12/2011
Terracoopa started in 2009 as a joint initiative between ADEAR LR and CREALEAD to support job creation related to organic farming and short marketing channels. In 2010, the Montpellier Agglomeration offered them a 10 ha plot of land in the Domaine de Viviers for the installation of farmers in market gardening mainly. The cooperative was founded in December 2011 and plots were distributed to 8 new farmers aged from 30 to 50, including 5 women. Today, Terracoopa serves around 40 farmers.
Contact details
E-mail : contact@terracoopa.com
Facebook : https://fr-fr.facebook.com/Terracoopa-938848272829758/
Website : http://www.terracoopa.net/
34184, Montpellier, France
Stakeholders
∙ ADEAR LR – Association for the development
of agricultural and rural employment in the Languedoc-Roussillon region
∙ CREALEAD – Cooperative of independent entrepreneurs of Montpellier
∙ Member entrepreneurs and farmers
∙ Montpellier3M, Regional body of the Ministry of Agriculture (DRAAF), Occitanie Region
Objectives
∙ Developing local agriculture and creating jobs in sustainable farming in rural and peri-urban areas
∙ Securing vocational retraining and installation paths
∙ Renewing collective and cooperative work in agriculture
∙ Encouraging new forms of territorial governance
Legal framework & Budget
Terracoopa is an entrepreneurial cooperative based on the principle “1 member = 1 vote”. It has approximately 40 members and one salaried worker. Each entrepreneur is an associate and has the CAPE status (contract to support business projects), granted on a yearly basis and renewed only three times.Activities
As an agricultural test area, Terracoopa supports new farmers in developing their activity in a responsible and autonomous way, over a limited time period, within a framework that limits risk taking. Farmers can evaluate their project and ability to carry it out outside the agricultural test area. An agricultural engineer supervises activities at the Domaine de Viviers. In addition, Terracoopa offers specific services to all projects related to organic farming, urban and peri-urban agriculture, local food supply, landscape, water management, environmental protection, etc.>Innovation & Outcomes
In 2015, Terracoopa received the Social Innovation Award of the Grand Prize for Solidarity Finance. Its innovative management model provides farmers with a double status, entrepreneur and employee, which gives them social rights (retirement pension, unemployment insurance) and limits risk-taking. This model also enables the pooling of resources for members (administrative support, means of production). Finally, the allocation of land to agricultural test areas using mainly organic and agro-ecological techniques had a direct and visible impact on the environment and biodiversity100
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Main obstacles & Next steps
The main obstacle for Terracoopa is the fierce competition for land in the peri-urban context, either from non-agricultural uses or from capital intensive agriculture. It is particularly difficult to find land with on-site housing possibilities for farmers. The main development perspective is to replicate the model in another location. There is on-going search for land for rent. Terracoopa is also thinking on ways to facilitate farmers’ marketing activities, especially under the “Terracoopa” brand.Project video
More on :
http://www.terracoopa.net/
