History and Mandate

Acodea was created in 2010, thanks to the initiative of two organizations representatives of the Spanish Agricultural sector: UPA (Unión de Pequeños Agricultores y Ganaderos) and FADEMUR (Federación de Asociaciones de Mujeres Rurales), with the objective of supporting the development of cooperatives and farmers’ organizations, in Latin America mainly. UPA, FADEMUR, Cooperativas Agro-Alimentarias are Acodea's three mandating agencies.

Mission, Vision and Approach

Acodea's mission is to strengthen cooperatives and producer organisations through advice, capacity building and exchange of experiences.Its vision is to contribute to improving the living conditions of rural people throughout the world.

Acodea supports its partners by providing a solid basis for their ambitions & operations, while enabling them to realise their goals through professionalisation. Acodea’ activities focus is on improving the productivity/technical capacities and developing the entrepreneurial skills of farmers’ organisations (e.g.cooperatives), taking profit of the experience and expertise of members, directors and employees of cooperatives from Spain and other countries, and Acodea’ staff who directly advice their colleagues abroad. Acodea intends to make cooperatives bankable, connecting them to markets and other actors in their value chains, while advising on internal knowledge development which is a strategic component of financial sustainability, and can make these organisations more independent from subsidies.