The Governing Council of Copiso participated in the IX Congress of Cooperativas Agro-alimentarias de España, reaffirming their commitment to the shared challenges discussed at the national meeting. The development of the Strategic Plan for Spanish Agri-food Cooperatives 2025-2028, sustainability from an integral concept, and generational renewal were the highlighted challenges at the congress, whose theme was ‘Sustainability with People.’
The Strategic Plan’s main pillars are economic sustainability (improving profitability and competitiveness), environmental sustainability, and social sustainability. In this regard, Copiso emphasizes the importance of the sustainability of people in the territory, especially in a province as affected by depopulation as Soria. The promotion of innovation and digitalization in cooperatives are the other pillars of the Plan.
The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food, Luis Planas, who inaugurated the congress, highlighted that “cooperative integration is one of the best ways to face the challenges of a global and competitive economy.”
One of the most applauded interventions was by Enrico Letta, former Prime Minister of Italy, Dean of IE University, and President of the Jacques Delors Institute. He offered an accurate analysis of the global situation of the European Union (EU), which for many years has outsourced its industry, defense, food, energy, making it much more vulnerable on all these fronts.
Letta considers the agri-food sector strategic from all points of view: economic, social, and territorial. Moreover, he suggested that food security and sovereignty are essential to achieve Europe’s geopolitical sovereignty. He acknowledged that agri-food cooperatives play an essential role in structuring the territory, revitalizing rural areas, and creating jobs. “It is crucial to have solid and resilient companies, such as cooperatives, that contribute to strengthening our autonomy,” he emphasized.
Meanwhile, Stefan Schepers, Executive Director of the EU High-Level Groups on Political Innovation, highlighted the need to change the mindset of a very bureaucratic and slow Europe, especially in a time of significant global challenges such as the crisis in agricultural production prices, energy and fertilizer costs, or geostrategic or climatic insecurity.
Generational Renewal
The president of the youth working group of Agri-food Cooperatives of Spain and representative of the youth of Urcacyl, Óscar de Íscar, presented a ‘Catalog of Best Practices for Promoting Generational Renewal and Land Mobilization.’ This catalog includes success stories and a protocol for cooperatives to address these issues. “41% of farmers and ranchers are over 65 years old, only 8.8% of sector professionals are under 40 years old, and by 2030, two out of three farmers will have retired,” said De Íscar.
The presentation of this document was the prelude to a round table where the challenge of generational renewal was discussed. The need to be proactive, to accompany and advise young people interested in training and other technical aspects, tasks in which Copiso is heavily involved, was emphasized. “We have the responsibility to socially recover the agri-food sector and make it attractive,” concluded De Íscar.
The IX Congress of Cooperativas Agro-alimentarias de España, held on March 27 and 28 in Mallorca, brought together nearly a thousand representatives from all the Autonomous Communities, including a hundred from 18 cooperatives in Castilla y León (Urcacyl), among which was Copiso.