ECCE-Bio: A network of European organic producer co-operatives
As well as being one of the founding partners of Provenance, I’m also a director of ECCE-Bio, a network of European organic producer co-operatives. The network has taken some time to find its feet – not helped by the current economic climate – but is beginning to make contact with other farmer groups, CSOs and government organisations and intends to develop a a useful programme of work at its AGM in Rome this April. Provenance hopes to be able to support ECCE-Bio in this work over the next year.
As I’ll be writing about some of the activities ECCE-Bio is involved in over the next few months I thought some background information would be helpful.
Developing international links
In 2001 two organic farmers from Norfolk, encouraged by Clive Peckham of East Anglia Food Link, visited the El Tamiso organic producer cooperative in Padua, Italy, to learn about their direct and cooperative marketing initiatives.
Nine years on that initial relationship has evolved into ECCE-Bio, a European cooperative of five organic producer organizations involved in an exchange of people, expertise, information, and inspiration. At the heart of this organization is a common vision that in order to change the current industrial and impersonal food system (rather than be subsumed by it), the organic world has to create an alternative model that works. This model is based on ‘convivial economics’; developing real long-term relationships with like-minded organic producers and consumers, ensuring not only a more stable and fairer market, but an open exchange of expertise and information.
In 2008 the decision was taken to create a formal organization as a means not only to create a common image, a common message, and common resources, but also as a common platform to put forward cooperative, ecological and ethical message to a wider audience.
Two years later, and having weathered the recession, ECCE-Bio’s members are keen to find new partner groups of farmers and growers and new projects to work on. ECCE-Bio’s members are particularly interested in work that focuses on farmer-led knowledge and advocacy networks, crop genetic diversity (including issues such as seed exchange, GM and IPRs), and that challenges the ‘conventionalisation’ of the organic sector.
ECCE-Bio’s founder members are:
Somerset Organic Link
La Terra e Il Cielo
Leitrim Organic Farmers
El Tamiso
Agricola Pueblos Blancos