Country: Mexico

Organization: SCAAS Sociedad Cooperativa de Asesores para el Avance Social

Idea: The consolidation of a production-consumption network among cooperatives in each state or region, with new trade rules and local microfinancing from other cooperatives. The operation is within the framework of cooperative identity, that is, the cooperative worldwide principles and values. The principle of cooperative integration is complemented with the cooperative values of 1) working towards a common purpose, 2) mutual asistance and 3) cooperation. The motor idea es that each member of a cooperative should look for products and services in other local cooperatives before purchasing. Once most cooperatives have pledged to do so, an intercooperative market is born. Today we have started such markets in a few states, but it is not yet large.

How do you do it: 1.Promote a state cooperative coordination unit. 2. Update the cooperative directory. 3. Sell the idea to the unions and federations of cooperatives within the framework of principles and values to which the Mexican Coop Movement is commited. 4. Identify products and services which are top priority for the BoP cooperative population. 5. Distribute among the cooperatives a supply catalogue identifying cooperatives that have sales points or their distribution channels. 6. Promote trade fairs in major towns where the cooperatives can exhibit and sell. 7.Incorporate in the network savings and loan cooperatives with the posibility of developing credit cards for members of the network. 8. Create in each union or federation a follow up group.

Innovation: The innovative strategy es that we have been appealing to the ethical commitments that each cooperative member should have when he joins a cooperative. Futhermore we work on the idea that in poor communities market rules can be changed among cooperatives that produce with local technology and raw materials, pricing hence does not necesarrily come from supply and demand but can be often sustituted with real work evaluation. In some cases, citizens have accepted part of the trade operations with the use of I.O.Yýs specially when formal currency is scarce and this "social money" can be exchanged for other other productos or basic services. We are therfore working towards microregional development thru ethical and cooperative network trade .

Impact: Thanks to the persistent activity of many NGOýs in Mexico, adults are becoming aware of the importance of socially responsible production and consumption. The poor adult who understands the nature of large scale economics begins to value more and more the community organization for purchasing as a cooperative and that if they do so, they can use other cooperatives as suppliers, speaking all the same business language. The young on the other hand suffer more unemployment than other groups, hence the idea of a cooperative market motivates self employment thru new cooperatives organized and managed by them with a local or regional vision and low investment requirements, which can be attended by regional savings and loan coops.

Ethical Action: In the middle 1990ýs we helped to create a network of small local indian producers of honey, jam, granola, spices and recycled paper in the mountains of the state of Puebla. They organized themselves as a cooperative and begin offering their products en Mexico City, where several cooperatives buy their products and they in return buy consulting and training services from us as well as fruit beverages from another of our cooperatives. All this is done with the conviction that the city coops are helping maintain the poorýs employment buying from them and suppling products and services that develops the whole cooperative organization in Mexico. This particular case has worked during the past 6 years and is growing more because of ethics.

Replication: We are working in the writing of all these experiences of inter cooperative markets and its promotion in the states of Veracruz, Michoacan, Oaxaca, Jalisco, Tamaulipas, Sinaloa and 5 other states. This will be possible because I am Chair of the Solidarity Economy Commision of a national Cooperative Confederation which has unions and federations in 15 Mexican States. After several years of developing the idea and showing some case studies several of these states are now interested in organizing a statewide intercooperative market as a means of improving quality of life for the poor with the combination of stimulating production and consumption simultaneosly with lower marketing and distrubution costs.

Sustainability: Intercooperative trade has identified the factors for its developments: transportation of goods, distribution, sales infrastructure, financing, publicity, pricing, and product storage. In all cases the solutions focus the alternative approach. For example, transportation costs for the poor producers are calculated on the basis of using the trucks that a large cooperative such as Trabajadores de Pacual have all over the country and that frecuently travel with a small % of spare space. This capacity is priced on a marginal basis so that only the bigger coops pay full costs and the poor coops pay only the direct costs. When all coops in the network apply such considerationes, they invest little in the coop market with profits for the poor.

Position in the Ethics Mosaic of Solutions:

Factor: Otherness

Principle: Building ability to care, uphold values, and make