Agriculture
India International Cooperatives Trade Fair
- 02 Jul 2019
- 3 min read
First ever India International Cooperatives Trade Fair (IICTF) to be held at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.
- IICTF is a unique initiative for taking farmers, artisans & other members of cooperatives directly to the global trade platform.
- Trade Fair is being conducted by National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) with the support of Network for the Development of Agricultural Cooperatives (NEDAC), Ministries, State Governments and several apex level Indian cooperative organizations.
- Focus sectors of India International Cooperatives Trade Fair are:
- Textile: ginning spinning, power loom, textile processing.
- Agribusiness and food processing: cold chain, packaging, climate-smart agriculture.
- Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), Health and hospitality
- Trade and marketing: agriculture produce marketing, transport and marketing infrastructure.
- Credit service and finance: insurance, cooperative banking.
Significance
- The Cooperative sector has a big role to play in doubling agriculture exports (from present US $ 30 billion to US$ 60 billion) by 2022 as envisaged in the Agriculture Export Policy 2018.
- 94% of the Indian farmers are members of at least one cooperative institution.
- IICTF would be a major platform to promote exports by cooperatives with direct benefits to their members who are mainly farmers, artisans, women, SC /ST etc.
- Promotion of exports of key commodities/value chain products that have high potential, and are backed by specific promotional initiatives (including the involvement of stakeholder entities) would definitely actualize the target of Doubling the Farmers Income and will achieve the goals set under the Agri-Exports Policy 2018.
NEDAC
- The Network for the Development of Agricultural Cooperatives in Asia and the Pacific is a unique regional forum linking 21 apex cooperative organizations in 12 countries.
- It was set up in 1991 by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)’s Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) and the International Labour Organization (ILO).
- The NEDAC member organizations in Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka and Thailand represent three million agricultural cooperatives which play a crucial role in improving the livelihoods of 150 million rural households.
- NEDAC sensitizes governments in the region to the need for a key role for agricultural cooperatives in promoting agricultural and rural development to ensure rural food and livelihood security for hundreds of millions of people in Asia and the Pacific.
