Advancing cooperatives to improve their enabling environment, capacity and resources

2018 – 2024

The USAID Cooperative Development Activity 4 (CD4) is strengthening the enabling environment for food processing cooperatives in Lebanon, with previous work in Malawi and Rwanda. CD4 is building and strengthening cooperative systems, collaboration, research, learning, and dissemination. Amidst Lebanon’s ongoing economic crisis, the activity focuses on improving cooperatives’ business performance and self-reliance through customized technical support and in-kind grants. CD4’s approach prioritizes youth engagement in this long-standing sector: it conducts youth awareness sessions and internship programs to ensure inclusion of young people, a critical component for sustainable economic growth. CD4 leverages Venture37’s decades of international agriculture development knowledge and combines it with more than a century of cooperative business experience from its affiliate, Land, O’Lakes, Inc. The activity’s learnings are disseminated locally and internationally through a cooperative learning platform, information exchange, and advocacy efforts.

CD4 is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development's Cooperative Development Program (CDP). Venture37 is an implementer of USAID's global CDP, which strengthens cooperatives and credit unions globally to improve the social, economic, and environmental conditions of local communities.