Fairtrade Cooperatives: A Strategic Model for Tackling Climate Challenges

There are about 2.5 million agricultural cooperatives operating in the world under associative models that promote equity, participatory democracy, and sustainable development. These organisations are an essential tool for the economic and social strengthening of rural communities, contributing directly to local and national economies. By declaring 2025 the International Year of Cooperatives, the United Nations (UN) highlighted the strategic value of this model in addressing structural challenges, such as poverty, social exclusion, and environmental sustainability. In this context, Fairtrade agricultural cooperatives are a concrete example of how solidarity economies can generate well-being, inclusion, and resilience. One of the most urgent challenges we face is climate change, whose impacts are already evident on small and medium-scale family farming. Rising temperatures, changing rainfall patterns, and more frequent extreme weather events are reducing production levels, hindering access to vital resources, such as water, and in many cases forcing producers to abandon their traditional ways.