Cooperator’s Guide
The Cooperative
According to the Statement of the International Cooperative Alliance on Cooperative Identity, a cooperative is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprise.
The cooperative is a non-profit enterprise, open to all persons able to use its services and willing to assume the responsibilities of membership.
Differently than other types of enterprises, in cooperatives each person has the right to one vote, regardless of the capital shares he/she holds. The general meeting – where all associated members can participate and vote – is its main decision-making body, and it is also the body which elects the corporate bodies (general meeting board, management board and fiscal board).
Unlike cooperatives that focus on one or a few branches of activity, an integral cooperative tries to operate in the most different branches of activity, of a social and economic nature, which are necessary for living, from the provision of the production of all kinds of goods and services, to the development of projects in areas such as health, education or housing.
An integral cooperative wants to contribute to increase the resilience of societies, making them more able to solve the challenges they face and take advantage of the resources that are available, both human and natural, in a respectful way. They are cooperatives with a territorial basis, which thus aim to promote a proximity economy, strengthen the relationship between producers and consumers (citizens in general), the sharing of needs and the search for common solutions. Regardless of the origin of the products, the logic of fair trade is favoured, in which the majority of the sale price is given to the producers and not to intermediaries, and also production processes that respect workers’ rights. Environmental concerns are also taken on, in order to promote production processes and methods that minimise ecological impacts in their various forms.
It wants to contribute to increasing the resilience of societies, making them better able to solve the challenges they face and to make use of the resources that are available, both human and natural, in a respectful manner.
There are also environmental concerns: they intend to promote production processes and methods that minimise negative ecological impacts and that are mainly of local origin. Regardless of the origin of the products, in the case of products that are not produced locally, they favour fair trade logics, in which most of the sale price is given to the producers and not to intermediaries, and also production processes that respect workers’ rights and ecological principles.
Cooperativa Da Terra is a self-financed project, which was born from the will to create closer relationships between those who produce, who transform, who consume and who make available local products and services. In Da Terra Cooperative each member is a prosumer: they can produce as well as consume in the different branches/sections of the cooperative.
Cooperation facilitates and promotes the development of relations and business activities, contrary to the competitive vision of entrepreneurship, which reduces each person to the isolation of their individual company and diminishes their capacity to develop a successful project.
The Cooperativa Integral Da Terra is guided by the promotion of sustainable practices in ecological, economic and social terms, building a community that meets basic consumer needs. To this end, the following strategies are adopted:
- facilitating access to locally sourced and sustainable products and services
- promote a circular economy, reducing intermediation and own-shop operations, making product prices more accessible
- develop local agricultural production in a sustainable and organic way
- to foster the offer of professional services in a wide variety of areas, promoting self-employment through the support of a multidisciplinary team.
In September 2020, in Aljezur. The first businesses started in Rogil, with the opening of a food store, a vegan restaurant and a cowork space. The first steps inaugurated the sections of Services, Commercialization and Agriculture, so we endeavor in a short to medium time to welcome cooperators and businesses in all the available sections, as well as to expand geographically to other municipalities of the western Algarve, namely Vila do Bispo and Lagos.
The Cooperative is managed by the Administrative Council, made of 5 persons, for a maximum term of 4 years. This body has a certain autonomy in decision making, but hierarchically it is below the General Assembly.
Our aspiration is to be a cooperative that grows horizontally and is organised organically, naturally and democratically. Each cooperator has the right to one vote, regardless of the value of their share capital. This right to vote is exercised at the General Assembly.
The Cooperative is managed by the Administrative Council, made of 5 people, for a maximum term of 4 years. This body has a certain autonomy in decision making, but hierarchically it is below the General Assembly.
We want to redesign the local economy by applying circular economy logics and fair trade rules, which are discussed monthly among the members of the cooperative, such as: the minimum base salary, a salary cap, cooperative tax, capital reinvestments. The most important decisions outside the General Assembly are taken in monthly meetings (usually on the third Monday of the month), open to all cooperators. The rule is simple: those who are in have a voice and issues are discussed as a group, inspired by sociocracy. In case of conflict, the administrative council has the last word, but the General Assembly can reverse any decision.
Sections
In the light of the Portuguese cooperative code, the Cooperativa Integral Da Terra has a multi-sectoral character, having eight cooperative branches and respective sections, which operate independently but interconnectedly.
Each associated member can be a member of one or more sections. Multisectorality facilitates legalisation and formalisation in various productive activities that otherwise would not be done, or would have to be done informally.
Multisectorality also enables the members of the Integral Da Terra Cooperative to exercise different functions throughout their lives and even throughout the year, enriching their lives and skills in continuous learning, rather than limiting the worker to a single specialisation and/or seasonal logic.
It aims to purchase, store and supply its members with the goods and services necessary for their activity, and and placing their produce or services on the market.
In the process of being set up, it aims at community resilience of consumers with local and sustainable consumption practices.
