ABOUT
Our history
The National Association of Cooperatives of Family Agriculture and Solidarity Economy (Unicafes) was founded in June 2005, in Luziânia, Goiás state, Brazil. Unicafes' objectives is to represent the interests of solidarity economy cooperatives, involving family farmers, local communities, land reform settlements, among others, towards sustainable development to its associates.
Unicafes is registered in Brazil as a non-profit organization that promotes social and economic inclusion of its associates, through rural development, income generation, food production, livelihood, life quality, biodiversity preservation, and decrease of social and economic inequalities.
The associated cooperatives are distributed in the whole country, with a total of 700 cooperatives divided in branches, such as: credit, production, work, commercialization, and infrastructure. Unicafes is also organized by state, distributed in 21 different states of Brazil: Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Rio de Janeiro, Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, Maranhão, Bahia, Pernambuco, Rio Grande do Norte, Alagoas, Ceará, Paraíba, Sergipe, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Goiás, Amazonas, Tocantins, Rondônia, and Pernambuco.
Our strategy consists in offering specialized services based on the states' Unicafes that contribute to the local development, and ensure participatory process, including advocacy to better public policies and to the expansion of cooperativism and solidarity economy.
Mission
To strengthen the solidarity economy cooperativism by representing the cooperatives of family agriculture interests, and by providing specialized services to reach sustainable development as a whole: social, economic, environmental, with gender, race, generation and ethnic equity.
Vision
To be a reference in the sector of solidarity economy cooperativism, with social inclusion and democracy.
Principles and values
People in the center, democratic participation, solidarity, ethics, autonomy, plurality, gender, race, generation and ethnic equity.
Network organization, solidarity economy, transparency, intercooperation, defense of life and of the environment.
Inequality resilience, combating discrimination and defending rights.
Partners
In 16 years of existence, we have gathered multiple partners, such as national and international organizations and governments, among them: National Bank of Economic and Social Development (BNDES), Labour Ministry, Citizenship Ministry, Agriculture Ministry, National Service of Cooperatives’ Learning (SESCOOP), Conexus, National Confederation of Agriculture Workers (CONTAG), National Association of Solidarity Economy Cooperatives Organizations (Unicopas), Trias, European Union, Specialized Reunion of Family Agriculture of Mercosul (REAF), IICA/FAO, Agricord, etc.
Our board
President
Aparecido Alves
Secretary
Regina Dantas
Women Secretary
Sandra Nespolo Bergamin
Cooperative Education directores
Antônio Moreira de Sousa Filho
Gervásio Plucinski
Youth Secretary
Bruno Engel Justin
Business Directors
Rômullo Renan Silva Dantas
Sandro Souza da Silva
Financial Director
Fátima de Lima Torres
Counselors
Nilfo Wandscheer
Letícia Mendes de Oliveira
Regina Dantas de Carvalho
Genês da Fonseca Rosa
Maria Ivoneide de Sena da Silva Rodrigues
Joana Lucia Grijó
Osíris Soares de Magalhães
Vitalina Orneles De Souza
Tatiane Nascimento Conceição Valente
Ivori Aldomar Weide Fernandes
Jairo Arruda de Souza
Maria José Alves
Gildene Soares Carvalho
José Izidoro Rodrigues
Aline Pasda
Pedro Vill
Annual turnover
2021: USD 2.517.988,93
2020: USD 2.486.809,61
2019: USD 1.643.053,80
International contact
