ILO's work on cooperatives in Africa

  1. Publication

    Use of statistics on cooperatives in national policy making

    29 November 2017

    This report on the “Use of statistics on cooperatives in national policy making”, prepared by Dr. Johnston Birchall, is the latest addition to the work in advancing understanding on statistics on cooperatives and their use in national policy documents and processes. The report focuses on the user perspective, looking to the ways in which these statistics on cooperatives are used in the eight countries studied. It provides an unprecedented view on the different ways in which statistics on cooperatives can be used at the country level by different types of users. It also puts forward a set of recommendations to international organizations such as the ILO to further increase their engagement with their constituents and partners at the national level.

  2. News

    Exploring the potential of cooperatives in advancing universal health coverage

    28 November 2017

  3. Decent work

    How decent work can transform cotton production

    03 November 2017

    South-South Project uses good practices in Brazil to promote decent work in cotton production in African and Latin American countries.

  4. News

    The ILO participates in the 4th World Forum on Local Economic Development to discuss roles of SSE in achieving SDGs at local level

    31 October 2017

  5. News

    Trade unions and producer organizations join forces to tackle child labour in agriculture

    20 October 2017

    In September 2017 over 20 representatives of rural workers’ trade unions, national trade union centres, and small producers’ organizations, including cooperatives, from 13 countries in Africa convened in Ghana. The purpose of the workshop was to discuss ways in which child labour can be sustainably eradicated in agriculture and rural economy at large in line with the Sustainable Development Goal indicator 8.7 on ending child labour in all its forms.

  6. Publication

    Public policies for social and solidarity economy: Assessing progress in seven countries

    13 October 2017

    This particular study is a comparative analysis of seven ILO case studies. In the first part, an overview of the public policies for social and solidarity economy in Brazil, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, the Philippines, South Africa, the Republic of Korea and Italy is presented. The second part offers a comparative perspective of public policy for social and solidarity economy in terms of key instruments, achievements and limitations. Different pathways are identified and four specific challenges related to state capacity, policy coherence, participation and sustainability are examined.

  7. Countries in Focus on Statistics of Cooperatives

    Statistics on Cooperatives Country in Focus: Mainland Tanzania

    28 September 2017

    Countries in Focus on Statistics of Cooperatives is a series produced by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Committee for the Promotion and Advancement of Cooperatives (COPAC) as part of a larger initiative to increase understanding of the ways in which countries around the world are producing and using statistics on cooperatives. Currently reliable and comparable statistics on cooperatives are missing in most countries of the world. These statistics are essential to measure the impact of cooperatives on their members and the economy as a whole.

  8. Article

    African cooperative leaders share their observations on the 2017 ILO/JCCU study tour in Japan

    28 September 2017

    The 8th edition of the ILO/Japanese Consumers' Cooperative Union (JCCU) Study Tour for African Cooperative Leaders took place in Japan from 29 August to 6 September 2017 with participants from Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and Swaziland and representatives from ICA Africa and ILO COOP Unit. ILO COOP interviewed the participants on their observations of the study tour and the next steps they would like to take in applying these observations. The managers of ILO-Tokyo, ILO COOP and JCCU also share their reflections on the study tour.

  9. COOP Champions

    Yumi Nabeshima, ILO Tokyo

    26 September 2017

    COOP Champions features ILO colleagues from around the world working on cooperatives and other social and solidarity economy enterprises. It highlights their contributions, and shares highlights of their experiences, current work, and future aspirations.

  10. News

    African cooperative leaders explore the diverse businesses of Japanese cooperatives

    21 September 2017

    From 29 August to 6 September, The 8th ILO/JCCU study tour was organized in Tokyo and Shizuoka, Japan. This year four participants from Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria and Swaziland and representatives of ICA Africa and ILO COOP Unit joined the tour to explore the Japanese cooperatives’ activities across a range of sectors.