Agricultural, livestock and forestry production as well as the collection, processing, preparation, preservation, storage and disposal of goods and products coming from the holdings of its members. But also the installation and provision of services to the holdings of its members, particularly of an organisational, technical, technological, economic, financial, commercial, administrative and associative nature.
Acquisition of land or buildings, and the construction and rehabilitation of buildings, as well as contributing to the improvement of the living spaces acquired.
Rendering services in areas such as architecture, catering, accounting, education, design, health, consultancy, law, health, economy, engineering, veterinary, food safety, among others, according to the activity branches of its cooperators.
To promote cultural and artistic actions as well as the acquisition of goods and services, in accordance with the cultural, economic and social needs and aspirations of its members and the local community.
Organisation and promotion of the work of craftsmen who, in production units, process raw materials, produce or repair goods.
Activities whose purpose is to provide the teaching included in the education system, special education and socio-professional integration and specialised training.
Costs
To become a cooperator, you must acquire the minimum number of capital shares of the section you want to belong to. These bonds are mandatory by the cooperative code and will contribute to the social capital of the cooperative, and can be recovered if and when the cooperator decides to withdraw from the cooperative. The value of each capital share is 5€ and the following minimum subscriptions are required for the different sections:
| Section | Minimum subscription |
| Services | 15€ |
| Handicrafts | 15€ |
| Consumers | 15€ |
| Cultural | 25€ |
| Agricultural | 100€ |
| Commerce | 100€ |
| Housing and Construction | 500€ |
| Education | 500€ |
When an individual becomes a cooperator, he/she can start a project within the cooperative. Each project that participates, works and invoices externally through the cooperative, pays a fee in % to the central entity that provides services to all. This fee is calculated on the basis of the expenses of the central services and can change over time. The more projects join, the lower this fee will be. At the same time, the more central money we have, the more central services we can offer. The value of the fee is re-discussed at an appropriate forum to respect these parameters.
Currently, the rate starts at 8% and can go down to 3%, according to the annual turnover.
The rate does not apply to exchanges within the cooperative network, provided that they do not have the characteristic of consumption.
Advantages
Anyone who has or has had a business knows that there are administrative costs, such as accounting, social security deductions, fees, opening an activity at the tax office, etc. These costs can vary greatly depending on the choice of accounting model and level of invoicing. But acting alone in a global economy means doing everything yourself, from information gathering to legalities and sales process.
From an immediate point of view, the cooperative allows each cooperator to act as if they had their own company: they can invoice their products and/or services, access organised accounting (to recover VAT, justify costs/revenues), create client and supplier files, hire people, place products in shops for sale or on consignment, take part in fairs and markets, have a page on the website, establish institutional partnerships, apply for funds, etc. The main advantage is that the high costs of having a company (accountant, treasury, website, etc) are shared by all the cooperators, making it much more affordable for each one. The cooperator also saves time with the bureaucratic processes, which are solved centrally by the cooperative, thus being able to dedicate more time and energy to his activity.
Being an integral cooperative, it allows our cooperative members to have their autonomous projects within the cooperative in the most different activities. The cooperative is a collective entity and as long as the projects respect the laws in force and follow the operating procedures decided by the collective, it has total decision-making and economic autonomy.
The more central money we have, the more central services we can offer. The list below reflects the services currently offered, but it is dynamic and tends to grow over time.
Limited Liability
Increased VAT recovery
Tax optimisation – IRC
more flexible employment contracts
Access to organised accounting
Control over your business
Savings in management costs
Consultancy for your business development
Email account (upon payment: €12/year per account)
Computer software (upon payment: €60/year 3 users max., €12/year for each additional user)
Consultancy to build your B2B sales strategy
Access to the Cooperative’s internal market: Internal exchanges and local currency
Access to the Cooperative’s external market: Cooperative’s Catalogue / online store
A sales agent available (on payment of a sales commission)
UNDER DEVELOPMENT Community warehouse (see Beehive project)
UNDER DEVELOPMENT Distribution network (see Beehive project)
Page on the co-operative’s website (www.cooperativadaterra.pt/SEUNEGOCIO)
UNDER DEVELOPMENT 4 posts per month on Cooperativa Da Terra’s facebook/instagram (possible to increase the number of posts upon payment)
UNDER DEVELOPMENT Development of strategic marketing plan (upon payment)
UNDER DEVELOPMENT Support in the production of your business presentation
We aim to create an alternative social economy and so our limit of interactions and projects is practically non-existent.
Members can organise themselves to create systems that facilitate the resolution of individual problems, such as participation in fairs and markets, sharing or co-managing equipment, etc. There are many forms of interaction and collaboration that can simultaneously bring individual and collective benefits, and these forms of cooperation are very welcome.
In a cooperative, we like to say that the work that is done for one is done for all. The collective has the benefit of the individual effort and we open new paradigms in today’s economy, going from competitors to cooperators.