Kakadu Plum Alliance (NAAKPA) came together, to bring the wealth generated from Kakadu plum back into the hands of Aboriginal-owned enterprises.

The BCCM is delighted to welcome NAAKPA as a new member. We are helping NAAKPA develop their business with advice and access to industry mentors. If you would like to know more about how becoming a BCCM member can help you grow your business please contact Anthony Taylor.

Tools and resources

Co-operative Farming funding for bursaries and workshops has ceased but you can still receive help from the team. You can access a great range of free resources for farmers, fishers and foresters to help you plan, start or run a co-operative.

Watch:

• Farmers and fishers tell their farming frontline stories in 18 episodes of Co-operative Conversations Livestream Series
• Three farming communities overcome adversity in Fightback Farmers: Feeding Australia Together documentary, available ondemand on ABC iview

Listen:

• To 8 episodes of the Meet the Co-op Farmers Co-operative Farming Podcast

Explore:

• The Co-operative Foundations online education modules with optional CPD certification
• The updated Co-op Builder tool with new guidance on start-up share offers
• The new Capital Builder to help co-operatives raise new funds
• The new guide to marketing offers of shares and other securities
• The prototype co-operative governance evaluation tool to measure your co-op’s governance performance against the CME Governance Principles​​

Why co-op education matters

University of Newcastle researchers Dr Sidsel Grimstad, Ann Apps and Elizabeth Makin have reported on their findings on the importance of education programs exploring the value of the co-operative business model.

The researchers produced two reports for the BCCM as part of the Co-operative Farming Project:

• Learning on the go: identify barriers and opportunities for the formation and development of agricultural co-operatives in Australia
• Developing a Pedagogy for Co-operative Education in Australia

They recommend that co-operative education should be included in Australia’s educational framework at all levels. Dr Grimstad said the value of co-operative education was even more evident in a crisis like the pandemic.

“The co-operative business model is a mainstream and thriving model throughout Europe, the Americas and Asia,” Dr Grimstad said.

“The pandemic has shown that locally based co-operative businesses can be very resilient in a crisis, yet it’s still not something taught in Australian schools.”

Get in touch

If you have questions or would like more information or support to plan, start or run a co-op, please get in touch with the Co-operative Farming team.

Banner image source: Northern Australia Aboriginal Kakadu Plum Alliance