This is the second in a two-part series about my visit to the Rainman Landcare Foundation in Durban, South Africa.

The Rainman Landcare Foundation, founded by Raymond Auerbach, is training farmers living outside of Durban on how to grow food without the use of artificial pesticides, insecticides, or fertilizers, as well as permaculture methods that efficiently use water and build up soils. “But it won’t be enough to just grow organic food,” says Raymond. “You also need to market it.” Check out this video where Raymond explains how, in addition to teaching farmers organic agriculture practices, the Rainman Foundation helps them establish links with the private sector:

Earthmother Organic Store and Restaurant is an example of a business that is also providing a link for farmers to the private sector.  Check out this video of Danielle explaining how the store and restaurant gives farmers, like those trained by the Rainman Landcare Foundation, a market for their produce.

This is the second in a two-part series about my visit to the Rainman Landcare Foundation in Durban, South Africa.

The Rainman Landcare Foundation, founded by Raymond Auerbach, is training farmers living outside of Durban on how to grow food without the use of artificial pesticides, insecticides, or fertilizers, as well as permaculture methods that efficiently use water and build up soils. “But it won’t be enough to just grow organic food,” says Raymond. “You also need to market it.” Check out this video where Raymond explains how, in addition to teaching farmers organic agriculture practices, the Rainman Foundation helps them establish links with the private sector:

Earthmother Organic Store and Restaurant is an example of a business that is also providing a link for farmers to the private sector.  Check out this video of Danielle explaining how the store and restaurant gives farmers, like those trained by the Rainman Landcare Foundation, a market for their produce.

Cross posted from Nourishing the Planet.

The story of Kasinthula Cane Growers Limited (KCGL), Malawi’s second biggest sugar farmer cooperative with 282 farmers, is just one of many examples of innovative business models made available to farmers, entrepreneurs, and NGOs by Winrock International. Emphasizing the use of environmentally sustainable production methods, Winrock collects examples of innovative Community Food Enterprises from around the world. 

The partnership between KCGL and the Shire Valley Cane Growers Trust is just one example of Winrock’s featured innovations. The two organizations, with support from the government, partnered in 1997 to become a sugarcane farmer cooperative. Despite perpetual drought, and flooding when there is rain, sugar is Malawi’s third largest export. The Trust owns ninety-five percent of the corporation and Illove, one of the largest sugar cane producers in the world, owns the remaining five percent. The Trust leases 755 hectares of sugarcane land that KCGL maintains, guaranteeing farmers—about one-third of whom are women—nearly 3 hectares of land for 25 years. The farmers produce non-organic, fair-trade certified sugar, and the profits are divided equally among the members of the cooperative. All of the sugar produced by the farmers is sold internationally by Illove, connecting the farmers and the cooperative to the global market.

KCGL, in cooperation with Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International, have also developed a plan to direct fair trade premiums towards community investments, company infrastructure and building materials for the farmers. They have built a well for the community, brought electricity to small villages, and are opening their medical clinic to the community for HIV/AIDS education and treatment.  

As part of a collective, the farmers are given a voice in an industry where they otherwise might not be competitive. In addition to increased incomes through fair-trade certification and access to the world market, the farmers who are members of KCGL receive the support and stability they need to lift their families out of poverty.

I wasn't living in Iowa during the 1990s, so I had never heard about this episode before reading today's New York Times:

Hopes for co-ops may also be tempered by the experience of Iowa, home to Senator Charles E. Grassley, the senior Republican on the Finance Committee, which is trying to hash out a bipartisan health care proposal.

In the 1990s, Iowa adopted a law to encourage the development of health care co-ops. One was created, and it died within two years. Although the law is still on the books, the state does not have a co-op now, said Susan E. Voss, the Iowa insurance commissioner.

Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield collects about 70 percent of the premiums paid in the private insurance market in Iowa and South Dakota.

To become established, a new market entrant would have to offer lower prices or better services, Ms. Voss said, adding: "Wellmark has a huge advantage. They already have contracts with practically every doctor in the state."

I am shocked, shocked to learn that senators hauling in huge money from the insurance industry want to scuttle plans for a public health insurance option in favor of cooperatives that would not provide any meaningful competition in the marketplace.

House and Senate Democrats need to stand firm against a fake public option. Contact your members of Congress, Stand With Dr. Dean or sign up with Health Care for America Now to advocate for a real public option.

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