The Voice of The CCO in the Ontario agri-food system

Presented by Charles Kouassi

Development officerCentral and Southwestern region

Challenges of agri-food movment in Ontario

1. Intrinsic profitability of the farming system (increase in production costs, global market, processing requirements)

2. Access to local market (oligopoly: MLS)

3. Access to farmlands for the potential new agri-entrepreneurs (price and/or availability)

4. Workforce (rural exodus and ageing of the current producers)

Drawbacks of these challenges

Unsuspected threat for our food security

impact on the local or regional economy

stress rural exodus and local jobless

endanger agricultural lands

impact on the social and cultural habits

Alternatives / solutions

1.Local food processing system

2. Local food marketing (Eat Fresh, Eat Local)

3. Non conventional agri-product niches

4. Bio-inspiration /Biomimicry (Ethanol)

5. Agri-culinary tourism (A,B,C, Savour X,Y, Z)

6. Farm succession planning

Alternatives / solutions

1.Local food processing system

2. Local food marketing (Eat Fresh, Eat Local)

3. Non conventional agri-product niches

4. Bio-inspiration /Biomimicry (Ethanol)

5. Agri-culinary tourism (X savour)

6. Farm succession planning

Co-op mouvement

Implementation case

- According to the Canadian federation of independent business (CFIB), 200 000 Canadian enterprises will be affected by ownership transfer within the next 10 years;

- Among them, more than 50% owners are not yet prepared to deal neither with the transfer process nor with the choice of the owner-to-be;

The co-op model consists of transforming an enterprise, without any succession plan, into a co-op enterprise within a legal, economic and fiscal environment that secures interests of both of the stakeholders (current owner and the co-op members)

A common challenge appears

Together, in a logic of co-operation, we will overcome