C 0 M M E N T A R Y
Solving rural problems through cooperatives
"Cooperation is people
working together to solve problems and seize opportunities."
This simple but concise statement is
the opening line of a report I recently received that examines how U.S. farm
policy might be adapted to emphasize greater reliance on cooperatives in the 21st century. The report, prepared by a task force led by USDA Rural
Business-Cooperative Service (RBS) staff, envisions an expanded role for
cooperatives in improving and stabilizing agricultural markets while helping to
maintain a dispersed ownership of our nation's agricultural resources.
This is a fitting thought as we
celebrate National Cooperative Month in October. Nationwide, there are about
47,000 cooperatives that do everything from helping farmers process and market
their crops to providing electric and telecommunications services for rural
families, farms and other businesses. Still other co-ops provide financial
services, housing and food. Yet, like many of you, I believe we have barely
begun to tap the full potential of cooperatives to help people improve their
quality of life.
USDA Rural Development has taken bold
action in recent years to deliver on our promise to better support the nation's
cooperative movement. As the latest indication of this, I'm pleased to report
that Secretary Glickman and I have requested that Congress provide additional
funding for USDA's cooperative services program in fiscal year 2000.
In addition to providing technical
assistance to co-ops through RBS, we've restructured our business loan programs
to funnel more financial resources to cooperatives. We can now offer loan
guarantees for the purchase of stock in new cooperatives. We are encouraging
cooperatives to increase their use of this program, and participation is rising
steadily.
Through the Rural Utilities Service,
USDA Rural Development provides about $2.8 billion each year to build new or
improved utility services for rural Americans, much of which is delivered
through user-owned cooperatives. Now we are expanding our efforts in areas such
as Internet access and Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT). Since 1993, we
have provided $81 million for DLT projects to improve health and education
services in rural America.
In the past, the co-op development
branch of our cooperative services program had only a handful of co-op
development specialists located in our national office and three field
locations. Now, all 47 USDA Rural Development state offices have a staff member
assigned to do cooperative development work. Working with our national office
staff, these specialists are providing another valuable resource to help launch
new cooperatives to serve rural Americans. We've also increased funding for
USDA's Cooperative Development Grant program, through which we provide money to
the nation's co-op development centers.
And, of course, USDA Rural Development remains
the world's leading source for cooperative educational materials, distributing
as much as a quarter-million pieces of co-op literature each year. Many of these
publications, including this magazine, are now available over our website,
www.rurdev.usda.gov. I was pleased recently to hear a report from a co-op
development volunteer in Africa who - once he exhausts his hard copy supply of
USDA co-op primers - plans to "pull down" additional copies from the
Internet while in Africa.
If you or someone you work with is
trying to start or improve the performance of a cooperative, contact USDA Rural
Development. To be connected to our nearest state office, call (202) 720-4323,
then follow the voice prompts. Or call our national office at (202) 720-7558.
We're here to help you solve problems and seize opportunities, cooperatively!
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